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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bji - Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - link
Don't intelligently designed modern operating systems use as much unused RAM as is available as filesystem cache? I know Linux does, I would expect Windows 7 does as well. In which case, I have to wonder what the value of a RAM disk except to make your persisted data completely volatile and lost on a power outage.Turning the unusable RAM beyond 4 GB into a RAM disk when a 32 bit operating system is in use is the only marginally useful feature that you mentioned, but you have to be stuck with a 32 bit OS for that to be of any value.
Using a RAM disk comes at the cost of vastly increased complexity for managing persisted files (having to copy things from RAM disk to persistent storage before shutting down) and vastly increased risk of loss of data on unexpected power outage. All of the RAM disk useability features in the world won't help with those issues.
Zoomer - Tuesday, May 15, 2012 - link
Temp, cache or scratch files would be good uses of a ramdisk. Other than that, there's really no point.kstan12 - Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - link
i would *love* to read a review of ivy bridge that doesn't include an engineering sample. my i7-3770k seems to want a lot more voltage @ 4.7 than what i see in reviews online. i know one might clock higher than another but it seems these ES samples use less voltage. am i wrong here?and where did you get the updated bios for the asus p8z77-v pro? i can only download 0906. :-)
IanCutress - Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - link
Hi Kstan12,My ES is stepping 9, which is identical to retail. It's all about the luck of the silicon at the end of the day.
Ian
kstan12 - Wednesday, May 9, 2012 - link
oh ok, so you would just compare the stepping, thanks! maybe i'm not so good at overclocking too.love reading your articles...you explain things quite well, good work!
vegemeister - Thursday, May 10, 2012 - link
Unless you bought it retail, they could have easily given you a cherry-picked chip. There is a lot of variation in semiconductor manufacturing, even on the same stepping.Zoomer - Tuesday, May 15, 2012 - link
If that's the results from a cherry picked chip, there would be a very compelling reason to choose SB over IVB for overclockers.JSt0rm01 - Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - link
But I feel like the release schedule has slowed way way way down. We need amd to step back up to the plate. We need more competition. I have been waiting on the new xeon parts for what seems like forever.-------------
Also, after being a member of the anandtech forums for 10 years I was permanently banned by the moderators there because they wanted to censor a website (ffdt.info) that had conversation that was critical of their moderation. I find that the free flow of all information on the internet is critical. For a tech website such as this to limit the flow of information is offensive the core of these beliefs and its all because certain people in positions of illusory power deem that information detrimental to their positions.
bji - Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - link
To your first point, x86 development HAS slowed way down and the trend will continue. With consumer computer usage turning more to cell phones and tablets, the market for faster x86 parts can no longer sustain the billions of dollars of R&D necessary to advance x86 state of the art. Intel is probably in the process of reducing their x86 R&D budgets in anticipation of this.This will not change, even if AMD makes a comeback. I have predicted in the past that the fastest x86 part ever to be produced will be no faster than 50% faster than the current fastest Ivy Bridge. I stand by that prediction.
Sadly, the heady days of rapid advances in x86 tech are over, as anyone who witnessed the early/mid 2000's and can compare them to now will testify to.
JSt0rm01 - Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - link
Its unfortunate for power users. I will probably end up with a 2010 6-core mac pro to replace my aging 2006 macpro (please no anti-apple I use certain software and my industry is almost 100% apple I also have been building my own pcs since 1998) but what comes after that? I've already held this macpro for longer then I've had any computer. I guess what comes next? Will arm processors in 15 years be monsters of computational power?-------------
Also, after being a member of the anandtech forums for 10 years I was permanently banned by the moderators there because they wanted to censor a website (ffdt.info) that had conversation that was critical of their moderation. I find that the free flow of all information on the internet is critical. For a tech website such as this to limit the flow of information is offensive the core of these beliefs and its all because certain people in positions of illusory power deem that information detrimental to their positions.