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
Conclusion – ASRock Z77 Extreme4
I had high expectations of the ASRock product due to what we have seen in previous chipsets. Over time, they have developed this knack of offering a good performance product at a great price, and a large amount of free kit in the box to sweeten the deal.
The Z77 Extreme4 is the lower end enthusiast board coming out from ASRock at release (compared to a total 20 models listed on their website). Therefore, when it comes in at $135, we should like this price. In the box is not substantial, with just a pair of SATA cables and an SLI finger, but we are treated to the ASRock BIOS and Software package. The big addition on the package is the Internet Flash software, allowing users to update their BIOS to the latest without needing to download it in an Operating System.
Performance wise, ASRock seem to be lacking the enhanced Turbo option utilized by other motherboard manufacturers by default, so we may see it in future BIOS builds. The XFast LAN software also shows superior performance in incompressible transfers or real-world transfers compared to standard USB throughput.
By making this board a little bit smaller than ATX, this board is cheaper than the rest and I really like the styling. As long as you remember to adjust the default CPU fan speed, this inexpensive board would be a good choice for an Ivy Bridge build.
Conclusion – ASUS P8Z77-V Pro
Whenever a reviewer deals with a variety of products at different price points, thoughts go through the mind of a reviewer about where that additional money has gone. If you look at an ASUS board, the usual culprits pop up - vastly improved fan controls, superior BIOS and software, digital power delivery, and a general feel that the board is solidly built. ASUS has gone another step further with their Z77 range, and on the Pro this means an Intel NIC as standard, onboard WiFi, USB Flashback, all four Ivy Bridge video outputs available, USB 3.0 Boost, Q-LED for POST diagnosis, and even a Thunderbolt header which connects to a future ASUS Thuderbolt add-in card (sold separately).
Performance on the P8Z77-V Pro is bolstered by the MultiCore Enhancement BIOS setting, which invokes maximum turbo mode for any core loading by default giving multi-threaded results an advantageous score. I feel this sort of setting will quickly become the standard, as motherboard manufacturers try to provide the best bang for buck on their products.
Despite the mishap regarding my CPU cooler (which is of an old design), there is not much I can complain about on the P8Z77-V Pro. It overclocked a set of G.Skill DDR3-2666 memory to DDR3-2950 with a little increase in voltage without issue, and it overclocked the CPU rather vigorously to give 4774 MHz, even if it was a little toasty under load.
At $225/$235, the motherboard spectrum for Ivy Bridge will separate the very cheap and the very functional. For a long-term build, the ASUS P8Z77-V Pro is a solid choice, and even has ASUS Premium Service warranty if you are in North America.
Update: I have just been informed that the Pro will soon drop in MSRP to $209. This makes it even more affordable.
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Paapaa125 - Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - link
Article: "With a lot more controllers to initialise on board, the ASUS P8Z77-V Pro requires at default 20.47 seconds to reach the windows loading screen. By disabling controllers that aren't used, a time more like the ASRock could be achieved."Did you actually test this?
And a suggestion: please test Intel DZ77BH-55K motherboard. It is the only board besides MSI to use the better ACL898 and Intel LAN chip but without other useless bulk (like secondary LAN etc). It seems to have superior BIOS to many others.
IanCutress - Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - link
Hi Paapaa125,I should have an Intel Z77 board inbound to test. I have about 5 others to test as well, and some ITX. Currently reviewing boards in my spare time, so please bear with me as I get through them all! :)
Ian
Paapaa125 - Wednesday, May 9, 2012 - link
Great to hear that! And no need to rush, I can wait :) I hope you test these things:Boot time. Fan control settings. Power consumption. Lan speed/CPU util. Audio quality. And check if the Turbo Boost settings actually are identical. Otherwise the benchmark results are unbiased.
I'm actually more interested in other features than pure computational speed and benchmark scores. The differences are usually insignificant, but the differences in other areas might be big.
althaz - Wednesday, May 9, 2012 - link
Somebody further down the thread posted a message that they configured their Asus 'board to POST much quicker than above.I second request for Intel board reviews! I am particularly interested in the DZ77GA70K as well as the 55K mentioned by Paapaa125. I've been hearing good things about the GA70K but I'm hesitant to commit without finding out about POST times and I'd also like to see if performance is the same between the 55K and 70K.
Shadowmaster625 - Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - link
Can you give us realistic power supply measurements? I am interested in building a fairly fast system that is pretty much always on. So the idle power needs to be as low as possible. I would use a smaller power supply that is at least 85% efficient @ 50 Watts. And no video card. With just one SSD and one optical drive. My best napkin-guess would be an idle power of 40-45 watts.Silenus - Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - link
That's a fair guess for idle. The problem you will have is that ideally you will want a high efficiency supply that at idle is at least 20% loaded. For you 40-45 idle that means you would need a supply probably not more than 200 watts. It is hard to find a 80+ supply at those lower powers. You might consider a small form factor supply. This is just about fits your requirement:http://www.neweggbusiness.com/Product/Product.aspx...
Shadowmaster625 - Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - link
That might be a good choice. I wonder if I would still be able to hit 4.3GHz with that supply. I would definitely keep it at stock volts.haakon_k - Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - link
..or try the 80+ gold alternative from seasonic, if you can find a shop that sells it, 300 or 350W - optionally modular.http://www.seasonic.com/product/pc_tfx.jsp
Unfortunately without any PCIe 6 pin power connector, if you so should get tempted...
Avalon - Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - link
Well that review went as expected. MSI underperformed, Asus was needlessly expensive, Gigabyte had memory issues, and Asrock OC'd with lower voltages. That;s mirrored my experiences in the past few years.goldie.lin - Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - link
Thanks for the nice benchmarks, USB, SATA, LAN, Power Consumption, ...Especially, I appreciate the "DPC Latency" and "Boot Times" tests.
It very useful and practical!!!
Keep working, AnandTech.