1 Chapter

1.3Special features

1.3.1Product highlights

LGA1155 socket for Intel® Second Generation Core™ i7 / Core™ i5 / Core™ i3 Processors

This motherboard supports the Intel® second generation Core™ i7 / Core™ i5 / Core™ i3 processors in LGA1155 package with memory and PCI Express controllers integrated to support 2-channel (4 DIMMs) DDR3 memory and 16 PCI Express 2.0 lanes. This provides great graphics performance. Intel® second generation Core™ i7 / Core™ i5 / Core™ i3 processors are among the most powerful and energy efficient CPUs in the world.

Intel® Z68 Express Chipset

The Intel® Z68 Express Chipset is the latest single-chipset design to support the new 1155 socket Intel® Core™ i7 / Core™ i5 / Core™ i3 second generation processors. It uses serial point-to-point links, which allows increased bandwidth and stability, and provides an improved performance. It also provides two SATA 6.0 Gb/s and four SATA 3.0 Gb/s ports for faster data retrieval at double the bandwidth of current bus systems. Moreover, Intel® Z68 Express Chipset also supports iGPU function, letting users enjoy the latest Intel integrated graphic performance.

Intel® Smart Response Technology

Intel® Smart Response Technology boosts overall system performance. It uses an installed fast SSD (min 18.6GB available capacity) as a cache for frequently accessed data. Harnesses the combination of SSD-like performance and response with hard drive capacity, running 4X faster than an HDD-only system.

*Intel® Smart Response Technology supports Windows® 7/ Vista operating systems.

**Intel® Smart Response Technology is supported by 2nd generation Intel® Core™ processor family.

***Operating systems must be installed on the HDD to launch Intel® Smart Response Technology. The capacity of the SSD is reserved for caching function.

Quad-GPU SLI™ and Quad-GPU CrossFireX™ Support

The motherboard’s powerful Intel® Z68 platform optimizes PCIe allocation in multiple-GPU configurations of either SLI™ or CrossFireX™. This allows you to enjoy a never before-experienced brand new gaming style.

Dual-Channel DDR3 2200(O.C.) / 2133(O.C.) / 1866(O.C.) / 1600 / 1333 / 1066 Support

The motherboard supports DDR3 memory that features data transfer rates of 2200(O.C.) / 2133(O.C.) / 1866 / 1600/ 1333 / 1066 MHz to meet the higher bandwidth requirements of the latest 3D graphics, multimedia, and Internet applications. The dual-channel DDR3 architecture enlarges the bandwidth of your system memory to boost system performance.

*Due to CPU behavior, DDR3 2200/2000/1800 MHz memory module will run at DDR3 2133/1866/1600 MHz frequency as default.

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Chapter 1: Product Introduction