Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H Review: Functionality meets Competitive Pricing
by Ian Cutress on July 25, 2012 5:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Gigabyte
- Z77
POST Time
Different motherboards have different POST sequences before an operating system is initialized. A lot of this is dependent on the board itself, and the controllers on board (and the sequence of how those extras are organized) determine POST boot time. As part of our testing, we are now going to look at the POST Boot Time - this is the time from pressing the ON button on the computer to when Windows starts loading. (We discount Windows loading, as it is highly variable given Windows specific features.) These results are subject to human error, so please allow +/- 1 second in these results.
POST time on the UD5H is not the best, clearly beaten by any ASRock product, but comes on par with several ASUS motherboards at default.
Overclocks
Here at AnandTech we want to provide quick and easy ways to determine if a board is good for you (with in-depth analysis of course). Therefore here is a quick round up of our overclocking results. Overclocks are tested for stability with PovRay and OCCT - while these may not be the most strenuous of stability tests, it does offer a quick check for memory errors under high load (and balances testing time with getting the next board on for review!).
|
CPU Speed (MHz) |
Voltage (Volts) |
PovRay Peak Temp (ºC) |
OCCT Peak Temp (ºC) |
Notes | |
|
ASRock Fatal1ty Z77 Professional |
4700 | 1.200 | 89 | 89 | PLL Overvoltage enabled |
|
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 |
4700 | 1.175 | 86 | 86 | LLC Level 1 |
|
ASRock Z77 Extreme6 |
4700 | 1.175 | 81 | 82 | LLC Level 1 |
|
ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe |
4700 | 1.225 | 89 | 84 | PLL Overvoltage enabled |
|
ASUS P8Z77-V Pro |
4700 | 1.200 | 83 | 86 | PLL Overvoltage enabled |
|
Biostar TZ77XE4 |
4700 | 1.180 | 84 | 85 | None |
|
Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H |
4700 | 1.225 | 88 | 88 | LLC Extreme |
|
Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H |
4700 | 1.200 | 82 | 86 | LLC Extreme |
|
Gigabyte Z77MX-D3H |
4700 | 1.200 | 80 | 84 | LLC Extreme |
|
MSI Z77A-GD65 |
4700 | 1.250 | 90 | - | PLL Overvoltage enabled |
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Aunt Fritzi - Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - link
I have a 3-year-old Biostar motherboard (go ahead and laugh)... it has two PS/2 ports. A PS/2 keyboard is needed to bring up the BIOS tool at startup. Is that generally the case when mobos have PS/2 ports?Samus - Thursday, July 26, 2012 - link
You need to enable "USB Legacy Keyboard" in the BIOS, and your USB keyboard will work.Samus - Thursday, July 26, 2012 - link
PS/2 has a limitation of 5 keystrokes within 250ms of each other.The ultimate test is Stepmania (DDR) where you hit many, many keys at the same time.
PS/2 is a joke for gaming or fast typing. It has no place in modern computing.
Questor - Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - link
My wife can type like lightning and mistake free. It astounds me to watch her. I made the switch from PS/2 to buying USB keyboards some years ago, she has been blowing my mind with them without missing a beat since the switch.I am not half-bad at typing and have neither of us have noticed a difference.
I am not saying you are wrong, I am just saying, we have not noticed any issues.
Einy0 - Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - link
PS/2 is dead long live USB!!!Belard - Thursday, July 26, 2012 - link
For my 1996 keyboard, the ps/2 port is a must. They don't make them like they used... my $20 keyboard is easily better made than todays $20~80 keyboards.Really, todays keyboards from MS and Logitech and most others use stickers for for the keys and have weak support. Mine is solid, heavy and will hopefully last another 10 years.
Most PS/2>USB adapters don't work.
Grok42 - Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - link
I guess I'll be the lone supporter of ps/2 as well. I haven't found a replacement for my $20 IBM KB-8923 ps/2 keyboard. I don't even consider myself a picky keyboard guy either. I don't want a cheap light piece of junk that moves around my desk as I type and I don't want some 10lb monster clickty clackety old school keyboard either. Most importantly, I like to keep the number of "shopping" and "email" buttons to a minimum. Seems that's an impossible list of needs these days.Of course, it might be possible to use this ps/2 keyboard with a ps/2 to USB converter but I haven't tried.
Belard - Thursday, July 26, 2012 - link
That IO panel is full of ports. If you need ps/2, go for a lower-end Gigabyte board. Their Z77 boards start at about $125 (or $80 in Dallas) and have ps/2 connectors.For my 1996 keyboard, the ps/2 port is a must. They don't make them like they used... my $20 keyboard is easily better made than todays $20~80 keyboards.
johnrysf - Saturday, August 4, 2012 - link
Before ya'll plunge off the road and into the weeds in the typing speed, etc. discussion that follows, let me mention that I have 2-3 ps/2 <---> USB pigtails that I've picked up free over the years. They're maybe 8" long. Perhaps this will offend your PC-related aspirations, but one of them even says "Radio Shack" on it.Life really is short. Geez.
Nickel020 - Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - link
First, nice review! I like the more in-depth single board reviews!You always point out the software situation with GB boards. While this is definitely an issue as far as fan controls goes, as far as overclocking goes, there's also the GB Tweak Launcher:
http://gigabytedaily.blogspot.de/2012/04/gigabyte-...
While not looking pretty, I actually prefer this functionality focussed UI to a fancy one (while I like the Asus UI, the clicking does get a little bit tedious when trying a lot of different settings). I don't know whether you're not aware of this software, or don't mention it for another reason, but I think you should include it in the review. Or at least mention it, so people are aware of it.
Another point is the voltage read points, which you don't mention in the review as well. I think these are actually a major selling point for overclockers, and should be mentioned, if not even used to check actual voltages versus BIOS settings. That's also an issue that I have with your UD3H/GD65 etc. review: You say that the GD65 gains voltage read points over the UD3H, yet the UD3H *has* voltage read points (even though I like MSI's implementation far better than what Asus/GB are doing).
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5793/intel-z77-mothe...
That's it for now, I'll read the complete review now :)