Question Regarding Asrock Z68M/USB3

[BrotherXiao]

Hello I bought an Asrock Z68M/USB3.I'm planning to buy an Ivy Bridge i3 and I read I need a bios update to make it work.Can I update the bios using the Ivy Bridge processor itself and without using any Sandy Bridge Processor.Also Im planning to buy a Nvidia GTX 650ti/660 depending on availability here;Would this motherboard support PCI-E 3.0 when I buy an i5 3570K next year when I had enough money.I also read in one blog that this motherboard doesn't have VRM heatsink,is that true?

[synack]

I would confirm first if the board you are buying has 2.1 BIOS in it. Judging from the downloads, 2.1 is the oldest BIOS... But I wouldn't trust that the board you are getting will have BIOS for IB.
2.1 has been available since April 2012.. so unless the store still have old stock.. it *probably* has the BIOS you need. But it doesn't hurt to make SURE first. Otherwise you may be begging for ASRock to send you a BIOS chip.


I don't believe the Z68 chipsets support PCIe 3. The online specs for this board only say 2.0... so I would bet it does not.
With a single 650/660 card, you probably wont even reach PCIe3 speeds anyway, so I wouldn't worry about it for now. If you want to future proof, go with another model motherboard.

it appears from the picture that the VRM's do not have a heat sink. they are the gray squares surrounding the CPU in the picture.
Do you plan serious overclocking with this board?!? I wouldn't recommended it.

Are you sure this is the model you are looking for? Judging by your questions, I'm thinking it's not.

Syn

[synack]

OOPS... didnt read your message correctly... I thought you said you were looking to buy that board. Seems you bought it already.

Look at/in the box, I believe there is a sticker on it there somewhere that says what BIOS is installed on it.

Syn