Review: Asus P8Z68-V Pro Gen 3

When it comes to creating a quality motherboard very few manufacturers can match ASUS in regards to build quality, bios stability and overclocking capabilities. Today we are looking at their latest Asus P8Z68-V Pro Gen 3 Motherboard, based around the Z68 platform with full support for Quad SLI and Quad Crossfire graphics.

This motherboard features UASP mode, which stands for USB Attached SCSI Protocol. Asus say “With USB 3.0 Boost technology, a USB device’s transmission speed is significantly increased up to 170%, adding to an already impressive fast USB 3.0 transfer speed. ASUS software automatically accelerates data speeds for compatible USB 3.0 peripherals without the need for any user interaction.”

The board also has Dual Intelligent Processors with DIGI+ VRM support. As with many of the higher end ASUS motherboards it has 12 phase power for the processor and 4 phase power for iGPU. Today we plan on testing the board in an overclocked state, after all many people buying this board will be doing the very same thing.

How does the P8Z68-V Pro Gen 3 Motherboard handle in an automated overclocked state? If you aren’t a bios expert is there an ‘easy one switch’ setting to improve performance significantly?

Overview:

• Dual Intelligent Processors 2 with DIGI+ VRM Digital Power Design
• UEFI BIOS (EZ Mode) – Flexible & Easy BIOS Interface
• LucidLogix Virtu (Universal Switchable Graphics) – Auto Switching between Integrated Graphics and NVIDIA/AMD Cards
• Intel® Smart Response Technology – SSD Speed with HDD Capacity
• BT GO! (Bluetooth) – Diverse BT Enjoyment, New Technology Lifestyle
• GPU Boost – Push the Limits with iGPU Level Up!
• Quad USB 3.0/SATA 6Gb/s Support – Double Access, Double Convenience
• Quad-GPU SLI and Quad-GPU CrossFireX Support!

FINAL RATING: 9/10

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Review "CES 2012 Asus X79 Boards, Transformer TF700T Action"

Asus Transformer Prime TF700T

In a lavish suite at the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, Asus set up a number of existing an upcoming products for eager members of the technology press to ogle and get some hands-on time. In the suite, we had a chance to checkout a handful of upcoming X79 motherboards, nettops, netbooks, notebooks, and even a few tablets and a smartphone.

One of the standout products had to be the new Transformer Prime TF700T, which builds upon the original design we showed you here, but adds an absolutely awesome WUXGA 1920x1200 resolution screen, a higher-resolution front facing camera, and reportedly more reliable Wi-Fi performance. 

A video of the Transformer Prime TF700T is posted above. As you can see, the device offers silky smooth performance navigating through the various menus, thanks not only to NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 SoC, but enhancements coming with Android 4.03, a.k.a Ice Cream Sandwich, which was running on the device. Although better, quickly scrolling the web browser still resulted in some blank blocks and redraws.

  

What the video doesn’t clearly convey is how sharp and clear the 10.1” WUXGA screen really is. The Asus TF700T easily has the best screen we have ever come across on a tablet. The new front facing camera in the TF700T is upgraded from the original’s 1.2MP to a full 2MP, but we didn’t evaluate it on-site and can’t comment on its performance just yet.

The upgraded Asus Transformer Prime TF700T will be available sometime in Q1 and carries a $599 price tag for a 32GB model, $100 more than the original.

  

Also on display in Asus’ suite was the latest iteration of the PadFone device the company has been talking about for a while. This version of the phone was running Android Ice Cream Sandwich, however. If you’re unfamiliar with the PadFone, it’s essentially a smartphone that can be docked into the back of a larger tablet screen.

  

  

Asus’ new MeMO 370T 7” tablet was also on display, although solid information on this little puppy isn’t clear just yet. Asus sent out a press release the other day regarding the device, but we were told the specs would be changing before launch (Asus now plans to use NVIDIA’s Tegra in the device), with the goal of bringing the price down to around Kindle Fire levels.

A number of new netbooks were also available in the suite. What you see here are the upcoming Eee PC 1225C, 1025C, and X101CH. All three of these machines were based on Intel’s newest Atom processor platform, codenamed Cedar Trail, which is manufactured using Intel’s advanced 32nm processor and features a more powerful integrated GPU. The new platform also offers better overall performance and lower power consumption, so battery life should be much improved over current models. The machines will also offer interchangeable, colored lids, which are pictured here.

Thank's to hothardware.com for the review

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