Platform Controller Hub

The Intel Z77 PCH - The Platform Controller Hub

Paired with the new Ivy bridge processors come new motherboard chipsets, eleven in total of which six are intended for desktop processors, namely the H77, Z75, Z77, B758, Q75 and Q77.

For end consumers like you and me the H77 chipset will be less performance targeted and comes with support for monitor connectivity. The Z77 chipset is targeted at performance and enthusiast end users allowing much more tweaking and providing performance features.

Important note: most Series 6 motherboards will support Ivy bridge processors ! All you need is a BIOS update with support from your motherboard manufacturer. Obviously features like PCIe Gen 3 and native USB support will not kick in.

Below you can see a block table with the differences in chipset and thus motherboards.

In-between say a Z68 and Z77 chipset only a few things have changed. Native USB 3.0 support is to be found at the Z77 chipset, and then PCIe Gen 3 graphics slots. Below a quick comparison:

The new Z77 series chipsets will come with the same amount of SATA2 and 3 controllers as P67/Z68. That means you get four  SATA2 ports and another two SATA3 ports native from the Z77 PCH chip.

SSD caching via Intel's Smart Response Technology will be supported by Z77, H77 and Q77 chipsets. All include support for 6 SATA ports, on the Q75 and B75 only one supports 6Gbps speeds through the newer SATA III interface and the rest is 3Gbps SATA II. The other chipsets support two SATA III ports.

With PCIe Gen 3 SLI and Crossfire with supported cards should run quite well on them.