Counting Down to 2011 - Sandy Bridge Motherboards Preview

Counting Down to Intel's Sandy Bridge

It's hardly a secret among the tech savvy that Intel's next-gen processors, codenamed Sandy Bridge, will be making its grand entrance in early January, most likely at CES 2011. For months now, Intel has been slowly teasing details about these new processors, with the biggest nugget of information revealed at this fall's IDF (Intel Developers Forum).

The successor to its current Intel Core family of processors, Sandy Bridge will be built on Intel's 32nm manufacturing process with a new ring architecture that's arguably designed with one thing in mind - integrating a graphics processor within the CPU die. It's a further step along the path of integration that Intel has been taking in recent years and promises the best integrated graphics from Intel ever. We highly recommend that you take a moment to read our  to get a quick idea of what Sandy Bridge is all about.

In any case, the actual launch may be more than a month away, but the supporting hardware ecology, the all-important chipsets, Intel's P67 and H67 Express chipsets and their motherboards are prepped and ready. In this article, we'll be taking an early look at some of these boards. In fact, it's very likely that you can get these motherboards from retail stores on launch day if not earlier.

Among the features that you can expect from these motherboards, besides each manufacturer's proprietary technologies, are USB 3.0 (from NEC/Renesas) and SATA 6Gbps ports, dual-channel DDR3 memory architecture and multi-GPU support (for the Intel P67 Express based boards at least). Legacy devices are also kept to a minimum, with the PS/2 interface retained mostly, but there's no more IDE support at least. As for the rest, well, read on!

Due to Intel's restrictions before its big day in January 2011, we can only talk about the motherboard features and not so much on the chipset and processor.

ASUS Reveals New Motherboard Technologies for 2011

Before we get to the motherboards, ASUS took the opportunity recently to unveil some of the latest features that will be found on its new motherboards next year. While some are refinements of existing features that enthusiasts who have used ASUS products should be familiar with, there are some that will change how you use your motherboard, particularly with ASUS including an EFI BIOS that makes quite the visual difference from the usual bland and keyboard-centric BIOS.

Since EFI supports a shell environment complete with a graphical user interface that you can navigate easily with a mouse, that's the first real difference you'll find using the BIOS on supported boards from ASUS in the future. There's potential for more with such a BIOS, like preloading device drivers, but at the moment, it has the usual features and options of existing ASUS BIOS, but tidied up and made more user-friendly. 

The other important new development is what ASUS calls its 'Dual Intelligent Processors 2', which consists of its digital power design known as Digi+VRM and its TPU (Turbo Processor). As its name suggest, ASUS is going fully digital with its power design for these new motherboards, with the company touting more precise adjustment and greater stability as the main benefits from having a digital VRM controller. Meanwhile, its TPU is additional hardware IC that does auto-overclocking of the processor and the integrated graphics on the Sandy Bridge processors.

On a side note, fans of ExpressGate will be disappointed to know that ASUS has removed this feature, quoting its low popularity among users as a reason. They however left the option of a return open, depending on user feedback.

Of course, ASUS also took the chance to show off some of these new, upcoming boards and we have captured some of the more interesting ones below:

ASUS P8P67 Deluxe

Now that we have glimpsed some of the motherboard features and technologies from ASUS next year, let's take a look at one of those boards that will actually have them. The ASUS P8P67 Deluxe is probably ASUS' highest end P67 motherboard outside of its Republic of Gamers (ROG) series. It comes with those touted features, like the EFI BIOS, the digital power design and the hardware chip for auto-tuning. It also comes with a built-in Bluetooth module for ASUS' BT GO! feature. Along with all these new features, you'll find ASUS' usual features that are too numerous to list here, from minor ones like Q-Connector to more useful ones like our favorite EZ Flash 2 utility.

In terms of the hardware, you'll find that ASUS has designed for three PCIe x16 slots, though only the first two slots are multi-GPU capable (dual at x8/x8, single at x16 and both ATI and NVIDIA supported) with the last slot (in black) at x4 mode. The Intel P67 Express chipset provides two SATA 6Gbps ports with four SATA 3Gbps ones. This is complemented by ASUS with two more SATA 6Gbps from a Marvell 9128 controller and an additional two eSATA 3Gbps port from a JMicron controller.

You'll also find dual Gigabit LAN, another sign of the 'Deluxe' nature of this board. Audio is provided by a Realtek ALC889 HD CODEC, which is pretty standard on motherboards. Despite the presence of dual NEC USB 3.0 controllers for a total of four USB 3.0 ports (two at the rear, two more via a separate front panel unit), FireWire is retained. Of course, there are many USB 2.0 ports courtesy of the chipset, with eight alone at the rear.

Overall, the design and features are very similar to ASUS' last-gen P55 boards, which is not surprising given the way Intel has been designing its chipsets. Discrete graphics is still required for this chipset and this board supports the necessary multi-GPU technologies. If you liked (and we did) the layout of ASUS' older boards, you'll find it to be more of the same. We didn't see any obvious issues, with the PCIe x16 slots spaced properly and the low-profile heatsinks should make it even easier for those with larger, third-party coolers. However, like ASUS boards in the past, you may have to fork out a bit more compared to some other brands.

ECS P67H2-A

ECS has managed to raise its enthusiast profile with its more extreme, Black series in recent years, like this and continuing with this trend, it has pulled out another Black motherboard bristling with premium features and components. In fact, looking at the packed PCB, we can pick out touches and details that could be seen as 'inspired' by the competition. However, that's all part of the industry as the good ideas eventually make their way to all board vendors though implementation may be a different story.

First, this ECS P67H2-A comes with a Lucid Hydra chip onboard. That's right, Lucid has found its wares becoming more popular since MSI first featured it in its Fuzion series and ECS has followed suit with this chip that allows for the installation of non-homogeneous graphics cards (meaning you can now mix and match between ATI and NVIDIA graphics cards for multi-GPU performance, provided you're running Windows 7 OS). For this board, you can have up to three such graphics cards, due to its three PCIe 2.0 x16 slots (in a x16/x8/x8 configuration).

The first rule of premium boards - do things in pairs. Hence, the dual Gigabit LAN controllers from Realtek, dual NEC USB 3.0 controllers on this board. There are only four SATA 3Gbps and two SATA 6Gbps ports from the Intel chipset, but ECS has thrown in a Marvell controller for an extra two eSATA 6Gbps ports at the rear panel. HD audio is done by a Realtek ALC892 chip while ECS has ditched FireWire.

Despite a PCB that appeared to be cramped with features and onboard ICs, we found the overall layout to be quite well-done. ECS has managed to fit three PCIe 2.0 x16 slots for dual-slot graphics cards while ensuring that the SATA ports are aligned out of way. The power and reset buttons may be a touch close to the tangle of cables from the ATX power connector and SATA ports but it's again placed to avoid any interference. True, there are some onboard USB headers that may be affected by a third, dual-slot graphics card, but there are enough of them that it shouldn't matter.

Meanwhile, the heatsinks look a bit more heavy duty than the ASUS board, which hopefully can translate to lower temperatures. Overall, it looks pretty promising so far for ECS' P67H2-A.

Gigabyte P67A-UD3R

While the ASUS and ECS P67 boards we received for this preview appear to be targeting the higher end market segment, Gigabyte has sent us a more mainstream version. By virtue of its UD3R designation, you should know that it comes with less of the extras. Yet, the first thing you'll notice about it is its matte black PCB. Gigabyte has gone all mysterious and dark on us with its new boards and even the mainstream UD3R gets the same treatment.

It's something you either love or hate and although it has been done before, we don't believe it has been executed on such a scale. We have to say it does give the PCB a totally different impression with a more premium look and feel. As for the motherboard features, it doesn't seem to have changed much from the previous generation.

The usual Gigabyte technologies, like Dynamic Energy Saver, Ultra Durable 3 and DualBIOS are clearly labeled on the PCB. We didn't see any unfamiliar, new ones so we are assuming that it's the same set as the previous generation. Even the version numbers appear to be unchanged. Besides these proprietary ones, the hardware is also mainstream in nature. 

You'll find six SATA ports, the same four SATA 3Gbps and two SATA 6Gbps from the Intel P67 chipset. No extras like we said. The only addition is a NEC USB 3.0 controller for two USB 3.0 ports, which are found at the rear panel. The UD3R is only certified for ATI CrossFireX judging from the logos and the manual.  You can install up to two graphics cards into the two PCIe 2.0 x16 slot, but the second PCIe x16 slot actually runs at x4 and shares bandwidth with the PCIe x1 slots. So if you happen to install a PCIe x1 card, the second PCIe x16 degrades from x4 to x1.

Finally, there's just the single Gigabit LAN and the usual Realtek ALC892 HD CODEC. No onboard switches of any kind and even clearing the CMOS is done by shorting a pair of pins. As we said, this is a mainstream class board so don't expect the full dose of premium features.

The Gigabyte P67A-UD3R is indeed a mainstream board. We didn't agree with the layout of the SATA ports, but it should have little effect on users in real life given that it's unlikely that users will consider CrossFireX on this board. Of more concern to us is the seemingly lack of new or updated Gigabyte technologies on the UD3R. Is that a sign of things to come for its high-end enthusiast models too? We'll find out in due time.

MSI P67A-GD65

Going by MSI's recent naming conventions, there should be a higher-end GD80/85 in its lineup, but that makes this P67A-GD65 a moderately high-end model. The Taiwanese manufacturer has retained its less than attractive (in our opinion) dark brown PCB with blue and black highlights but the components look to have undergone some upgrades in order for MSI to christen it 'Military Class II' and 'OC Genie II'. From what we can tell, the component upgrades include what MSI calls 'super ferrite chokes' and hi-c capacitors. OC Genie II works in the same way as the original version - press and restart the system - but MSI mentions that it doesn't work with Sandy Bridge Core i3 processors due to architecture issues.

One distinct, unmistakable change is the presence of an EFI BIOS on the GD65. Known as ClickBIOS, it enables the use of the mouse as a navigation tool. And like the ASUS EFI BIOS, you'll find it a welcome change from the usual BIOS, with a more attractive user interface. From our brief glance, the BIOS options remain similar to previous MSI BIOS, just made more user-friendly.

As for this P67 motherboard, the hardware is above the average P67 board, though not to the extent of the ASUS or ECS boards seen in this preview. MSI has supplemented the standard SATA arrangements with an two extra SATA 6Gbps ports with a Marvell 9128 controller. A JMicron controller then adds two more eSATA at the rear panel. There are two NEC USB 3.0 controllers present for four more USB 3.0 ports and a front USB 3.0 bracket included. Like the previous three boards before, IDE support has been removed, which means slightly more PCB space.

MSI however has chosen a more mainstream option of two PCIe 2.0 x16 slots, with only the first PCIe x16 slot operating at x16 bandwidth effectively. The second slot is pegged at x8 bandwidth, even if you install just one graphics card in to the system. Both SLI and CrossFireX are supported but you're likely to get a x8/x8 configuration in multi-GPU configuration. This mainstream nature is also reflected in the heatsink design, which while connected with a heat-pipe, looks pretty laid back and simple.

This MSI board is sort of in between that of a high-end enthusiast P67 board and a more mainstream version. It strips out some of the less useful extras (subjective to each individual), like dual Gigabit LAN while having some enthusiast friendly features like voltage check points. Overall, it's a slight evolution of MSI's previous boards, with some improvements in the use of even higher quality components. The layout too looks fine and we didn't notice any issues, which is in line with our past experiences with MSI boards.

ECS H67H2-M

So far, we have been getting mostly P67 motherboards, but with more than a month to the actual launch, there's time for the H67 boards to roll in. As the new Intel processors all come with integrated graphics, looking at how that performs will be one of our main focus. Let's take a look at the first H67 board in our lab, the ECS H67H2-M.

Like the ECS P67H2-A, this H67 version is based on the Black series, though in a microATX form factor and with much less extreme features than the P67. It means that instead of two or three PCIe x16 slots, there's just the one if you require a discrete graphics card. Else, ECS has its '4most Display' feature, which is what it calls the quartet of DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort and VGA outputs at the rear I/O panel.

The board comes with two SATA 6Gbps ports (black) and three SATA 6Gbps ports (white) from the H67 chipset. EtronTech's USB 3.0 controller is included onboard by ECS for two USB 3.0 ports at the back instead of the more common NEC version. Like many boards, Realtek's ALC892 HD CODEC provides the onboard sound while another Realtek chip handles the Gigabit Ethernet. ECS managed to fit power and reset buttons onboard, with even a POST LED display. Clearing the CMOS is also made easy with a button at the rear I/O.

Besides the hardware, ECS also boasts some of its own proprietary features, like eJiffy, a Linux based, quick boot solution similar to ASUS' ExpressGate. Then there are two features or marketing terms that should be familiar to users of Gigabyte motherboards - EZ Charger, which helps to charge your USB devices faster by providing more current and Rapid 333, which is its umbrella term for supporting the faster USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps.

It's obvious that the microATX form factor and the different chipset limits the amount of premium features that can be added to this ECS board. The rear panel is packed by the four different display outputs so USB ports could be quite scarce and we recommend that you make full use of the onboard headers. While there are a decent amount of features and components onboard, there are no glaring layout issues and we look forward to putting the board to the test soon.

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