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he ECS
P67H2-A Black Extreme is a performance oriented ATX motherboard with a fantastic set of gaming and overclocking features, all set on a sleek black and grey PCB that'll make your expensive chassis proud. ECS has undergone a massive image improvement in the last couple years.
84% Rating: 
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Intel P67 B3-Stepping Express Chipset
 With graphics and memory now handled
by the CPU, the Intel P67 chipset doesn't need a very fast link to the
processor. Thus, Intel uses a 20Gb/s DMI link between the Intel P67
chipset and LGA1155 processors. The roles of the Northbridge and Southbridge chipsets have been merged into what Intel
calls a PCH, or Platform Controller Hub.
Intel's P67 PCH supplies eight PCI Express lanes to the
computer system for devices like the SATA ports, LAN, USB and PCIex1 slots. The
16 PCIe lanes for graphics cards are drawn directly from the 'SandyBridge' CPU,
this has a nice side benefit of helping to cut down on system latency.
Enthusiasts familiar with the storage and
media capabilities of Intel's ICH10R southbridge will find a lot in common with the
P67 chipset. It provides 14 USB 2.0 ports, four SATAII 3Gb/s and two SATAIII
6Gb/s ports with support for RAID 0/1/5/10 modes, audio and Gigabit
Ethernet.
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The Intel P67 Express Chipset block diagram
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Intel P67 B2-stepping Chipset
Recall
The ECS P67H2-A Black Extreme
motherboard is equipped with the new 'B3'-stepping Intel P67
chipset. The original 'B2' stepping Intel P67 & H67 chipsets were recalled
due to the Intel 6-series chipset issue. The recall happened because a
silicon-level flaw was discovered which may have resulted in 3Gb/s Serial-ATA II
(SATA II) ports degrading over time; "potentially impacting the performance
or functionality of SATA-linked devices such as hard disk drives and
DVD-drives."
According to Intel, the issue was specific only to
the SATA II ports hosted by the Intel P67 & H67 chipsets. The SATA III 6Gb/s
ports from the Intel P67 chipset are not affected.
Intel P67 Express Chipset
Each motherboard manufacturer initiated steps
to recall the original batch of motherboards with 'b2'-stepping P67 chipsets
and swap them out for fully functional boards with 'b3' stepping Intel P67
chipsets. Incidently, 'b2'-stepping and 'b3'-stepping is just another way of
saying revision 1 or revision 2 - it's the same chipset. The 'B3'-stepping Intel
P67 has the silicon level bugs corrected.
| Intel Chipset Feature
Comparison |
|
Intel Z68 Express |
Intel P67
Express
|
Intel H67
Express |
Intel X58
Express |
| CPU |
LGA 1155
Core i5/i7 2nd Gen. |
LGA 1155
Core i5/i7 2nd Gen. |
LGA 1155
Core i5/i7 2nd Gen. |
LGA 1366
Core i7 |
| Chipset Code Name |
Couger Point (65nm) |
Couger Point (65nm) |
Couger Point (65nm) |
Tylersburg (65nm) |
| Bus Interface / Speed |
DMI 20Gb/s |
DMI 20Gb/s |
DMI 20Gb/s |
QPI 25.6Gb/s |
| Memory Support |
DDR3-1333, dual channel |
DDR3-1333, dual channel |
DDR3-1333, dual channel |
DDR3 1066, triple channel |
| Maximum Memory Capacity |
32GB (64-bit) |
32GB (64-bit) |
32GB (64-bit) |
24GB (64-bit) |
| Integrated Graphics |
Yes. via CPU |
- |
Yes. via CPU |
- |
| Integrated Graphics Ports |
HDMI, DVI, DP, VGA |
- |
HDMI, DVI, DP, VGA |
- |
| PCI Express 2.0 Lanes |
8 |
8 |
8 |
36 |
| PCI Express x1 Lanes |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
| Intel Rapid Storage Technology |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Intel Smart Response Technology |
Yes |
- |
- |
- |
| SATA 6Gb/s | SATA 3Gb/s | IDE Ports |
2/4/0 |
2/4/0 |
2/4/0 |
0/6/0 |
| RAID |
0, 1, 5, 10 |
0, 1, 5, 10 |
0, 1, 5, 10 |
0, 1, 5, 10 (via ICH10R) |
| Intelgrated LAN |
10/100/1000 MAC |
10/100/1000 MAC |
10/100/1000 MAC |
- |
| USB 3.0 Ports |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| USB 2.0 Ports |
14 |
14 |
14 |
12 |
| PCI Masters |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
| Intel High Definition Audio |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes | | |
In the
chart above you can see how all three of 6-series Intel chipsets compare to one
another. The major difference between the Intel P67 Express and H67 chipsets is
that the former lacks the H67's capabilities to output integrated graphics from
the processor. Moving forward, the newer Intel Z68 Express chipset is
essentially a combination of the feature sets of the Intel P67 and H67, with a
couple extras like greater overclockability and Intel SRT.
Next up,
a close up look at all the ECS P67H2-A Black Extreme motherboard has to
offer.
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