CES 2012: GIGABYTE Shows Off Their Z77 Motherboards

GIGABYTE Shows off their Z77 Motherboards

Though hesitating to reveal all the details concerning their next generation motherboard products for Ivy Bridge, GIGABYTE has provided Bjorn3D with some teasers. While trying to stay on top of their market shares, GIGABYTE realized the popularity of the current Z68 chipset, and pressed on for a more complex and elaborate chipset: the Z77. While the exact details of the chipset will be kept secret until the actual release, some of the basic features seen in previous generations will remain the same. The Z77 chipset is the main chipset for Ivy Bridge CPUs, especially since they will be fully compatible with PCI Express 3.0 and many similar features that the X79 chipset had to offer at a lower and more affordable price. From what we have seen, all the Z77 motherboards should come with the WiFi / Bluetooth 4.0 add-on adapters. The CPU and integrated GPU on the Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs will be driven by GIGABYTE's Digital CPU Engine which falls into their 3D Power category. However, certain things will surely be changed. After asking several questions concerning the consolidation of the software and combining of the OC features of the UEFI as well as the software, the Vice President of Motherboard Business Unit Raymond Tseng has clearly stated that the software will be modified to be even more user friendly. GIGABYTE is concerned with the users' feedback and is constantly trying to make new additions, one of the latest being the new 3D Bios that provides the user with a very simple picture of the motherboard explaining various components on the motherboard.

Now let us move unto the actual Z77 chipset motherboards. 

Here we have 5 different Z77 motherboards. While these are not final products, and there will be modifications done to the heatsink design and a few other minor areas of the board, this can give us an idea for what we should expect when the launch of Ivy Bridge comes closer. The G1.Sniper 3 will be GIGABYTE's next high-end gaming motherboard for the Z77 Ivy Bridge platform. We can see that GIGABYTE will continue using high-quality components and the Creative Audio chip on their gaming motherboards. We have also heard that the G1.Sniper 3 will also come with Dual LAN, one of which will be controlled by a Killer Gaming Network controller. The other will be a standard Intel-based LAN. It also looks like the G1.Sniper 3 will have a smaller form factor partner, the G1.Sniper M3, which will support up to 2-Way SLI and CrossfireX configuration, and will also have the integrated Creative Audio controller with high quality audio capacitors. This form factor should be nice for smaller cube-like systems that are easy to carry around to LAN parties and much more. 

Besides the gaming motherboards, there were several other motherboards shown. Both the Sniper motherboards and the GA-Z77X-UD3H will most likely come with an onboard SSD slot that can be used with Intel Smart Response technology. Finally, the motherboard that has been mentioned aside from the Z77 chipset is the B75M-D3H, designed for the remote management in business settings. GIGABYTE sees this motherboard as a prospective product for small businesses and will heavily focus on its distribution.