oDiii - that link seems dead. But if these new GB mobos do have several fan controls, and if they are 4-pin (implying PWM control by some useful temperature parameter) - then it's a big step up.
I will be looking for an Ivy Bridge mobo soon, and have ruled out Gigabyte in the past because of their poor provisions for case fans. Asus does far better in that regard. Night and day, in fact. I'm glad at any prospect of GB improving here. Personally, I'd rather have serious fan controls than a second (or third!) graphics board PCIe slot.
My Gigabyte Z68 mobo has a 4-pin system fan but it can't control a PWM fan and there are no adjustments in the BIOS, so I won't be surprised if Gigabyte did the same in their Ivy Bridge mobos. Even Intel mobos are better in this regard.
Yeah, I would be somewhat surprised if the casefanheaders support pwm control. Currently, unlike the cpu-fanheader, the 4-pin casefanheaders on Giga mobo's aren't really pwm controlled (the 4th pin is not connected, it just sits there unused).
The 4-pin casefanheaders do offer support for voltage control on 3-pin fans so it's still a step up, because it were the 3-pin headers that offered no control at all, and they're gone now.
Unlikely. Cpu fan control is there, both for 3-pin and 4-pin pwm fans. But there is no control for casefans, the 4-pin header runs at 50% and the 3-pin headers at 100% continuously.
Socket 1155 will still be limited to 16 PCIe lanes going to the CPU. Boards with multiple physical x16 lanes either have them electrically limited (to x8 or x4) or are using something like the NF200 to give more lanes.
Looks like they've improved the spacing between PCI slots so that they are acutally usable. I have a Gigbyte X58A-UD7 2.0 and two of the slots are obstructed by the CPU (I have a i7 950) and auxillary on board cooler (which I ultimately removed) and they are so close together that even fanless cards can touch. The graphics card fan basically means it eats two slots. Even on these new cards it looks like long cards may still be challenged by the proximity of the slots to the CPU.
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gevorg - Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - link
I wonder if these new Gigabyte motherboards still lack basic case fan controlsoDii - Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - link
Looking at the pictures - all the fan ports are 4 pin so you'd certainly hope they were using the PWM connector for something.See http://www.formfactors.org/developer%5Cspecs%5C4_W...
Arbie - Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - link
oDiii - that link seems dead. But if these new GB mobos do have several fan controls, and if they are 4-pin (implying PWM control by some useful temperature parameter) - then it's a big step up.I will be looking for an Ivy Bridge mobo soon, and have ruled out Gigabyte in the past because of their poor provisions for case fans. Asus does far better in that regard. Night and day, in fact. I'm glad at any prospect of GB improving here. Personally, I'd rather have serious fan controls than a second (or third!) graphics board PCIe slot.
cyabud - Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - link
http://www.formfactors.org/developer%5Cspecs%5C4_W...gevorg - Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - link
My Gigabyte Z68 mobo has a 4-pin system fan but it can't control a PWM fan and there are no adjustments in the BIOS, so I won't be surprised if Gigabyte did the same in their Ivy Bridge mobos. Even Intel mobos are better in this regard.coffeejunkee - Friday, January 13, 2012 - link
Yeah, I would be somewhat surprised if the casefanheaders support pwm control. Currently, unlike the cpu-fanheader, the 4-pin casefanheaders on Giga mobo's aren't really pwm controlled (the 4th pin is not connected, it just sits there unused).The 4-pin casefanheaders do offer support for voltage control on 3-pin fans so it's still a step up, because it were the 3-pin headers that offered no control at all, and they're gone now.
MrSpadge - Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - link
Fan controls on my Gigabyte Z68 are fine. And I don't mean full throttle all the time..hechacker1 - Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - link
Yeah I have a Gigabyte X58 based board, and it has PWM fan controls. They work fine set on "automatic" speeds.coffeejunkee - Friday, January 13, 2012 - link
Unlikely. Cpu fan control is there, both for 3-pin and 4-pin pwm fans. But there is no control for casefans, the 4-pin header runs at 50% and the 3-pin headers at 100% continuously.MySchizoBuddy - Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - link
Did anyone launch a motherboard with atleast 6 FULL x16 PCI-E connectors.vectorm12 - Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - link
I sure hope so PCI needs to go the way of the dodo and quickly.Also I can't help but wonder why anyone would think to put VGA output on a 2012 MB?
MrSpadge - Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - link
Because corporations have been buying VGA-only monitors for ages to save a few cents over DVI equipped ones.cactusdog - Friday, January 13, 2012 - link
Sapphire has a board with 6 full pci-e slots, not sure if they're all electrically x16 though.Zap - Friday, January 13, 2012 - link
Socket 1155 will still be limited to 16 PCIe lanes going to the CPU. Boards with multiple physical x16 lanes either have them electrically limited (to x8 or x4) or are using something like the NF200 to give more lanes.carage - Friday, January 13, 2012 - link
Now which one of these won't catch fire like the UD3?Snootpelt - Sunday, February 19, 2012 - link
Looks like they've improved the spacing between PCI slots so that they are acutally usable. I have a Gigbyte X58A-UD7 2.0 and two of the slots are obstructed by the CPU (I have a i7 950) and auxillary on board cooler (which I ultimately removed) and they are so close together that even fanless cards can touch. The graphics card fan basically means it eats two slots. Even on these new cards it looks like long cards may still be challenged by the proximity of the slots to the CPU.jimmyzaas - Monday, February 27, 2012 - link
I hope they finally bring UEFI to their boards. That blue stuff is not pretty to look at.