PCI Express 3.0 (PCIe 3.0) is the latest PCI Express bus standard with improved encoding schemes that provide twice the performance of current PCIe 2.0. Total bandwidth for a x16 link reaches a maximum of 32GB/s, double the 16GB/s of PCIe 2.0 (in x16 mode). As such, PCIe 3.0 provides users unprecedented data speeds, combined with the convenience and seamless transition offered by complete backward compatibility with PCIe 1.0 and PCIe 2.0 devices. PCIe 3.0 will become a must-have feature for users who wish to improve and optimize graphic performance, as well as have the latest technology available to them.
Exclusive to ASUS motherboards, its UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is the first ever mouse-controlled graphical BIOS interface designed with dual selectable modes. It delivers a user-friendly interface that goes beyond traditional keyboard-only BIOS controls to enable more flexible and convenient input with quick scrolling. Users can easily navigate the UEFI BIOS with the smoothness of their operating system. Quick and simple overclocking and setup sharing is facilitated by the F12 hotkey BIOS snapshot feature. The exclusive EZ Mode displays frequently-accessed setup info, while the Advanced Mode is for experienced performance enthusiasts that demand far more intricate system control, including detailed DRAM information.
ASUS UEFI BIOS natively supports hard drives larger than 2.2TB in 64-bit, with full storage space utilization helping deliver far more exciting computing than traditional BIOS versions.
LucidLogix Virtu is designed for the Intel Sandy Bridge platform's powerful integrated graphics. Its GPU virtualization dynamically assigns tasks to the best available graphics resources based on power, performance and system load on Windows 7 based PCs. It allows users to fully utilize the unique capabilities of advanced Sandy Bridge multimedia features alongside the high end 3D rendering performance provided by installed graphics cards. When no discrete graphics are needed, the graphics card is put in idle mode to lower utilization, heat, fan speed and power draw down to near zero, making the system more environmentally-friendly. For users with diverse needs, LucidLogix Virtu GPU virtualization provides great flexibility and efficiency.
LucidLogix Virtu's GPU virtualization technology assigns tasks to the best available GPU, allowing dynamic graphics switching between integrated graphics and NVIDIA or AMD graphics cards.
With switchable graphics, all ASUS P8Z68 Series motherboards leverage the transcoding power of Sandy Bridge, allowing users to enjoy three times faster video conversion with Intel Quick Sync Video technology.