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
Updates to our Testing Methodology
In light of various requests and as a naturally evolving process, some of our motherboard tests have changed. This has the unfortunate consequence of making many of our previous results incomparable, but if they were never updated, we would still be on Catalyst 6.3 or something similar! Also with experience allows us to pick tests that are able to run and give a nice score without having to sit with a stopwatch for twenty minutes each time.
For our CPU tests, we introduce Xilisoft Video Converter, a tool used to convert one type of video to another. What I like about XVC is that it works using all threads available as much as it can, and if you have a GPU that is compatible, it will use it to help speed up conversion. We also add in x264 HD Benchmark, a standard video encoding benchmark that a few other review websites use.
For the system benchmarks, we utilize two new features for USB testing. In terms of hardware, we use a SATA 6 Gbps to USB 3.0 device connected up to an OCZ Vertex3 240 GB drive in order to really stress both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0. For this test, we are also using software called DiskBench - a utility that records accurate times to copy from one drive through the USB to another.
Our GPU test suite also gets a bump. Previously all benchmarks were run at 1920x1080, a reasonable gaming screen size. Today we move all our benchmarks up to 2560x1440 using a 27" Yamakasi Catleap Q270 LED, a common Korean gaming monitor. In terms of actual GPUs, we are retiring our now two generations old HD 5850s, and with many thanks to ASUS, now using a set of HD 7970s for up to four-way CrossFireX (should the motherboard allow it). For NVIDIA, we still use a pair of ECS GTX 580s for SLI testing. The games are also changing with AVP becoming a relatively trivial (120 FPS+) benchmark at 1920x1080, so we are replacing it with Civilization 5 at 2560x1440.
Test Setup
| Processor |
Intel Core i7-3770K ES 4 Cores, 8 Threads, 3.5 GHz (3.9 GHz Turbo) |
| Motherboards |
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ASUS P8Z77-V Pro Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H MSI Z77A-GD65 |
| Cooling | Intel All-in-One Liquid Cooler |
| Power Supply | OCZ 1250W Gold ZX Series |
| Memory |
GSkill RipjawsZ 4x4 GB DDR3-2400 10-12-12 Kit GSkill TridentX 2x4 GB DDR3-2666 11-13-13 Kit |
| Memory Settings | XMP (1866 9-10-9) |
| Video Cards |
ASUS HD7970 3GB ECS GTX 580 1536MB |
| Video Drivers |
Catalyst 12.3 NVIDIA Drivers 296.10 WHQL |
| Hard Drive | Micron RealSSD C300 256GB |
| Optical Drive | LG GH22NS50 |
| Case | Open Test Bed - CoolerMaster Lab V1.0 |
| Operating System | Windows 7 64-bit |
| SATA Testing | Micron RealSSD C300 256GB |
| USB 2/3 Testing | OCZ Vertex 3 240GB with SATA->USB Adaptor |
Many thanks to...
Many thanks to ASUS as they have kindly allowed us to retire our now two generations old HD 5850s. By providing us with a set of ASUS HD 7970s for up to four-way CrossFireX, we can really test any system that comes our way (coupled with that 2560x1440 monitor).
The ASUS HD7970-3GD5 was ASUS' first 7970 product on the market, using the reference design but being coupled with ASUS GPU Tweak software and support. These cards offer solid performance, and I have easily overclocked them from 925/1375 to 1200/1800 with small bumps in voltage. With any luck, the limiting factor for the next few generations of motherboards will be the motherboard rather than our GPU in the GPU testing, as well as some special X79 boards we are testing soon.
A little preview of some overclocking I have done with these cards for a future review
Many thanks should also go to G.Skill, for sending us one of their new TridentX memory kits designed specifically for the Z77 Platform. The kit they have sent is the F3-2666C11D-8GTXD, or put simply, a dual channel 8 GB kit (two 4 GB modules) designed to run at DDR3-2666 MHz with 11-13-13-35 timings at 1.65 volts.
Having DDR3-2666 memory does seem a little far-fetched, given that Panther Point and the CPUs are only rated up to DDR3-1600. However, with the integrated memory controller on Ivy Bridge, most motherboards should support up to DDR3-2666 to DDR3-2800 by default. In the real world, this means that bulk memory transfers, or memory transfer limited situations, should get a boost. This is in the realm of video processing, or integrated graphics gaming, or multi-monitor gaming (depending on how the game is processed). However, given that motherboard manufacturers are releasing the fact that their motherboards should support these high frequencies, it does not hurt to test them!
In terms of G.Skill’s part in all this – their TridentX range will cover dual channel kits and quad channel kits, from 2x4 GB kits, 2x8 GB kits, 4x4 GB kits and to 4x8 GB kits. The smaller 4 GB module kits will have speeds from 2400 to 2800 MHz, and are assured to be competitively priced, as well as overclockable. In terms of our 2x4 GB 2666 11-13-13 kit, we were able to bump up the ratio to 2800 MHz without any change of voltage or subtimings. With a little voltage push, we were able to go to 2950 MHz with some frequency adjustments. As long as the CPU can take it, it seems that G.Skill have some overclockable kits ready for the taking.
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vegemeister - Thursday, May 10, 2012 - link
Yes, it is a very important feature. The Ivy Bridge IGP can drive 3 monitors. 4 display outputs means 3 of them are digital.Discrete GPUs increase idle power consumption, an as of this post none of them have particularly good open source drivers. Some of us just want lots of screens, good compiz performance, and silence.
philipma1957 - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
I have been building a series of matx htpc/gamer machines.I have one with the basic
Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H mATX board
and one with the
Gigabyte Ga-h77m-d3h mATX board.
I want to decide between
the ASUS P8Z77- m pro mobo or
the ASUS p8z77-m board and
last but not least the
Gigabyte Intel Z77 LGA 1155 AMD CrossFireX/NVIDIA SLI DVI/HDMI/DisplayPort Dual UEFI BIOS mATX Motherboard G1.SNIPER M3 .
I am liking the two builds I did with the lowend gigabyte boards and some intel i5 t2500t cpus I want a better board but I don't have many reviews to go by.
EnzoFX - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Are most DIY'ers really opting for ATX? Should they? I'd bet most people only plug in a video card and maybe one other card such as wireless or even a tuner. Every other possible need they may have would not only be met by mATX but even ITX is pretty full featured these days.You'd think mATX would be what most boards are targeted at, and leaving ATX for extreme builds/bragging rights. It's just like those high end video cards, most people don't buy those, rightfully and importantly so. Those should be the premium prices, and mATX should have a lower price. The focus just feels off.
Zoomer - Monday, May 14, 2012 - link
You mentioned people want mATX board. There by itself probably means that it can command higher prices, due to higher price tolerance of the purchasers.Caeric - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
Enjoyed the review. I still have an old AMD dual core, and I'm considering a new system in the next couple of months so these help a great deal.I did find one error in the article, under the ASUS board:
"The ASUS P8Z77-V Pro retails at $225-$235, essentially $100 less than the ASRock Z77 Extreme4..."
It should say "...essentially $100 more than the ASRock..."
Movieman420 - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
Curious as to this controllers' performance vs the ever present Marvell controllers. Does it use a pci-e lane or usb3 for it's bandwidth?FozzyofAus - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
Great review.I'm leaning towards mATX as well for this build as I've never used more than four expansion slots and currently I'm only using 3 (one is USB3 which won't be needed in the new board).
I'd like to have a bit more room in my current case and the option to reuse this motherboard in a smaller case in future if I upgrade my main rig to Haswell next year.
Any chance of adding Asrock Extreme4-m to the next motherboard roundup?
spronkey - Monday, May 7, 2012 - link
Sorry guys but this review was a bit average. Comment on the various different controllers used by the motherboard manufacturers but don't offer any kind of review on them?The good additions: DPC latency and boot time.
The missing? Well everything else.
I was especially hoping for a comment on the VIA audio on the UD3H - it's been a while since I've seen VIA codecs on mainstream boards.
I'm also amazed that you didn't slam the ASUS board for it's price and lack of features. Realtek 892? On a board that's nearing twice the cost of the ASRock? Seriously?
No comment on the durability of the boards either? Hrm. No separation in testing of the different controllers on each board?
A bit lacking, sorry.
ggathagan - Thursday, May 10, 2012 - link
Perhaps you're commenting on the wrong review.As Ian stated multiple times throughout the review, Asus is using Intel NIC's on their boards, in this case, the Intel 82579V.
Durability is a function of time. Please point out the other motherboard reviews that covered durability.
spronkey - Thursday, May 10, 2012 - link
He stated ASUS were using Intel, sure. But didn't get into any details other than stating they exist about the fact that there are multiple USB3 controllers and SATA controllers on each board. No benchmarks comparing them etc.In fact does it even mention which controllers were tested?
And Durability is a function of construction quality and time. It would be nice to see comments on points such as board weight and flex, quality of soldering, quality of components used on the board (according to an electrical minded person on OCN, Gigabyte uses significantly higher rated MOSFETs than other manufacturers), temperatures of chipsets and VRM circuitry. These are things I can't easily find out by reading manuals.