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
3D Movement Algorithm Test
The algorithms in 3DPM employ both uniform random number generation or normal distribution random number generation, and vary in various amounts of trigonometric operations, conditional statements, generation and rejection, fused operations, etc. The benchmark runs through six algorithms for a specified number of particles and steps, and calculates the speed of each algorithm, then sums them all for a final score. This is an example of a real world situation that a computational scientist may find themselves in, rather than a pure synthetic benchmark. The benchmark is also parallel between particles simulated, and we test the single thread performance as well as the multi-threaded performance.
The Z77X-UD5H takes advantage of MultiCore Enhancement, which gives the system the full turbo CPU mode no matter the loading. This gives the motherboard competitive pace in our multithreaded testing, but also single threaded testing is almost at the top.
WinRAR x64 3.93 - link
With 64-bit WinRAR, we compress the set of files used in the USB speed tests. WinRAR x64 3.93 attempts to use multithreading when possible, and provides as a good test for when a system has variable threaded load. If a system has multiple speeds to invoke at different loading, the switching between those speeds will determine how well the system will do.
Gigabyte show that their CPU multiplier response to variable threaded loads is good, taking the top two spots in our WinRAR testing - the Z77X-UD5H coming joint second with 174 seconds.
FastStone Image Viewer 4.2 - link
FastStone Image Viewer is a free piece of software I have been using for quite a few years now. It allows quick viewing of flat images, as well as resizing, changing color depth, adding simple text or simple filters. It also has a bulk image conversion tool, which we use here. The software currently operates only in single-thread mode, which should change in later versions of the software. For this test, we convert a series of 170 files, of various resolutions, dimensions and types (of a total size of 163MB), all to the .gif format of 640x480 dimensions.
In our single threaded FastStone test, The Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H joins the majority of our Z77 boards in the low 50-second region.
Xilisoft Video Converter
With XVC, users can convert any type of normal video to any compatible format for smartphones, tablets and other devices. By default, it uses all available threads on the system, and in the presence of appropriate graphics cards, can utilize CUDA for NVIDIA GPUs as well as AMD APP for AMD GPUs. For this test, we use a set of 32 HD videos, each lasting 30 seconds, and convert them from 1080p to an iPod H.264 video format using just the CPU. The time taken to convert these videos gives us our result.
As XVC is a fully multithreaded test, the extra speed the Gigabyte gets from enabling MultiCore Enhancement results in a joint-top time score of 67 seconds.
x264 HD Benchmark
The x264 HD Benchmark uses a common HD encoding tool to process an HD MPEG2 source at 1280x720 at 3963 Kbps. This test represents a standardized result which can be compared across other reviews, and is dependant on both CPU power and memory speed. The benchmark performs a 2-pass encode, and the results shown are the average of each pass performed four times.
Again, the Z77X-UD5H comes near top with the extra MHz under multi-threaded load.
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IanCutress - Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - link
Please note that even if you have purchased a '6Gbit/s' SSD, it will never run at that speed. If you look at our SATA and USB testing, none of the peak speeds we see in our benchmarking ever reach the peak advertised by the port due to the limitations of the hardware. They more often than not do not even reach the peaks of the hardware due to latency or real-world situations. Most rated speeds are for compressible continuous data with a high queue-depth - not ever a realistic scenario.Testing every 3rd party controller adds testing time. Going from 2-3 boards a month do maybe one and a bit. Especially if they're all connected differently on the board (which we don't always know without specific chipset diagrams for the specific product, which are not always available). After all, peak tests are limited in their understanding anyway - take the new USB boost technologies from ASUS and ASRock. ASUS' implementation affects mainly short size block transfers by several order of magnitudes (as found out in our testing), rather than peak by any significant amount.
I am quite astounded by your insistence that if you have many ports that they must all run at their peak speed in conjunction with each other at the same time. It just doesn't work that way. Have a gander at the chipset diagrams in our first Z77 reviews to understand this. Bandwidth is delivered to what needs it at the right time - the usage model for hammering all the ports at once is almost non-existent.
Ideally we'd love to test everything at the peak, but we do not have an unlimited amount of cash to go and buy equipment. We're independent freelance reviewers making do with what kit we can get together or are offered.
iCrunch - Sunday, July 29, 2012 - link
I've become so spoiled by how incredibly seamlessly, fast, and consistent Thunderbolt works. Add to that the fact that I can probably get most of the specs in an external Thunderbolt enclosure/dock solution fairly soon...albeit for a tad more money.Scootiep7 - Sunday, July 29, 2012 - link
Wow, so Gigabyte finally took my complaints to heart and started releasing boards with something other than that ALC887 miserable excuse for an audio codec. Bravo good sirs, better late than never. Now get it done on more of your boards!Questor - Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - link
I have this motherboard with an Ivy Bridge i5 3570K, currently at a stock speed, with a Plextor 128 GB SATA III SSD as the OS drive. Even with the post logo screen enabled, I get to desktop log-in in about 7 seconds. Excluding the "artificially" added time to type my password, full desktop is an average of 2.5 seconds from there. Not bad considering the programs I have that load versus Anantech testing.I have had my board since its early retail release and this has not changed much; even after replacing the original i5 2500K and Samsung SATA II 128 GB SSD for the above mentioned components.
Questor - Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - link
In addition to the boot time being misleading commentary and the response to the USB vs PS/2 keyboard, my present computer build with this Gigabyte board is one of the best/favorite rigs in my 14 years of building and tweaking computers.The other few are ASUS P8P67-PRO, Gigabyte MA790GP-UD4H (X2 with two cores unlocked to quad and STILL running stable), EPoX EP-9NPA+ Ultra, ASUS P5A with AMD K6-350 (severe electrical spike took it out after years of OCing - jumped the surge protector)!
Questor - Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - link
In addition to the boot time being misleading commentary and the response to the USB vs PS/2 keyboard, my present computer build with this Gigabyte board is one of the best/favorite rigs in my 14 years of building and tweaking computers. The other few are ASUS P8P67-PRO, Gigabyte MA790GP-UD4H (X2 with two cores unlocked to quad and STILL running stable), EPoX EP-9NPA+ Ultra, ASUS P5A with AMD K6-350 (severe electrical spike took it out after years of OCing - jumped the surge protector)!minlian - Sunday, August 12, 2012 - link
Is the reaction time DPC Latency error fixed on the Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H-WB-WiFi version or are they just the same motherboard with just a wifi difference?Triniman - Sunday, August 12, 2012 - link
Ian Cutress wrote, "...a total of 10 USB 3.0 ports available (if you have enough USB 3.0 panels)."Does anyone know of any cases that will would allow you to use the 3 onboard USB 3.0 headers?
Also, is it correct that the Gigabyte doesn't include drivers for these VIA controllers?
ETruett - Tuesday, September 11, 2012 - link
Hay. I am wondering if the Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H Motherboard will fit in the Dell E510 Case? Or which Case can i get? I would like to build a nice gaming pc that whill not break me. I dont have much money. My eMail is: etruett9@gmail.com..... :-))gkatsanos - Monday, November 26, 2012 - link
Hi, It's weird how in any of the reviews there was a word for the problems (bugs) this M/B has. I ordered it a week ago and even if I upgraded my BIOS to the latest version, it still suffers from problems.. I had for example to disable the Marvell sata controller and connect my drive to the intel chipset one for the system to shutdown properly... Other folks have had freezes etc. Google the model + problems and you'll see. I am thinking of changing it with an Intel m/b or something more stable..