If you bought the Intel Z77 chipset mainboard, one of the reasons you wanted it is because of embedded support of USB 3.0 in addition to other new features that are incorporated on board by the various manufacturers.

Unfortunately, the performance of USB 3.0 doesn’t seem to be on par or better than those using ASmedia chipset.

In fact, according to reports found in many forums, users have found that the speeds they achieved using an external USB enclosure to be far from expectation. For example, a sequential read usually gets around 220MB/s only garners 45MB/s when connected to the USB 3.0 port (intel z77) on the same motherboard.

Are you experiencing the same problems ? Discuss.

ASRock will showcase some of their new product line up at the Computex 2012 trade show.

(1) Record-breaking OC machine :Z77 OC Formula.

(2) World’s 1st 4-channel Thunderbolt mobo :Z77 Extreme6/TB4

(3) World’s most luxurious X79 mobo :X79 Extreme11

(4) AMD FM2 Socket Series

Motherboard Emperor : X79 Extreme11

The X79 Extreme11 is a premium motherboard using luxury material, applying high-class specification. Adding credits to overclocking, ASRock X79 Extreme11 adopts hefty 24 + 2 Power Phase Design which features tough components and smooth power deliver to the CPU. Unprecedentedly equipped with LSI™ SAS2308 chip, this feature-rich mobo provides maximum 10 sets of SATA3 connectors and 8 of the 10 can be used as SAS. Enthusiasts will also appreciate the onboard two PLX PEX 8747 bridges. Via PLX PEX bridges, ASRock X79 Extreme11 can run multi-GPU 4-Way SLI/CrossFireX at PCIe Gen3 x16/x16/x16/x16 mode without sacrificing anything.

For audio aspect, the onboardCreative Sound Core3Dquad-core sound and voice processor offers true-to-life sound experience, supports THX TruStudio PRO™ superior technology, CrystalVoice, EAX 1.0 to EAX 5.0 and Scout Mode™.

All-Rounder : Z77 Extreme9

The top-of-the-line Z77 Extreme9 motherboard combines luxury materials and overclockable configurations. The fancy LED designwas clad in air-channeling heatsink and south bridge, delivering effective heat dissipation.PLX PEX 8747 bridge allows this board to run 4-Way SLI / CrossFireX at full PCIe Gen3 x8 / x8 / x8 / x8 mode. The exclusive2T2R Dual Band WiFi802.11 a/b/g/n + BT v4.0 Module offers support for WiFi802.11 a/b/g/n connectivity standards and Bluetooth v4.0 and provide Dual Band frequency up to 2.4 / 5 GHz as well.Wi-SB BOXbrings superior WiFi and Bluetooth signal quality and even provides 2 front USB 3.0 ports.

Record-breaking OC Machine : Z77 OC Formula

In addition to a wide range of premium motherboard solutions, a must-see product at ASRock COMPUTEX 2012 isZ77 OC Formula. This is an overclocking-oriented motherboard which was developed by the world’s OC legacy performer, Nick Shih. The board opens up overclocking possibilities and gives you control opportunities in every way, featuring the most detailed and considerate design of any overclocking motherboard.

The soon-to-be-launched Z77 OC Formula provides serious compute power and shows off the true potential of a stock-clocked Z77 chipset. Nick Shih, ASRock’s exclusive OC master, just submitted several record-breaking overclocking results which are raked No.1 position at HWBOT. The unbeatable OC performance includes following:

World’s 1st 4-Channel Thunderbolt Mobo: Z77 Extreme6/TB4

This year, Thunderbolt™ should be the hottest topic at COMPUTEX. ASRock Z77 Extreme6/TB4 adopts 2 Thunderbolt ports which is first motherboard supporting 4-Channel Thunderbolt technology in the world. Compared to other Thunderbolt-ready motherboards with only 1 port, the unprecedented Z77 Extreme6/TB4 provides 2 ports. Based on ASRock exclusive hardware design, this board allows one port to be connected to the onboard graphics and the other one can be used for discrete graphics card.

What’s Hot : AMD FM2 Series

At ASRock’s powerhouse, visitors can also get a fresh look of AMD’s new FM2 socket motherboards. For the imminent launch of the next generation of AMD FM2 platform, ASRock will present its most powerful APU motherboard series based on the upcoming FM2 socket. New lineup includes one ATX and two micro ATX mobos – FM2A75 Pro4, FM2A75 Pro4-M and FM2A75M-DGS.

SERVER/WORKSTATION

Build Up The Best Server/WorkStation

Dedicated to your business! ASRock make its debut of Server/Workstation motherboards at COMPUTEX 2012. New mobos include EN2C602-4L, E3C204-V, E3C204-4L and H77WS-DL.

Server segment is nothing new – but ASRock takes this seriously. Our comprehensive motherboard packages support 24/7 hours/days non-stop operation and 24-month life cycle guarantee supply. The premium quality is assured by rigorous testing during development as well. Creating the ultimate server/workstation is more than running a box of hard drives – it’s about the software, how the hardware is configured, and how the box is connected and accessed. ASRock Server/Workstation motherboard series include everything essential that will surely serve pretty much all your needs!

IPC MOTHERBOARD

Productivity, Stability, Reliability

ASRock IPC Motherboard Series can be widely used for any kind of industrial usages. From KIOSK, gaming machine panel PC, retail & POS to surveillance…, getting more from the motherboard has never been easier. Coupled with top-end hardware components, premium software utilities and APIs, ASRock IPC Motherboard Series are surely the best solution to build up a successful business. More to the point, ASRock provides long-term and stable supply, even bundles 2 year warranties, we are confident to deliver high performance after-sales service as well.

HTPC

Sweet Home Starts Here : VisionX, Vision HT, MINI Series

ASRock new HTPC series is a combination of primo materials, overwhelming performance and sophisticated design that will turn your living room into the center of attraction and enhance family bonds.

Small in stature, theASRock VisionX Series packs a very hefty punch. Supporting Intel’s 3rd Generation Core Processors, AMD Radeon™ HD7850M graphics and AMD HD3D Technology, VisionX Series offers the incredible performance that every user deserves. It’s also equipped with BD Combo, 2T2R Dual-Band WiFi a/g/b/n/ design, THX TruStudio and Bistream audio, VisionX Series delivers 3D entertainment in stunning HD quality effortlessly.

Ultra-thin, ultra-silent and ultra-powerful,Vision HT Series supports Intel Mobile Ivy Bridge Processor, Bistream, THX TruStudio, BT v4.0, Dual-Band WiFi and Intel HD Graphics that will take center stage at your home! Based on AMD E2-1800 APU with AMD Radeon™ HD7340 graphics, ASRock MINI Series can let users get a richer and more immersive HD enjoyment.

If you want home theater furniture that performs as good as it looks, and the choice is obvious. Only ASRock HTPC Series combines stunning beauty and thoughtfully engineered features like MCE remote-friendly controller, superior WiFi and BT 4.0 design and excellent graphics solutions to create furniture that perfectly integrates technology into you home.

It has been reported that a few brands of SSDs doesn’t seem to work very well with Intel Z77 boards. According to reports online, OCZ SSDs seems to be affected. In some instances, it cannot be recognised in the BIOS or it could only be recognised at the first instance and disappear on reboot.

In our case, we experienced weird installation issues on our Kingston SSDNow V series on an ASRock Z77 board. The Windows 7 USB stick is able to install on two HDDs with an older BIOS but fails with the latest. As for the SSD, it sometimes can be detected and sometimes disappear on reboot.

So is this an isolated case ? Will a BIOS fix solve the problem?

Post your comments below or in the forum at http://forums.ocworkbench.com

ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 Intel Z77 chipset motherboard review
bluetooth 20 May 2012

Sabertooth is the top range motherboard from ASUS. The Z77 chipset series of motherboards supercedes the Intel Z68 chipset which support the Intel LGA 1155 Socket type processors. In fact, the major changes would be the native USB 3.0 and PCIe 3.0 support.

The Intel Z77 Express chipset supports 3rd generation 22nm and 2nd generation core i7/i5/i3 LGA1155 socket type processors. It supports the Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0. As for memory, it is a dual channel memory architecture. The board itself suppots 4 Dimm with a max of 32GB of DDR3-1866/1600/1333/1066MHz. XMP profiles are also supported.

The Z77 supports 2 SATA 6Gbps ports (brown) with RADI 0,1,5,10 while 4 SATA 3Gb/s ports (black) wuth RAID 0,1,5,10. The board supports Intel SRT and Intel Rapid Start Technology.

As for expansion, the board comes with 2 PCIe 3.0 x16 slot (single at x16, dual at x8/x8), 1 PCIe 2.0 x16, 3 PCIe 2.0 x1. The three graphics card slots supports NVIDIA Quad SLI and AMD Quad CrossFireX. The board also supports LucidLogix Virtu MVP Technology.

In addition, ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 uses ASmedia 1061 SAtA controler to support an addition 2 SATA 6Gbps port (grey and 2 eeSATA 6GB/s ports (red). The Audio is power by Realtek ALC 892 while the GbE is powered by Intel 82579V controller.

The board uses a New DIGI+ Power Control includes multiple digital voltage controllers, allowing ultra-precise modulation and tuning for CPU, iGPU, and DRAM. This innovative and industry-leading ASUS technology provides an extremely accurate voltage tuning for better efficiency, stability, and performance. With the next generation Intel VRD 12.5 future power design, CPU wattage can be decreased by half, creating a cooler and quieter PC. This innovation of industry-leading ASUS technology provides the smartest control for better power saving scenarios

As we mentioned before, the Z77 supports native USB 3.0. On this board, the Z77 supports 4 ports, 2 at mid board and 2 at back panel. Both supports Boost UASP mode. There are two additional USB 3.0 supported by ASmedia 1042 chipset, they are 2 of them labelled with blue at the back panel. In additional, the Z77 chipset support 10 USB 2.0 (6 at mid board and 4 at back (black)).

Similar to previous TUF boards, the SABERTOOTH Z77 uses the TUF Thermal Armour that covers the entire board with dual turbo fans directing cool air to critical parts and dissipating heat faster for better stability. TUF components that are certified by Military standard are used on board for heavy duty, stability use. There are also multiple sensors on board which provides information to Thermal Radar. Fan Overtime keeps dfans running after shutdown for extra heat removal while Fan off disables cooling if temperatures are low, reducing power consumption.

The SABERTOOTH Z77 is backed with a 5 years warranty which is not available on other boards.

See next page for unboxing video and detail pictures of the board

BIOSTAR TZ77XE4 Introdution
bluetooth 5 May 2012

Biostar TZ77XE4 is the flagship product from BIOSTAR featuring the latest Intel Z77 chipset.

Packaged in a black/orange colour scheme colour box, it’s eye catching and you wouldn’t want to miss the chance to explore what they have in store on this new board.

Featuring the Intel Z77 chipset, this motherboard supports the third generation core i3, i5 and i7 LGA1155 socket type processors. The motherboard supports 4 DIMM slots supporting up to DDR3-2600(OC). It also has 1 x eSATA, 4x SATA 3Gbps, 4x SATA 6Gbps ports supporting RAID 0,1,5,10, ISRT. Other than that, USB 3.0 is now native to the Intel chipset rather than reliant on a seperate chipset to power USB 3.0.

Similar to the Z68, the graphics engine of the processor can be used to power the system. Alternatively there are 2 x PCI-E x16 3.0 Slot (SLi / CFX x8), 1 x PCI-E x16 2.0 Slot (x4). There are also 1 x PCI-E x1 2.0 Slot and 2 x PCI Slots available. It supports both AMD CrossFireX and NVIDIA SLI. On board LAN is a Realtek RTL8111E GbE and audio is a ALC898 8 ch bluray audio.

In fact, this are standard on most Z77 boards. The more important features include the Virtu Universal MVP which enables one to tap the power of the internal video engine of the processor for speeding up the video transcoding, video display and vSync. This is especially true for the case of Virtu MVP Hyperformance which we will explore in the benchmark section of the review, comparing the effects of it on both Core i5-2500K and Core i5-3570K.

For system stability, BIOSTAR uses a 13 phase power phase design and 100% solid caps for the mainboard for lasting life cycle, durability and stability.

For audio, the audio chip supports THX truStudio PRO, allowing you to experience the audio effected in live performances, films and recoding studios.

Other features include BIO-Remote2 (for controlling the PC via iPhone or Android phone) and Charger Booster for quick charge iPhone, iPad. TOverclocker tool is also included for overclocking the board within Windows. The BIOS is a UEFI GUI based BIOS too.

On the next few pages, we will have a look at the mainboard, BIOS, chips followed by benchmarks and conclusion.

One of the new features on Intel Z77 boards is the Virtu HyperFormance. In fact, this is something similar to the past whereby you can mix and match ATi and NVIDIA card to speed up the 3D performance. Instead of having two physical cards, Virtu HyperFormance uses the Graphics cores of the Intel processor to speed up the 3D performance.

So, how much improvement can be achieve. Click the link below for the answer :

Link

BIOSTAR Launches TZ77A Enthusiast-level overclocking motherboard.

Taipei, Taiwan, April 3, 2012 – BIOSTAR MICROTECH INT’L CORP., BIOSTAR Group, famous for high performance motherboards, graphics cards, industrial computing systems and computer peripherals, has launched the new TZ77A motherboard based on the new Intel Z77 chipset. This motherboard supports Intel’s 3rd and 2nd generation Core i7 and Core i5 processors based on the socket 1155. It supports up to 32 GB of DDR3 memory in its four slots with possibility to overclock it from 1333 MHz to 2000 MHz! The board looks stylish with its black PCB, grey heatsinks, and nicely contrasting orange slots.
Multiple graphics cards are supported for excellent gaming performance with ATI CrossFireX supporting two or more graphics cards at a time. It also features 3D video output using the HDMI port compliant with version 1.4 for watching Blu-ray 3D movies. The 8-phase power design provides amazing stability while overclocking the system allowing it to achieve the best performance at the lowest temperature, while the 100% solid capacitors last much longer than ordinary capacitors, thus increasing the life of the motherboard. A Rapid Switch 2 is a set of switches present on the motherboard to easily shut down and restart your system, while Rapid Debug 3 LEDs indicate information code indicating the current state of the system, which can be useful for debugging errors.

In addition to four SATA 3 Gb/s ports, there are two more SATA 6 Gb/s ports for faster storage devices. Peripheral and storage devices can be connected to the six USB 2.0 High Speed and three USB 3.0 Super Speed ports. Home theatre affection also benefit by the7.1-channel Blu-Ray Audio that can recreate theatre-like sound at up to 24 bit/192KHz right in your living room with the latest Blu-ray titles. Clean Tone 2 technology ensures very low noise level in the output audio with a signal to noise ratio of over 98dB.

Some of the other features of the TZ77A are BIO-Remote 2 Technology, which lets users control the PC remotely, using an Android mobile or Apple device. Power consumption is kept in check by BIOSTAR G.P.U. (Green Power Utility) Technology, while overclocking is handled by BIOSTAR Toverclocker utility. Charger Booster technology can charge your Apple devices up to 42% faster. BIO-Flasher helps effortlessly update your BIOS from any connected storage drive, while BIO-ReLife Technology can recover the system from a USB flash drive even if the BIOS gets corrupted. Users can get easy technical support using the eHot-Line utility, which automatically and instantly sends support request to BIOSTAR Globe tech support.

http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=580

Singapore (April 8, 2012) — In its fifth successivegeneration, ASUS ROG has launched its Maximus V Series motherboards withthe Maximus V GENE. This micro ATX powerhouse is built using the latestIntel® Z77 chipset, which supports Intel 3rd and 2nd Generation LGA1155processors and PCI-Express Gen-3 for single or multi-GPU. The Republic ofGamers team has endeared the black and red styled Maximus V GENE withexclusive features such as the Extreme Engine DIGI+ II™, SupremeFXIII™ gaming audio, Intel® Ethernet with ROG GameFirst and thenewly added mPCIe Combo™ card.

Give Your PC A Power Up With The ROG Exclusive mPCIe Combo™Card

The mPCIe Combo card is a new innovation by the ROG team, combining thetwin functions of mPCIe with mSATA into a single, extensible add-in cardthat still allows full use of the PCI-Express slots for multi-GPU graphics.With the addition of an mSATA SSD for use with Intel® Smart ResponseTechnology or simply installing the entire OS, this frees up standard SATAports for other uses. The combination of a standard mPCIe socket on theother side allows unique upgrades such as WiFi, Bluetooth, 3G/4G, GPS andother connectivity.

Achieve Better Overclocking From Premium Hardware With An OptimizedDesign

The Maximus V GENE is true to the Republic of Gamers core, as amotherboard built for overclocking. Featuring the upgraded Extreme EngineDIGI+ II™ that includes 8+4+2 phase (CPU, iGPU, DRAM) and precisedigital power control from two DIGI+ controllers combined with ROG UEFIBIOS functions, such as the new pre-configured memory IC profiles, yield afantastic overclocking experience for enthusiasts.

Its 10k Black Metallic capacitors offer a 5x longer lifespan with 10khours at 105C, and 20% better low temperature endurance –specifically selected for extreme cooling scenarios. The DRAM trace layouthas also been further optimized over the previous Maximus IV generation toallow even higher frequencies as well.

SupremeFX III™ Sound – Premium Gaming Audio That TakesSNR To The 110dB Redline

Designed to bring gamers the best possible integrated audio, theSupremeFX III™ sound is a wholly separate sound PCB, identified byits ‘redline’ adjoining the main GENE motherboard. SupremeFXShielding technology maximizes the audio quality by further isolating theaudio processing from EMI, encasing the chipset under an aluminum cap.Combined with a large 1500uF buffer capacitor to provide sufficient energyto even the loudest sounds, SupremeFX III™ attains a lossless audioof up to 110dB SNR.

The addition of X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity, EAX Advanced HD 5.0, CreativeAlchemy and THX TruStudio PRO complete the lineup of audio technologies onoffer.

Intel Ethernet, ROG GameFirst and LucidLogix Virtu MVP

Intel® Ethernet and ROG GameFirst software combines up to 35% savingin CPU usage with network traffic prioritizing, while LucidLogix Virtu MVPsupport enables a new hybrid graphics mode that boosts overall GPUperformance by up to 60%.

For more detailed information, please visit http://rog.asus.com.

Maximus V GENE Spec Overview
CPU
Intel® Socket 1155 for 3rd and 2nd   Generation Intel®Core™ Processors.
Chipset
Intel® Z77
Memory
Dual channel; 4 x DIMM, max. 32GB, DDR32800(O.C.)/2666(O.C.)/2600(O.C.)/2400(O.C.)/2200(O.C.)/2133(O.C.)/1866(O.C.)/
1600/1333/1066 MHz
PCIe
2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8,   red)

1 x PCIe 2.0 x4 (black)

1 x mini-PCIe 2.0 x1 on mPCIe ComboTM
Multi-GPU
Support 2-Way NVIDIA® SLI™   / AMD CrossFireX™Technology / LucidLogix® Virtu™ MVP Technology
Graphic   output
HDMI/DisplayPort ports
LAN
Gigabit Intel® Ethernet LAN
USB
6 x USB 3.0; 8 x 2.0 ports
Storage
4 x SATA 6Gb/s ports

2 x SATA 3Gb/s ports

1 x eSATA 3Gb/s ports

1 x mini-SATA 3Gb/s ports on mPCIe ComboTM

More details of the board can be found here.

CeBIT 2012- G.SKILL displays the extreme dual channel DDR3 memory kits compatible with the latest Z77 motherboards.

March 6th 2012. G.SKILL, the worldwide leading high performance memory designer, has showcased the extreme dual channel memory kits, DDR3 2133MHz 32GB (4x8GB), compatible with the latest Z77 motherboards at CeBIT 2012.

Working closely with leading motherboard manufacturers, G.Skill is ready to provide PC enthusiasts the best dual channel memory for the upcoming Z77 motherboards. On the MSI Z77A-GD65 and ASRock Z77 Extreme6 motherboards, G.Skill has demonstrated the 32GB super size memory kits at DDR3 2133MHz ultra high speed with Intel Core i7 2600K processors.

“It’s just a warm-up. We are working on some faster memory kits and they will be released soon. It’s going to be an exciting time” said Paul Chen, senior R&D manager at G.Skill.

For those of you who are waiting to upgrade to the next generation of processor the ivy bridge (desktop), the good news is that motherboards will go on sale in early April worldwide.

In fact, sources revealed that most have begun shipping orders to their distributors and are ready. They are mostly waiting for the green light.

As the board is backward compatible with existing LGA 1155 processors. You can use existing processor first on the new board.

The Z77 chipset supports 22nm Ivy Bridge processors, native support for the high-speed USB 3.0 interface and fast SSD caching with the Intel Smart Response Technology (SRT). The new Ivy bridge processors supports the new CPU core supports DX11 video and HDMI 3D Visual Interface for stereo content. With Lucid Virtu, it is able to tap the power of the embedded video for quicker compression and encoding of video.

So, will you be upgrading this April ?

* When quoting our news please quote us as OCWorkbench in full and not OCW. Thanks.

BIOSTAR TZ77XE4 Motherboards on the Latest Intel Z77 Chipset
Everything for the Best and Stable Performance

February, 2012, Taipei Taiwan – BIOSTAR, the world’s famous manufacturer of mainboards, graphics cards, industrial computing systems and computer peripherals, proudly announces the BIOSTAR TZ77XE4 motherboards in conjuction with CeBIT 2012. BIOSTAR TZ77XE4 has many “first” as TZ77XE4 series boards houses a great deal of first time innovative technologies not found even on premium desktop solutions.

The TZ77XE4 boards are based on the latest Intel Z77 chipset, which for the first time incorporates tri-gate transistors manufactured using the 22-nm fab process which, for the first time, delivers a native support for the high-speed USB 3.0 interface and fast SSD caching with the Intel Smart Response Technology (SRT). Fully compatible with the second-generation Intel Core CPUs (Sandy Bridge), the new boards for the first time support the third generation Intel Core CPUs codenamed Ivy Bridge, also manufactured with the 3D-transistors using the 22-nm fab process and designed for the popular LGA 1155 socket.

The new Intel Core CPUs deliver an unprecedented performance level with moderate power consumption, and the integrated graphics core for the first time supports a lot of unique display technologies including the DirectX 11 and the integrated HDMI 3D Visual interface for stereo content of various 3D formats.

For the first time, the TZ77XE4 boards feature the universal Display Port interface as a standard function. This is an integrated solution for serial packet data transfer to display with the same principle used in other serial interfaces like Ethernet, USB and PCI Express. The boards also support other traditional video interfaces like HDMI and DVI with the HDCP technology. Thanks to the support of three x16 lines of the latest PCI-E 3.0 interface for the first time integrated into the processor, with the performance up to 8 Gtexel/s, which is twice higher than the PCI-E 2.0, the boards let you use any multi-core discrete graphics like the NVIDIA SLI or the AMD CrossfireX with high performance in demanding 3D applications. Additional peripherals are supported with two PCI and one PCI-E x1 ports.

For the first time in the consumer desktop systems, the TZ77XE4 boards demonstrate support up to 32GB of dual-channel DDR3 RAM, including overclocking DDR3-2400 modules. Besides, the boards support up to four SATA2 drives and up to four SATA 3.0 drives with astonishing performance up to 600 MB/s (up to 4.8 Gbit/s of uncoded data) which can be arranged in the RAID 0,1,5 or 10 arrays. The boards support up to eight USB 2.0 and four USB 3.0 ports. The speedy GbE LAN interface delivers a high speed for local and external network resources.
For the first time the BIOSTAR boards for the third-gen Intel Core CPUs fully realized the new BIOS, with the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI BIOS), which delivers high flexibility and easy setup for basic settings thanks to the intuitive graphics interface.

The high-quality sound is realized with the latest integrated 8+2-channel HD codec and the THX TruStudio Pro technology specially developed by Creative and THX for delivering acoustic impressions usually associated with live music, movies or studio sound. Besides, for the first time the new boards feature the Puro Tone – 110dB technology which delivers high authenticity of multi-channel sound with extremely effective noise reduction, with the SNR of 110 dB.

With the launch of the TZ77XE4 BIOSTAR demonstrates the successive development of its technologies meant to increase performance, stability and service life of products. The new boards feature reliable solid-state capacitors, and the power supply circuits for the first time use a 13-phase regulating system which is critical for overclockable systems.

The Virtu Universal MVP software suite, introduced for the first time and based on the virtualized Lucid Virtu GPU software, delivers fast processing of video and media content with the Hyperformance function with the minimal load on all critical system components.

The universal T-overclocker Windows utility, which is popular with overclockers, includes several powerful tools for fine system tuning and controlling CPU performance, memory, fan speeds etc. The BIOSTAR G.P.U (Green Power Utility) considerably cuts down power consumption in case of light CPU load. The boards support the BIO-Remote2 technology for remote control of multimedia PC functions with Android and Apple gadgets.

According to a report on digitimes, Intel plans to launch three new 7 series chipsets – Z77, Z75 and H77, supporting its upcoming 22nm Ivy Bridge-based CPUs and the existing 32nm Sandy Bridge-based CPUs, in March or April 2012. For the enterprise market, Intel is set to launch Q77, Q75 and B75 chipsets with new vPro technologies to replace its existing Q67, Q65 and B65 chipsets, according to sources from motherboard makers.

The Z77 and Z75 will both support CPU overclocking functionality. All three chipsets will have integrated audio supporting HDMI/DP audio output, and will provide two SATA 6Gbps ports, supporting Intel Smart Response technology as well as four USB 3.0 ports, and 10 USB 2.0 ports.

The Q77 and Q75 chipsets provide four USB 3.0 and 10 USB 2.0 ports, while B75 chipsets provide only eight USB 2.0 ports. Q77 features two SATA 6Gbps ports with Q75 and B75 both only featuring one. Of the three chipsets, only Q77 supports Intel Smart Response technology.

For its next-generation notebook platform Chief River, Intel is set to launch QS77, QM77, HM77, HM76 and HM75 in March and April 2012.

Intel is also set to ship its high-end X79 chipset in August.