MSI’s Z68A-GD80 (G3) features new circuitry and switches between the CPU socket and the x16 slots that will apparently allow the motherboard to operate at PCIe Gen 3 speeds. The problem seems confined to the switches that motherboard makers use to automatically divide the 16 PCIe lanes coming from the CPU into 1 x16 or 2 x8. MSI claims that when Ivy Bridge comes out, the Z68A-GD80 (G3) will be fully PCIe Gen 3 compliant.

Of course MSI had a Socket-2011 X79 motherboard on display in addition to a pair of Socket-FM1 Llano boards. I’m hearing late summer for the desktop Llano launch at this point.

Those of you waiting for Bulldozer performance results from Computex, I’m afraid we’re not going to see anything representative of final hardware. I did hear that the upcoming B2 stepping would restore performance to Bulldozer’s original targets, however it’s unclear how those compare to Sandy Bridge. The other thing I did hear at the show floor regarding Bulldozer was about its clock speed. Current B1 stepping parts are easily hitting 3.8GHz which is what the high end SKU may actually ship at (with turbo support up to 4.2GHz). I’m waiting for more confirmation but it sounds like Bulldozer will at least clock very high.

Intel had a number of Sandy Bridge motherboards on display that conform to the Thin Mini-ITX standard. Most of the boards use Intel’s H61 chipset.

The cooling system is also standardized. Below is an example of the cooling solution Intel will be selling in Q4 of this year:

Intel also had a number of all-in-one cases available. While most weren’t all that elegant looking, this model from Loop looked very Apple-like:

There were a number of DC power adapters on display, ranging from 150W to 180W. The power connector is also a standard.

Going forward as the majority of desktops move to even lower TDPs, these DIY all-in-one systems may end up becoming more popular. One major issue I see right away is the lack of support for discrete graphics. Go far enough into the future and perhaps that won’t be so important, but today it’s not fun driving a high resolution panel off of SNB integrated graphics. I do hope that as Intel pushes for this standard it doesn’t forget that discrete GPUs are still quite necessary for many users in 2011. Maybe we’ll eventually get that upgradable 27-inch iMac that I was asking for recently.

Both boards feature four SATA ports, WiFi and accept standard ATX power (4-pin 12V and 8-pin 12V connectors on the B and A models, respectively).

The A model has two HDMI outputs and one miniDP out, while the B model has two DVI, HDMI and one DP output thanks to the on-board GT 430.

The new board, dubbed the Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3-iSSD, uses Intel’s new Z68 chipset and will feature a tiny m-SATA SSD module that effectively functions as a small Intel Solid State Drive 311.

‘We are thrilled to deliver the world’s first motherboard to come pre-bundled with an Intel SSD 311,’ said Richard Chen, vice president of worldwide sales and marketing for Gigabyte. ‘The Z68XP-UD3-iSSD is the easiest way for [Gigabyte customers] to instantly take advantage of the performance boost [of Intel Smart Response].’

We’ve tested Intel’s Smart Response technology and found that it successfully delivered SSD speeds for commonly used data.

The only concern was whether the technology was appropriate for a high-end motherboard, although Gigabyte’s UD3 branding indicates that this board may be keenly priced. We’ve asked Gigabyte for pricing information, but haven’t had a response yet.

With only one chipset, which is located in the typical Southbridge position, Gigabyte has placed the m-SATA connection in the historical location of the Northbridge. This is clever thinking, as the SSD is just a bunch of ICs on a PCB – you won’t need to swap the SSD in and out, and it won’t clash with connectors or cards there either.

Elsewhere the board looks fairly typical. It uses Gigabyte’s blue and white colour scheme (the company’s high-end boards are black these days), but still uses the chunky, curved heatsinks that look a bit like the power stations of Hoth.

Given the UD3 branding, we were surprised to see a chunky heatsink on the VRMs and the overwhelming number of features advertised on the box. With two 16x PCI-E slots, three 1x PCI-E slots and a pair of PCI slots – plus four SATA 6Gbps ports and at least a pair of USB 3 ports – it’s hard to see where Gigabyte has skimped. There’s even Lucid Virtu support, if you fancy trying it