HTPC Build Log - Part 6 - Unboxing the Z68 Motherboard

Oops, blogs show things in reverse. Start here.

Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 Micro ATX Motherboard

The board. This is supposed to be a pretty nice board. We are not using a video card so between the Sandy Bridge CPU and this Z68 board is where it all happens. If you want to save some cash I would compromise on other items.

If you are used to an ATX-sized board this one will seem pretty small.

The unveiling... Pretty!

The connections and the backplate. It includes four USB2 (red), two USB3 (blue), Gigabit (the other red), DVI (white), HDMI (the socket to the right of the DVI), and an optical out (gray).

Four internal USB2 headers (3 blue and a red+white which can be configure to be on when the HTPC is off, so you can charge you iPhone or whatever), an audio connection for the front panel (green), four SATA 3Gb/s (blue) and two SATA 6Gb/s (white). We only need one USB header and the two 6Gb/s SATA. Will not use the PCI slots. Everything we need is on the board itself.

Comes with a couple of SATA cables… 2 is all we will need.

Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 Micro ATX Motherboard