Interseting that I just noticed this thread.
I've been feeling temptations to migrate to an intel CPU and was looking into the Ivy series.
Looking into the latest z77 chip set and this board is awesome.
http://www.asus.com/.../P8Z77V_DELUXE/
It can reduce wattage, it appears with sacraficing power, to help keep things cool.
Add more boost to your graphic cards ability.
Use a technology to speed up SSD/platter drive interface, if I'm seeing that correctly.
Some other kick butt features.
How new are these?
I haven't scoped boards out for quite some time?