Four Multi-GPU Z77 Boards from $280-$350 - PLX PEX 8747 featuring Gigabyte, ASRock, ECS and EVGA
by Ian Cutress on August 22, 2012 9:15 AM ESTECS Z77H2-AX Software
Bundled software gives motherboard manufacturers innovative ways of increasing the usability of their products by either in-house design or licensed software. As users, we would ideally like software that is quick to load, takes as few system resources as possible, and every tweakable selection under one executable file. So far, only one manufacturer offers anything close to this, which is a shame when the scope for software potentially outweighs the scope for motherboard design. ECS falls into the other category – with one element of their software package still having the same spelling error since P67.
To start with, the Driver CD offers a silent install for all the main chipset drivers (which is good), except the installation of the Realtek audio driver requires manual interaction (which is undesired). The utilities for use on the motherboard require individual installation, and the main utilities we installed were eSF, eOC, eDLU, and eBLU.
eOC
The main software for ECS motherboards is in the eOC (OC for overclocking), which offers a small monitoring tool for the CPU temperature, the limit to which the system will shut down if the temperature reaches that limit, and some mild overclock settings.
The voltage setting menu is a little odd as it displays the CPU voltage as what the idle voltage is, rather than anything set in the BIOS.
eSF
For the single controllable fan header on the Z77H2-AX, we get software to control it. eSF (SF for Smart Fan) allows users to set a hysteresis curve for the fan header based on fan speed and system temperature. As shown below, three elements of the hysteresis can be set.
eBLU
eBLU is the BIOS update utility, which will search online for the latest BIOS for the motherboard from ECS’ servers. The system will also update the BIOS from a file.
eDLU
eDLU is the ‘Download Live Update’ utility from ECS, which has been part of the repertoire on ECS motherboards for a good couple of years. The premise is simple – get a list of the latest software and driver versions online from ECS servers and update as required. MSI do this quite well with their software stack, but with ECS things were not as rosy. On clicking the link, my system opened up the browser and showed me a blank page. Absolutely nothing. I tried the next day, and nothing again. It does seem very odd to include a bit of software if the web end does not work for a product that has been out for a couple of months.
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goinginstyle - Thursday, August 23, 2012 - link
I tried the G1 Sniper 3 and returned it a few days later. The audio was a significant downgrade from the Assassin series, EFI is clunky at best and the board had serious problems with a GSKill 16GB 2666 kit, not to mention the lousy fan controls.Purchased a Maximus Formula V and never looked back as the EFI, Fan Controls, Clocking and Audio are much better in every way compared to the Sniper board. There is no way Gigabyte has brought better value than ASUS with the Z77 chipset. You get what you pay for and the GB is overpriced once you actually use the board and compare it to ASUS or even ASRock.
JohnBS - Thursday, November 1, 2012 - link
I am looking for a rock solid MB, so of course I turned to ASUS. However, the reviews from verified buyers showed multiple issues with 3.0 USB ports losing power, system instability after months of use, and multiple instances of the board not working in one or more memory slots. Bent pins from the factory and complete DOA issues as well. A few reports of complete failure when the Wi-Fi card was inserted, yet gone with the card removed. This was mainly the Maximus IV series. Then I thought I'd look into the Maximus V series, because I really wanted ASUS, and was kinda sad to read reviews. Same issues from verified buyers of the Maximus V, more so with the USB 3.0 problems and the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth add-on card failures. In common were multiple complaints about customer service.So I emailed the ASUS rep who was replying to everyone's post, with specific attention on the recurring problems and how I was concerned about buying a MB. I got the email back, stating they were aware of the recurring problems listed on the user reviews, but that they are isolated occurrences.
I really need a rock solid x16 x 2 pci-e mb right now, and that's why I'm still searching. I'm planning on overclocking an i7-2700k with an gtx 690 and a 120z monitor for high res gaming. The sniper 3 looks good, but the front audio plug reaching the board's bottom audio header might be something I can't work around.
Just want something reliable. If there's a known issue, I'm always in that percentile that gets hit with the RMA process. I'm trying so hard to avoid that.
(Went with 690 instead of dual 680 for heat, noise, power draw considerations).
jonjonjonj - Friday, October 26, 2012 - link
you mean gigabyte in the evga conclusion?"the EVGA does not keep pace with ASUS and EVGA even at stock speeds."
couchassault9001 - Friday, November 2, 2012 - link
So for gaming benchmarks is it correct that the cpu multipliers were at 40 on the g1.sniper and 36 on the evga? if so it seems to be a rather unfair comparison. Being that the sniper cpu is running 11% fasterI'd be amazed if someone was looking at these boards with no intent to overclock like crazy, as i'm trying to decide between these 2 boards myself, and i'm sure i'll be pushing my 3770k as far as it will go.
The evga consumed ~8% less power than the sniper under load.
dirt 3 showed a 9% frame rate drop in the frame rate going from g1 to evga. metro 2033 showed a 3.6% drop in frame rate going from g1 to evga. Both of these are on the 4 7970 benchmarks. the 3 and below the gap is much tighter with it being under 1% with one card.
I know this may be nit picking to some, but i plan on running 5760x1080 3d so 4 7970 performance on a i7-3770k is exactly what i'm looking at.