Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3-iSSD LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb s USB 3.0 ATX Motherboard with 20GB Intel Solid State Drive on Board...

The GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD motherboard, based on the Intel® Z68 Express Chipset and supporting the new 2nd generation Intel® Core^TM processors. Delivering the very best that Intel® 6 series chipsets have to offer, including a significant performance boost with Intel® Smart Response Technology, pre-bundled with the 20GB Intel® Solid-State Drive 311 Series, and GIGABYTE's proprietary Touch BIOS^TM technology, GIGABYTE Z68 series motherboards put users in the driver seat, allowing them to take total control over how their system operates and performs to best match their individual computing needs.

Key Feature

Supports for LGA1155 2nd Generation Intel® Core^TM Processors
Touch BIOS^TM delivers No Need for Reboot to more easily modify BIOS settings.
Optimize Intel Smart Response Technology with pre-bundled 20GB mSATA SSD
Ultra Durable 3 Technology with copper cooled quality for lower working temperature
Supports USB 3.0 with superfast transfer rates of up to 5 Gbps
GIGABYTE 3x USB Power with On/Off Charge USB ports
High speed SATA3 storage interface with superfast 6Gbps link speed
SLI and CrossFireX multi-graphics support for ultimate graphics performance
Hybrid EFI technology with DualBIOS for 3TB HDD support
HDMI graphics output for smoother HD video playback
XHD technology accelerating hard drive performance with ease
Features high speed Gigabit Ethernet connection
GIGABYTE DualBIOS? technology delivering highest level failure protection

Overview

Onboard mSATA for Intel® SLC SSDs and Smart Response Technology

Pre-bundled with the 20GB Intel® Solid-State Drive 311 Series

GIGABYTE Z68 series motherboards are equipped with the much anticipated IntelR Smart Response Technology, allowing users to experience system performance similar to SSD only systems. IntelR Smart Response technology works by using intelligent block-based caching of frequently used applications to improve system performance and responsiveness.

GIGABYTE Z68 motherboards are equipped with the much anticipated IntelR Smart Response Technology, allowing users to experience system performance similar to SSD-only systems. IntelR Smart Response technology works by using intelligent block-based caching of frequently used applications to improve system performance and responsiveness. In fact, GIGABYTE Z68 motherboards with IntelR Smart Response Technology are able to outperform hybrid drive systems by more than 2X (PC Mark Vantage HDD test) and HDD-only systems by as much as 4X (PC Mark Vantage HDD test) and deliver a 60% performance improvement over HDD-only systems in PC Mark Vantage Suite.

GIGABYTE EZ Smart Response

The GIGABYTE EZ Smart Response utility is a simple application that allows users to quickly and easily configure their system for Intel® Smart Response Technology. In the past, enabling Intel® Smart Response meant users needed to enter the BIOS in order to configure their system for RAID mode, which then required a complete reinstall of the operating system. Once that processes was complete, users then needed to install the Intel® Rapid Storage Utility as well as configure Intel's Smart Response Technology. GIGABYTE EZ Smart Response does all of this automatically, without users having to perform a complicated install process. This allows them to quickly and effortlessly enjoy a significant boost in system performance.

GIGABYTE Touch BIOS^TM (Patent Pending)

An Innovative New Way to Modify BIOS Settings

Navigating through the BIOS to change system settings can be a daunting task for users not familiar with control "F" functions and mouse-less navigation. While some EFI BIOS try to address this with a mouse friendly environment, many implementations still lack a certain ease-of-use necessary for most people. With GIGABYTE Touch BIOS^TM, GIGABYTE engineers have completely re-imagined how users can interact with their BIOS, allowing for a more intuitive user experience. In fact, with a touch screen monitor, GIGABYTE Touch BIOS^TM is as easy to use as most apps on your iPhone.

You can watch this Touch BIOS^TM demonstration in our YouTube Channel.

Built-in Visuals

Built-in Visuals GIGABYTE Z68 motherboards offer support for several 2nd generation Intel® Core^TM Built-in Visual Features.

Intel® Quick Sync Video
Up to 2X faster media processing than any other solution for incredibly fast conversion of video files for portable media players or online sharing.

Intel® InTru^TM 3D
Users can enjoy the ultimate 3D visual experiences–seamlessly–from their PC. Now you they can watch their favorite 3D movies with Blu-ray Stereo 3D playback using active shutter 3D glasses. It delivers it all in 1080p full, high-definition resolution on the TV over HDMI 1.4.

Intel® Insider
Allows users to view premium 1080p HD content on their GIGABYTE Z68 series system.

Switchable Graphics with LucidLogix Virtu GPU Virtualization

GIGABYTE Z68 motherboards are enabled with LucidLogix Virtu GPU Virtualization technology which allows users to dynamically switch between their built-in graphics and their high-end, 3D discrete graphics cards. This is ideal for gamers who require high-resolution gaming and still want to enjoy the built-in media features of 2nd generation Intel® Core^TM processors. In so doing, switchable graphics helps to dramatically reduce PC graphics power consumption.

Multi-display support with CrossFireX and SLI^TM

Flexible graphics capabilities supported for either CrossFireX^TM or SLI^TM action, delivering the ultimate in graphics performance for gaming enthusiasts who demand the highest frame rates without compromising on resolution.

Specifications

Model:	GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD
CPU Support	2nd Generation Intel Core Processors
CPU Socket	LGA1155
DMI	20Gb/s
Chipset	Intel Z68 chipset
Onboard Graphics	Intel HD Graphics 2000/3000
Graphics Interface	2PCI-E 2.0x16 slot(2PCIEx8)
Memory Type	Dual Channel DDR3 2133/1333/1066 MHz
Memory DIMM	4*DDR3(Max 32GB)
Expansion Slots	3PCI-Ex1+2PCI
ATA connector	4SATA 6Gb/s+4SATA 3Gb/s
ASTA RAID	RAID 0,1,5,10
USB	4USB3.0+12USB2.0
Audio	8-channel HD
1394 / LAN	2*1394a / GbE LAN
Features & Software	Touch BIOS, Smart Response,Lucid Virtu, mSATA, VRD12, On/Off Charge,Ultra Durable 3, Smart6, SLI+CrossFireX, DualBIOS 3TB+ HDD Support, Turbo XHD, Hotkey OC, Cloud OC, HDMI, Dolby Home Theater,108dB SNR Blu-ray, ErP Ready
Form Factor	ATX (305x244)

*The specification and pictures are subject to change without notice.

Owner Reviews, Ratings, Comments and Criticism
This is a very nice mother board, and the built-in SSD definitely speeds up disk access. One warning: If you're using it with an i5, be sure to update the BIOS and all the drivers and utilities as soon as possible. The BIOS version that came with mine (F2) was completely unstable under conservative settings. By unstable, I mean sending Firefox into an unresponsive state every few minutes, disk errors, and lockups. Updating the BIOS is fairly easy with GigaByte's @BIOS utility, but you it doesn't like to download the proper version. So download the BIOS to a file (F5 was the latest when I did this) and then have @BIOS use that file instead of the server. It has two RAID controllers, one by Intel that supports 5 drives (2 SATA III and 3 SATA II) in addition to the SSD, and one by Marvell that only supports 2 but adds a couple of SATA III ports to your system. Boot volumes can only be 2 TB in Windows 7, but non-boot volumes can be setup as GPTs that can be larger than 2 TB. I couldn't get the Marvell and Intel controllers running at the same time when both were in RAID mode, but that was before I updated the BIOS, so YMMV. The on-board video controller is nice, and the Lucid VIRTU driver works like a champ. My addon video card is a Radeon 5770, and I have three displays set as an extended desktop. This still works when the primary display is connected to the on-board video with the VIRTU driver installed.