Intel Z77 Motherboard Review with Ivy Bridge - ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte, and MSI
by Ian Cutress on May 7, 2012 7:40 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- MSI
- Gigabyte
- ASRock
- Asus
- Ivy Bridge
- Z77
MSI Z77A-GD65 - BIOS
MSI's graphical BIOS was the result of an internal design competition - given various intricacies and factors in the final designs, the one that came 3rd went on to be the graphical interface we see today. Over the past few generations, I have been either critical of MSI with their P67 'BIOS games' (explained to me later as more of a technical showcase), or appreciative of their X79 revision.
The BIOS on Z77 is the same as the X79 version. Despite making several suggestions regarding that BIOS, none seem to have come through, so if I may I would like to make them again. Do not get me wrong, the BIOS is well designed and easy to use - it is just that it could perhaps be easier, especially for overclocking.
The front page is great - we have CPU and system temperatures, CPU model, and speed, memory speed, memory size, BIOS version, and a boot order at the top. What is great about this is that the top bar (and side navigation tools) are persistent throughout the BIOS, never once disappearing. This layout is great, and would be beneficial if we ever get an increase in BIOS resolution in the future so more information can be put into the center console.
One recommendation is an improvement of the PC Health screen, which should offer lists of voltages and such for different components. Perhaps a few more temperature sensors on board and a better fan control would not go amiss in the future.
For overclocking, our gaze turns to the OC menu, which essentially lumps all the overclocking options together. There are a couple of issues with this.
Ideally, it should be separated cleanly into CPU, memory, and others, with the CPU voltage in the CPU section and so on. As it currently stands, everything is in one run on menu - if they reduced the font size a little and could do CPU options on the left, memory options on the right, this would be great.
You may notice the Enhanced Turbo feature in the BIOS. This does similar things to ASUS' MultiCore Enhancement, in that the CPU is pushed to 3.9 GHz during full load, 200 MHz more than what it should be. By default, MSI has this off (I criticized them about it on X79), so they naturally have a disadvantage in the benchmarks later on. However, this is the right way to do it - having it enabled by default technically invalidates the warranty on the processor.
Load Line Calibration on MSI boards is hidden under VDroop Control, and other options such as Digital Compensation Level, CPU Core OCP Expander and CPU Core Engine Speed are not properly defined for users. Overall, I really like MSI's BIOS and it has a much nicer feel to it than many of their competitors.
Software
The main gamut of MSI's software comes in three programs - Control Center, Live Update, and Click BIOS.
Control Center: At the heart of the operation is Control Center. This piece of software allows for OS adjustments for voltages and fans as well as enabling/disabling the LEDs on the motherboard.
Live Update 5: Best compatibility and the most features usually come from the latest versions of software - so MSI include their Live Update program with their motherboards. This probes the system for software versions (and BIOS versions) then communicates to an online server to suggest updates and new downloads. This is good, with one flaw - when you download new drivers, it does not tell you how big they are. So if you end up having to download 130 MB of new audio drivers on a slow connection, the user will not know until it chugs along at 5% a minute. It is a minor update I hope to see in a later revision.
Click BIOS II:The main software that MSI likes to push is Click BIOS - an operating system based interface for all BIOS modifications. It is designed to look and feel like the actual BIOS, with all the settings. For the most part, this is true - it does initially look like the BIOS, though there are still issues with fonts. With it being an OS utility, they also miss a beat in providing additional tools for settings, such as graphs to manipulate the fan headers.
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hasseb64 - Wednesday, May 9, 2012 - link
My last build was with a Z68 ATX MB, such a build will never happen again in my house. Next update will have Micro-ATX or maybe even a Mini-ATX.During my 15 years of computer building I have never used more than 1 GPU
In next computer I will probably not use any more expansion, today I have a old SB card installed.
And 2 slots for memory will do too (2x8 GB)
All HDDs are in separate WHS2011 box
ATX feels more and more like a thing of the past, these Taiwan makers are holding on as it seems but the future for them are to deliver smaller packages = less money.
ggathagan - Thursday, May 10, 2012 - link
For the vast majority of folks, you are correct, and the board manufacturers are also catering to that market.There are, however, plenty of people that *do* have multi-GPU systems.
Further, there are more uses for PCIe than just GPU's; RAID controllers, 10GbE NIC's, and high end sound cards, to name a few.
Zoomer - Tuesday, May 15, 2012 - link
To be honest, with GPUs these days, 7 slots seem to be not enough. 2 slots are needed for the GPU, 3 for semi-decent cooling, particularly for these darn open air coolers manufacturers like to use for some reason.Sysiphus - Wednesday, May 9, 2012 - link
Is it possible to control 3pin fans on this boards? I didnt see a option and the asus board has only 4pins. Chassisfans are normally 3pinned.kstan12 - Wednesday, May 9, 2012 - link
i own the asus p8z77-v pro. i have plugged my rear chassis & side panel fans into the 4 pin connectors on the mobo and i can control them with fan expert 2.i bought a few of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
Zoomer - Tuesday, May 15, 2012 - link
Can they be controlled via speedfan?mcquade181 - Thursday, May 10, 2012 - link
You can plug 3 pin fans into 4 pin MB connectors.ggathagan - Thursday, May 10, 2012 - link
Under the "ASRock Z77 Extreme4 - Overview" section you mention XFast USB twice.The second time should be XFast RAM
Under the "Visual Inspection" section for the MSI Z77A-GD65:
"Underneath this are the eight SATA ports - two SATA 6 Gbps from the PCH, four SATA 6 Gbps also from the PCH, and another two SATA 6 Gbps from an ASMedia controller."
I believe it should be "four SATA 3 Gbps also from the PCH...".
Under "Updates to our Testing Methodology"
"Also with experience allows us to pick tests ..."
Should be "Also, experience allows us to pick tests ..."
Under the conclusion section for the ASRock Z77 Exteme4:
"The XFast LAN software also shows superior performance in incompressible transfers or real-world transfers compared to standard USB throughput."
Should be "XFast USB software..."
All that aside, great review.
I appreciate the effort you and the rest of the Anandtech staff put in to improving your test processes.
I especially appreciate this multi-board approach that highlights the key differences across a series of boards that use the same chipset.
It certainly helps when making purchasing decisions.
Nickel020 - Thursday, May 10, 2012 - link
You say in the conclusion that you gain voltage read points by going withe MSI over the Gigabyte - the Gigabyte though does in fact also have voltage read points, just a less convenient implementationAs for the review: I realize that there are time constraints and you can't do one of the in-depth reviews that we sometimes got in the past, but I would like to see a more convenient user oriented layout, e.g. tables comparing the features of the boards, a table comparing the OC results etc. The way the review is structures i have to take a look at every board seperately, take notes and then compare them. Also some more comments on how the tested models compare to other models of the same manufacturers would be nice. Doesn't take much time, but greatly helps someone shopping around for a board.
Lastly, I'm highly skeptical of the software voltage readings but I know that many people do take such software readings as absolute truth, not realizing their potential flaws. You seem reasonably skeptical as well, and this is something I think should be mentioned in the review to prevent misunderstandings.
FozzyofAus - Thursday, May 10, 2012 - link
Hi guys,Any change you could review the:
AsRock z77 Professional-M
In addition to the previously requested:
AsRock z77 Extreme4-m
Thanks in advance,
Michael.