When considering the Intel Z68's integrated graphics performance over the following benchmark charts it's wise to remember that the IGP core is dependent on the Intel Core i3/i5/i7 2xxx 'SandyBridge' processor. Furthermore, Intel's HD 3000 IGP is only DX10.1 so 3DMark11 and other DX11 benchmarks were omitted.

Since the Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 motherboard supports Lucid Virtu there's a lot more flexibility with this Intel Z68 platform. What's really interesting is how the Intel HD 3000 graphics stands up to AMD's new A75 chipset and socket FM1 A8-3850 APU (with Radeon HD 6550D graphics core).

Futuremark 3DMark Vantage (IGP vs. IGP) GPU score: Points Ranking Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 1342 Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 1337 Asus P8H67-M Evo* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 1347 Intel DH67BL* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 1182 Biostar TH67XE* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 1527 ECS H67H2-M* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 1313 Gigabyte GA-A75-UD4H* (Radeon HD 6550D IGP) 3210 Gigabyte GA-A75M-UD2H* (Radeon HD 6550D IGP) 3073 Biostar TA890GXE (Radeon HD 4290 IGP) 291 ASUS M4A89GTD-Pro (Radeon HD 4290 IGP) 318 Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 188 MSI 785GM-E65 (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 216 ASUS M4A785TD-V Evo (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 217

It's a good thing the Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 motherboard supports VIRTU... the Intel IGP scores 1337 against AMD's A8-3850 APU-based GA-A75-UD4H motherboard (3210) in 3DMark Vantage. Where previous Intel IGPs are concerned the Intel Z68 platform is certainly quicker.

Futuremark 3DMark06 (IGP vs. IGP) Overall: Points Ranking Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 4301 Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 4292 Asus P8H67-M Evo* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 4282 Intel DH67BL* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 3322 Biostar TH67XE* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 4689 ECS H67H2-M* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 4265 Intel DG45ID (Intel GMA X4500HD IGP) 1043 Asus P5Q-EM (Intel GMA X4500HD IGP) 1162 Gigabyte GA-A75-UD4H* (Radeon HD 6550D IGP) 6272 Gigabyte GA-A75M-UD2H* (Radeon HD 6550D IGP) 6356 Biostar TA890GXE (Radeon HD 4290 IGP) 2027 ASUS M4A89GTD-Pro (Radeon HD 4290 IGP) 2224 ASUS M3A78-T (Radeon HD 3300 IGP) 2084 Foxconn A7DA-S (Radeon HD 3300 IGP) 1718 Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 1682 MSI 785GM-E65 (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 1790 ASUS M4A785TD-V Evo (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 1794

3DMark06 says pretty much the same thing; the Intel Z68 platform offers up a much needed boost to Intel IGP graphics, BUT, Intel's IGP is still relatively weak compared to AMD's newest socket FM1 A8-3850 APU. Intel's IGP nabs 4292 while AMDs IGP scores 6356!

Sierra FEAR - DX9 (IGP vs. IGP) 1600x1200 Maximum: Points Ranking Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 18 Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 8 Asus P8H67-M Evo* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 19 Gigabyte GA-A75-UD4H* (Radeon HD 6550D IGP) 57 Gigabyte GA-A75M-UD2H* (Radeon HD 6550D IGP) 28

FEAR is a DX9 title that really demonstrates just how far IGPs have come in the last couple years. What used to be nearly impossible for any Intel or AMD IGPs to render at 1600x1200 can now be tackled with relative ease. The Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 test system scores a slow 8FPS here, compared to AMD's A8-3850 Fusion APU that wins hands down with 57FPS.

For the final round of IGP benchmarks we have Call of Juarez and Crysis....

Call of Juarez - DX10 (IGP vs. IGP) 1600x1200 High Settings: Points Ranking Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 5.9 Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 5.9 Asus P8H67-M Evo* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 5.8 Intel DH67BL* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 4.6 Biostar TH67XE* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 6.1 ECS H67H2-M* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 5.5 Intel DG45ID (Intel GMA X4500HD IGP) 2.2 Asus P5Q-EM (Intel GMA X4500HD IGP) 2.4 Gigabyte GA-A75-UD4H* (Radeon HD 6550D IGP) 15 Gigabyte GA-A75M-UD2H* (Radeon HD 6550D IGP) 15.6 Biostar TA890GXE (Radeon HD 4290 IGP) 3 ASUS M4A89GTD-Pro (Radeon HD 4290 IGP) 2.6 ASUS M3A78-T (Radeon HD 3300 IGP) 3.1 Foxconn A7DA-S (Radeon HD 3300 IGP) 2.3 Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 2.4 MSI 785GM-E65 (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 2.6 ASUS M4A785TD-V Evo (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 2.4

Call of Juarez is a tough DX10 title for IGPs. The Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 system scores 5.9FPS 1600x1200. It's a good thing this board is Virtu compliant so users can ditch the IGP graphics in favor of a discreet graphics card. The AMD A8-3850 socket FM1 system dominates here (15.6FPS) but doesn't support Virtu so there's no chance to seemlessly switching between discreet and integrated graphics.

Crysis 1.2 - DX10 (IGP vs. IGP) 1600x1200 HQ Points Ranking Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 6.6 Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 6.6 Asus P8H67-M Evo* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 6.5 Intel DH67BL* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 5.7 Biostar TH67XE* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 7.2 ECS H67H2-M* (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 6.4 Intel DG45ID (Intel GMA X4500HD IGP) 1.7 Asus P5Q-EM (Intel GMA X4500HD IGP) 2.8 Gigabyte GA-A75-UD4H* (Radeon HD 6550D IGP) 14.9 Gigabyte GA-A75M-UD2H* (Radeon HD 6550D IGP) 14.8 Biostar TA890GXE (Radeon HD 4290 IGP) 3.1 ASUS M4A89GTD-Pro (Radeon HD 4290 IGP) 2.8 ASUS M3A78-T (Radeon HD 3300 IGP) 3.6 Foxconn A7DA-S (Radeon HD 3300 IGP) 3.2 Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 2.7 MSI 785GM-E65 (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 2.7 ASUS M4A785TD-V Evo (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 2.2

In Crysis the GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 test system manages just 6.6FPS, the AMD A8-3850 APU platform on the other hand nets 14.9FPS. Both results are dramatically better than the previous Intel GMA X4500D IGP and its score of 2.8FPS!!

Video Transcoding - Cyberlink MediaShow Espresso 6

In this test a 450MB 1080i high definition MPEG2 video is transcoded via Cyberlink MediaShow Espresso 6 to a 640x360 MP4 video format suitable for the Apple iPhone 4.

Video Transcoding Test Without Intel QuickSync With Intel QuickSync Intel Core i5 2500K / Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 48 sec 13 sec

Using an Intel Core i5 2500K / Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 test system this video transcoded in about 48 seconds. Not bad, but with this same test platform reconfigured to run off the Intel HD3000 integrated graphics core, the video transcoded in 13 seconds!

Last but not least, Power Draw figures are next followed by closing opinions on the Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 motherboard.