I'm new to this Z77 Mobo can someone answer me a few Q's

[Wolf11]

I some are of will say just wait till Haswell. But if I do that I'll have to get a new cpu and probably other stuff too cause it won't work with socket 1150. I have the 2500K is a great cpu and I know I don't need to upgrade my DDR3 1333 ram or my 550TI vid card. The can play all the games I need and some. I'd like to get all new parts but money a little tight now.

The reason I need to upgrade cause I want a built in esata port on mobo and I want USB 3.0 native done by intel not by 3rd party controller. I've been having problems and the speed seems slower then what it should be. This is the main reason I'm upgrading.

Since my last pc I built about a year and half ago things have changed I have questions please help out.

Why do Z77 mobo's today have DVI & VGA & HDMI built right in the mobo, we no longer hookup cables to the video cards ?

If and when I get a a new mobo which expansion slot do I use for my vid card which is a PCI Express 2.0 x16 ? I was thinking of getting the Asus SABERTOOTH Z77 which have these Expansion Slots:

2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8) *2
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4 mode, black) *3
3 x PCIe 2.0 x1

If the PCIe 3.0 slots are backward compatible with 2.0 why include 2.0 slots on the mobo ?

I want to upgrade to Z77 mobo from a P8P67 but keep my 2500K,Ram,GPU is that unusual ?

In the end do you see any problems I could have if I use all my current components with a Z77 mobo ?

thanks

 

[Knufire]

Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge CPUs have integrated GPUs built into them. You can't use them on P67, but you can on Z68 and Z77. Switching to Z77 should work fine, no issues.

 

[Wolf11]

Okay that makes sense. Do most Z77 mobo's by default have this integrated Graphics Processor on or off ?

I just a have a couple more questions:

If and when I get a a new mobo which expansion slot do I use for my vid card which is a PCI Express 2.0 x16 ? I was thinking of getting the Asus SABERTOOTH Z77 which have these Expansion Slots:

2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8) *2
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4 mode, black) *3
3 x PCIe 2.0 x1

If the PCIe 3.0 slots are backward compatible with 2.0 why include 2.0 slots on the mobo ?

I want to upgrade to Z77 mobo from a P8P67 but keep my 2500K,Ram,GPU is that unusual ?

In the end do you see any problems I could have if I use all my current components with a Z77 mobo ?

 

[Knufire]

All Z68 and Z77 motherboards do. It's not on the motherboard, it's inside the CPU.

Use the 3.0 x16 slot. Upgrading from P67 to Z77 isn't unusual and there shouldn't be any issues using your current stuff.

 

[Wolf11]

All Z68 and Z77 motherboards do. It's not on the motherboard, it's inside the CPU.

Use the 3.0 x16 slot. Upgrading from P67 to Z77 isn't unusual and there shouldn't be any issues using your current stuff.

Ok I really got it this time. Theres really is no turning on or off if you want to use it then connect your montior to the mobo if not connect to vidcard.

If the PCIe 3.0 slots are backward compatible with 2.0 why include 2.0 slots on the mobo ?

thanks

 

[Knufire]

You can disable it in the BIOS if you want. But yes, monitors plugged into the motherboard will use the onboard GPU and monitors plugged into a graphics card will use the discrete GPU.

The CPU only provides a certain amount of PCIe 3.0 lanes.