So I finally returned my B2 motherboard today. Question is, which new motherboard should I get? I'm obviously leaning towards the new Z68X-UD5, but I'm a little disappointed the new touch bios is only accessible from Windows. So in my mind, it's between the Z68X-UD5 and the P8Z68 Deluxe (which I don't believe is even out yet). I suppose this is really a question of Asus or Gigabyte?How do you guys like the Asus EFI bios?

Personally I use the keyboard all the time in the BIOS, and so long as it does it job, don't give a **** for the looks. I would think that all these Z68 boards will use the same base BIOS than P67 ones so I guess there shouldn't be any major bugs, but who knows.

How do you guys like the Asus EFI bios?

I really like it.

How is LLC on the Asus boards? Any tendencies to over-volt or under-volt?

How is LLC on the Asus boards? Any tendencies to over-volt or under-volt?

In my board, you have these options:Auto, Regular (0%), Medium (25%), High (50%), Ultra High (75%), Extreme (100%)With Ultra High Vdroop is cancelled, while High will result in a slight Vdroop (0.01 - 0.02V)Extreme is what I use for negative Vdroop, so Vcores adjusts with variable load

I find it quite nice against these old grey-black ones.

Personally I use the keyboard all the time in the BIOS, and so long as it does it job, don't give a **** for the looks.

I completely agree with this generally, but I've decided if P67 wasn't the time to migrate away from DOS style BIOS, then Z68 certainly is. I don't know why Gigabyte is being so stubborn. I think the quote below from Overclock3D's Z68X-UD5 review sums up my feelings toward it:

The first real surprise is the much heralded EFI BIOS is relegated to a mere application. This is a completely bizarre decision. We know that the P67 UD7 had a "normal" BIOS included when every other manufacturer was pushing out the GUI-based EFI BIOS, but given its large place on the box (the biggest technological icon on display) and the extra development time between the P67 and Z68 releases, we've no idea why Gigabyte are sticking to using the old blue cursor-key style BIOS. It instantly gives the wrong impression that this isn't a cutting edge product, merely a incremental revision.Given that the EFI BIOS has proven perfectly rounded on many other boards and indeed the "Hybrid EFI BIOS", a fancy word for utility, that Gigabyte provide is so useful, it's a bad move to not have gone the whole hog with it. You can call it a hybrid all you want but when you give it so much coverage in the official literature, we can't be the only people who expected an icon-based BIOS to greet us.

Arrgh, I can order the Z68X-UD5 now from newegg or I can wait until the Asus P8Z68 Deluxe becomes available. I think I'm going to wait this one out as it's looking like it's going to be a little while before I can get a hold of the case I want as well. If I get my case and start getting impatient, perhaps I'll just pick up the P8P67 Deluxe or P8Z68-V Pro.

I completely agree with this generally, but I've decided if P67 wasn't the time to migrate away from DOS style BIOS, then Z68 certainly is. I don't know why Gigabyte is being so stubborn. I think the quote below from Overclock3D's Z68X-UD5 review sums up my feelings toward it:Arrgh, I can order the Z68X-UD5 now from newegg or I can wait until the Asus P8Z68 Deluxe becomes available. I think I'm going to wait this one out as it's looking like it's going to be a little while before I can get a hold of the case I want as well. If I get my case and start getting impatient, perhaps I'll just pick up the P8P67 Deluxe or P8Z68-V Pro.

I find it hard to believe you're giving up on the Gigabyte UD5 board? The system admin guys where I work swear by the Gigabyte products (they say the hardware build is much tougher vs. Asus). I was contemplating gett the UD5. Can the Z58X boards measure up to gigagbytes quality? I'm thoroughly confused by the choices.

As I get it, it's pretty much like this: once an Asus a really excited user, always an Asus a really excited user. Once a Gigabyte a really excited user, always a Gigabyte a really excited user. You'll rarely find a person who switched, much less someone who is switching back and forth.

I find it hard to believe you're giving up on the Gigabyte UD5 board? The system admin guys where I work swear by the Gigabyte products (they say the hardware build is much tougher vs. Asus). I was contemplating gett the UD5. Can the Z58X boards measure up to gigagbytes quality? I'm thoroughly confused by the choices.

It's been my understanding as well that the Gigabyte hardware is technically better, however Asus seems to be better at getting the front end (software, bios, user friendly-ness, etc) done correctly. I'm still not completely sure which route I'm going to go. I'm just sitting on my hands until I can make a decision. Perhaps when the P8Z68 Deluxe releases and I see the price I'll be able to decide. A few factors I'm considering right now...From what I've read on xtremesystems, Gigabyte released a new bios version for the UD5 and now the LLC options are all messed up, resulting in voltage spikes and such. I'm not sure how you manage to take something that was actually working REALLY well and break it like that.[This is a rant I posted regarding the lack of EFI from the overclock.net forums, so excuse the change in tone]Why the heck didn't they replace their BIOS with the new GUI? I was fine with Gigabyte showing up late to the table with EFI because everyone else's (Asus' EFI to be specific) was buggy and I figured Gigabyte wasn't going to release it until it was solid. Wrong! I know it's not that important, but come on - it's time to come out of the stone age! On top of that, I'm pretty sure they promised EFI for P67 users, but now it's looking like that's not going to happen. So why am I supposed to believe their claim that the touch bios will eventually replace the DOS style BIOS on the Z68 boards?! I'm getting the impression that they're just incapable of making it happen![end rant]Finally, I'm still waiting to get confirmation of whether or not the Z68X-UD5 can use the onboard GPU for QuickSync. I do video encoding every so often and it would be nice to take advantage of the hardware I have. If the UD5 can do QuickSync, I may go with that. Otherwise, almost surely not.

As I get it, it's pretty much like this: once an Asus a really excited user, always an Asus a really excited user. Once a Gigabyte a really excited user, always a Gigabyte a really excited user. You'll rarely find a person who switched, much less someone who is switching back and forth.

I'm not really a "a really excited user" of anything... though I've noticed that I've begun to really take a strong liking toward Corsair products. Anyway, I had a small issue with a previous Asus motherboard and I wasn't exactly pleased with Asus' customer support.

As I get it, it's pretty much like this: once an Asus a really excited user, always an Asus a really excited user. Once a Gigabyte a really excited user, always a Gigabyte a really excited user. You'll rarely find a person who switched, much less someone who is switching back and forth.

Perhaps. Tho' my last three builds have been Asus, MSI, and current Universal-Abit. About 99% sure I'm going with Asrock Z68 Extreme4.scott s..

They are both good, they both have release bugs that usually get resolved.

my du5 b3 is perfect. never need to go to the bios, boots all the time, never freezes ,locks-up or bsod. I am happy:) I could care less about efi/ufi bios as i never go to bios once thte machine is up and running:) Oc'ing has been fine on this one.

my du5 b3 is perfect. never need to go to the bios, boots all the time, never freezes ,locks-up or bsod. I am happy:) I could care less about efi/ufi bios as i never go to bios once thte machine is up and running:) Oc'ing has been fine on this one.

How much OC? GB are known for full bios reset on unsuccessful OC. Something ASUS does way better... (I don't want this to get into Asus vs GB thread though), as it is not mine.

How much OC? GB are known for full bios reset on unsuccessful OC. Something ASUS does way better... (I don't want this to get into Asus vs GB thread though), as it is not mine.

On my UD5 all you had to do was hold the power button instead of the reset button and it wouldn't reset your bios settings.