Z77 mITX Round-Up: Five of the Best – MSI, Zotac, ASRock, EVGA and ASUS
by Ian Cutress on December 31, 2012 7:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- MSI
- ASRock
- EVGA
- ZOTAC
- Asus
- Ivy Bridge
- Z77
- mITX
EVGA Z77 Stinger BIOS
Now that 2012 is almost over, it has been a full two years since the initial implementation of graphical BIOS systems, and the paradigm shift towards interactivity and engagement in the BIOS. It has been a keen topic of mine to discuss with the manufacturers about the true nature of how interactive a BIOS should be, how it should engage the user, and how there are a million and one (hyperbole not withstanding) ways in order to improve the current generation of BIOSes.
Implementing these graphical BIOS systems is easy for the bigger motherboard manufacturers – ASUS, MSI and ASRock were all on the bandwagon from Day One. Gigabyte took a little longer with their different implementation, but even Biostar, ECS, Zotac and Intel managed to skin something up to make the BIOS more appealing in terms of menu options and aesthetics. For EVGA, this is a task they still have to do.
While we have not got the white text on blue that marked out BIOSes pre-2011, the white on black with little EVGA icons for different sections is not really a step forward. I apologize in advance for the quality of the following images – EVGA does not have a screenshot button in their BIOS, and even when taking pictures with my DSLR, white text on a black background without a tripod is a tough task.
The main Overview screen actually does a lot of what I like when I first go into a BIOS – we get the name of the motherboard (in this case, Z77 Stinger = E692), the BIOS version, the processor installed, speed of the processor, the memory installed, the speed of the memory, some voltages and temperatures. If EVGA were to hire another BIOS engineer or two to wrap this up into a design, it could be a winner.
In the ‘Advanced’ menu is where the normal onboard device configuration, SATA configuration and hardware monitor options hang out:
Thankfully EVGA resort to enabling AHCI by default on the SATA configuration. The more important menus in the Advanced section is the H/W Monitor, which holds the fan speed controls. As there is no fan speed control in the OS, all control comes through the BIOS. Opening the H/W Monitor menu gives the following:
The Temperature Monitor and Voltage Monitor screens give pure information, whereas the Fan Speed Monitor allows the user to adjust the fan settings.
For the three fan headers on board we have two different styles of options. The main CPU header gets a full multi-point gradient in its design – users can specify the amount of power to the fan header as a function of temperature over several points. The downside of this is the assumption that fan speed is a linear function of power, which is not always the case – at <5% power any particular fan will do one of two things: (i) not start up, or (ii) run at a minimum RPM. This is why certain controls on other boards do a pre-test to find how a fan reacts as a function of applied voltage. The other two fan headers are offered at configurable duty speeds.
For overclocking, we head to the overclocking menu. This menu is very similar to previous EVGA boards we have tested in the past:
On the main Overclocking screen we have multiplier control, VDroop control, options for OCP and performance tweaks as well as voltage options. The OC Mode is a fun setting to have on a motherboard, as it automatically disables all the additional ports not used in extreme overclocking, like audio, NIC and so on.
The memory configuration screen allows users to adjust the multiplier and subtimings on their memory. Despite having an option to enable an XMP profile, none of my memory kits I use in testing would work – no option was offered to enable XMP. As a result I had to go in and manually adjust timings. But as there are so many timings to change and only extreme enthusiasts would know exactly what every setting would be on their memory.
The CPU settings deal with additional options such as Turbo modes, CPU power limits, Hyperthreading and cores used, whereas the BCLK menu gives the user BCLK control. There is an issue with the BCLK menu however – when adjusted (in either the OS or the BIOS), this setting is not changed back to 100 MHz when the Optimized Default option is chosen. This is rather a large oversight, as when recovering from a bad overclock, you ideally do not want the board still booting at 105 MHz or something the processor cannot handle.
Elsewhere in the BIOS are options to adjust the boot order, security, and a handy Boot Override feature to allow a one-time boot from a detected device – a useful tool for installing OSes or testing software.
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ryedizzel - Monday, December 31, 2012 - link
Thank you so much for this Z77 roundup as I'm currently shopping for a new mobo and have been piecing together reviews from various sites. But as usual I always check here first, then Tom's, then Hardocp (in that order). Keep up the great work in 2013!Aikouka - Monday, December 31, 2012 - link
Ah, if only I held off on building my silent HTPC for a little bit longer. The hardest part about working with a Streacom case (other than building it) is finding a good motherboard that doesn't put too much in the way of the heat pipes. That's one reason why I was considering going with a board with mSATA, and I'm pretty certain that I stumbled across that ASRock board. Unfortunately, I looked at the photos, and didn't see a mSATA port, so I passed on it. Who would have thought to look at the back? Boy, do I feel like a bit of a dummy now! =$Although, speaking of the back mSATA connector, I recall seeing you touch on it on the recommendation page, but do you think it would work well on most cases? If I remember correctly, mSATA drives are fairly thin, so it might be fine. Going back to the Streacom, it does look like the ASRock offering would work well in regard to clearance even disregarding the mSATA port as the light gray SATA ports should clear the heat pipes. The USB3 port won't though.
philipma1957 - Monday, December 31, 2012 - link
I built 2 asrock builds with the msata as the only drive. btw this z77 review with no regard to oc is pretty weird.I have a 3770k with a hd7970 gpu and an msata in a small case the cooler master elite it is a very fast powerful machine. I use the asrock and love it. it does have a flaw the msata slot is sata II
Ananke - Monday, December 31, 2012 - link
I have i3-3225 (the same as in the article). In my opinion, for the money, the best is ASUS P8H77-I.It does have 6 SATA ports - a must for a file server. So, basically install Windows 8 on a SSD, add HDDs and create Storage Space - 5 SATA will allow you to create software RAID 5, without the need of SATA extension controller. BIOS is nice and stable. The board is $100 on Newegg.
The ASUS Z77 Deluxe is nice, if anybody needs all the additional functionality in a small form factor. However, only 4 SATA - means no good for video, file, backup server. You get the "overclocking" ability though. I doubt how practical is overclocking into so small space, probably to a handful of people. Teh board costs $185.
So, I would say $100 is better than $185, plus you get all the 6 SATA ports - priceless.
DarkStryke - Monday, December 31, 2012 - link
Not everyone who games wants to have a huge tower. I've built more then one system based around the silverstone FT03-mini that runs a 3750k / Z77 deluxe-i and a GTX 670.I bring mine to lan parties and people are amazed at the power in such a small box, and it's just as fast as any desktop single GPU alternative.
Ananke - Monday, December 31, 2012 - link
ASUS P8H77-I is a mini ITX board - the cheaper variant of the reviewed deluxe board. It costs $100.ggathagan - Wednesday, January 2, 2013 - link
I agree; the H77 makes much more sense for most ITX builds.I built a system with the P8H77-I, a GTX670 and the FT03-MINI.
I don't think the daughter card of the Z77 Deluxe would have fit in the case.
tramways - Monday, December 31, 2012 - link
I registered here because the reviewer is lamenting that some boards use the ALC889 instead of the ALC892 codecs.The 889 like the 882 before it and the 898 after it is a much better codec than the 892.
The 883,888,892 codecs are the cheaper low performance DAC/ADC chips.
I would buy a board with the ALC889 or preferably the ALC898,but not with the ALC892.
all the best in 2013
Paul
limki - Monday, December 31, 2012 - link
too bad I already ordered mine last week ... MSI Z77IAto tell the truth, i don't really mind [ at 136€ its a bit pricier than asrock with my supplier]
the conclusion for this board seems a bit biased to me
but hey, if you're not looking for a tiny powerhouse, you don't need z77
- in SUGO 05(and most small cases), MB is horizontally and PSU is above it, so cables and airflow will always be nasty
- using a discrete GPU, you don't care about not having DVI or DP
- no additional controller (USB/SATA) -> I don't plan on using more than 2(won't fit into case), so why bother?
//btw is the SATA 6/3/m correct 2+2? shouldn't be also 2+2+1?
- and if I'm to take the "military grade" stuff at least half seriously, ...
EnzoFX - Monday, December 31, 2012 - link
Do the post times include those pesky AHCI driver loading screen? I hate that it adds so much more to the boot process.