Intel Z77 is a top chipset for Ivy Bridge 22nm CPU

[tHeDa!]

It seems to me that Intel took a while to bring Z77 chipsets and USB 3.0 support. So far it is a top most chipset from Intel which natively support USB 3.0. It is designed to keep in mind the support for future Ivy Bridge 22nm, socket 1155 CPUs. The chipset comes with an optional 16X PCIe slot, two 8X PCIes or one 8X and two 4X Gen 3 PCIe slots. Other than this, new chipset also supports Intel RST, Smart Response Technology and 6 SATA ports in that 2 are up to 6Gb/s speed. Total USB ports are 14 but in that only 4 are USB 3.0

[LavinaD]

I heard that this new form of chipset contains a new graphics core. I don’t know whether it is the part of Ivy Bridge 22nm CPU or not but new graphics core supports three independent displays. You can select the connection type like HDMI / DVI / Display Port / eDP or VGA connectors. Furthermore it also has an integrated audio codec which will provide a support for dual stream HDMI and Display Port Audio.

[crook]

The latest LGA 1155 board now support Sata 6 and PCIe 3.0 @ over 5 mt/s. Don’t think that the integrated GPU design will be enough for all requirements, you will need Discrete GPUs if you are a hardcore gamer. However for an average gamer the Ivy Bridges chipset and its integrated graphics is enough for all kind of performance and graphics.

[Marquise]

The Intel Z77 chipset and building was completed and silicon is ready for mass production. Asus have already came up with that first. Z77 is the most advanced chipset Panther Point 7 range that includes six products, three aimed at the consumer space and three designed for the enterprise market. The major change introduced by Intel in these new chipsets is native support for USB 3.0, since previously the motherboard manufacturers had to rely on integrated circuits (ICs) from third parties to add this functionality to their solutions. However, with the Panther Point chipset will get native support for a total of four ports of this type, which can be supplemented by regular 14 USB 2.0 ports.