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A Brief Look at Some Upcoming 7-Series Motherboards

 by Ian Cutress on March 9, 2012 5:00 PM EST
55 Comments | Add A Comment
55 Comments

ASRock

ASRock are now becoming a stable option when it comes to buying motherboards.  As a company, they are now producing a large amount of good product with an expected ten million motherboard sales in 2012, and seem to have enough backing to perhaps push it a little forward ahead of other competitors.  When it comes to releasing new chipsets, ASRock have recently always been releasing their Extreme series (numbered currently from 3 to 9), and their gaming Fatal1ty series for more enthusiast style users.  For the most part, their cheaper offerings often hit a nice price/feature ratio that is comfortable on the wallet.

For the 7-series, ASRock have fully updated their website with models we expect ASRock to launch:

H77M
H77 Pro4-M
H77 Pro4/MVP
Z77 Pro4
Z77 Extreme4-M
Z77 Extreme4
Z77 Extreme6
Fatal1ty Z77 Professional
Fatal1ty Z77 Professional-M
Fatal1ty Z77 Performance

ASRock Z77 Extreme6

If we extrapolate from our look at ASRock boards for P67 and X79, the Z77 Extreme4 and Z77 Extreme6 should be a pair of good boards to consider out of the starting block.  As we can see, the Z77 Extreme6 goes all out on the black and gold livery ASRock demonstrated with X79, and plugs in a USB 3.0 front panel which doubly acts as a SSD holder.  On the board itself, we still see a 4-pin molex connector rear its ugly head again above the PCIe ports, and if I'm very much mistaken, we also have a Floppy drive port on the south side of the board.  I did quiz ASRock once as to why they're putting legacy ports back onto some of their lineup, and the response I got was 'some people want that functionality'.  I could perhaps see the requirement in industry when a 6-figure piece of industrial equipment still uses floppy drives (and the cost of upgrading that equipment is too high for USB), however I would relegate that function to the lower end of the spectrum.

ECS

ECS have always been somewhat odd when trying to predict what of their main channel products will reach the market.  They tackle each chipset differently, deciding what proportion of the market will invest in it, then design products at various price points to suit that need.  This is all despite being a primarily OEM manufacturer and distributor.  When it comes to the 7-series chipsets, it is clear that while they will be more important than Sandy Bridge-E was, it could swing either way whether they will outstrip Sandy Bridge before we get Intel's next architecture down the line.

Nevertheless, ECS have dutifully supplied a couple of images of their top-end upcoming boards, and to be honest, I'd say they were taking a leaf out of ASRock's book..

Gallery: ECS Z77 Preview

ECS Z77H2-AX

The Z77H2-AX is ECS' answer to the 7-series, and it looks packed with functionality.  If I'm not mistaken, if we ignore the ASRock-like gold and black, we have a mSATA port blow the SATA ports, and built in Wifi and Bluetooth modules on the IO panel.  This is despite also having video outputs.  The ECS board I reviewed for X79, whilst it was under rebate, was quite a bargain in terms of functionality and price, so I hope that ECS can deliver similar for the 7-series.

Gigabyte MSI and Biostar
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  • Meaker10 - Saturday, March 10, 2012 - link

    They come from the south bridge.

  • danjw - Saturday, March 10, 2012 - link

    I would like to see reviews for the ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe and ASRock Z77 Pro4.

  • tyrant.otter - Saturday, March 10, 2012 - link

    I'd really like to see a review of that ASUS Maximus V Gene. It looks like it would be an excellent replacement for my aging MSI x58m. I wonder though is there any advantage to using an SSD in the 'augmentation port' when I already have an SSD as the OS drive? I'm guessing any advantage would have to come from using PCIe instead of SATA.

  • st.bone - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link

    I would like to see Intel Desktop Boards, especially Intel DZ77RE the one that allegedly comes with thunderbolt, I live Intel Desktop Boards made by Intel, so i normally buy Intel boards not third party like the ones on the review, i find Intel boards stable and appealing than most of other venders, at list to me, simplicity is what i like about the boards

  • risa2000 - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link

    I am there with you. It would be good to have also Intel original boards on the list. I have been running many boards in the past (Gigabyte, ABit, ASUS), but since I moved to Intel boards (D975XBX, DH55HC recently) I feel like I found finally sweet spot.

    The main factor about Intel boards for me is usually integrated Intel NIC, decent sound, and conservative design.

  • st.bone - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link

    Thanks, it's nice to know there are others who appreciate.

    I have used various Motherboards in the past too (A SRock, ECS, Gigabyte, Mercury, ASUS, just but to mention a few)

    But ever since i moved to Intel Desktop Boards I've felt happier at home with them, my first Intel Desktop Board was D945GCCR, then Moved Shortly to D945GCNL, then a long line of others like DG33BU, DG35EC, DG43GT and currently on DH55HC.

    My Current setup is:

    Intel Desktop Board DH55HC
    Intel Processor Core i5 - 760
    Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1600Mhz kit 4 x 4GB
    1TB WD
    POV TGT Charged Nvidia GTX 460 1GB
    Inwin F430 Black Chassis
    FSP Everest PSU 600 Watts
    LG DVD-WR
    Display : Dell SX2210 22inch/21.5 visible area 1920 x 1080 Res
    Dell Keyboard
    Logitech M215 Wireless Mouse
    Sony Headphones
    Speakers Logitech Z906 5.1

    I would like to upgrade three major components come april
    1: Change Desktop Board to DZ77RE
    2; Change Processor to Core i7 3770K, Core i7 3770
    3: Change Graphics Card to AMD Radeon or Nvidia GeForce @ around $300 to 350 Max

    Please Anand do a review for the above components...

  • dzlboats - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link

    The deluxe version of P8Z77-V series has the best layout with extra usb ports and PCI slots removed for those that don't need PCI capability. My choice if offered would be a P8Z77-V(lite) without the 5.25 USB 3.0 panel and WiFi module since my Lancool PC-K9WX case has USB 3.0 ports built in and I don't have an immediate need for WiFi. The cost would be significantly lower also.

  • orenlevy - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link

    this is huge different from H77 to Z77 ddr 1600 vs ddr 2400+ Oc2800

  • ol1bit - Sunday, March 11, 2012 - link

    All I use my PC for anymore that need power is Games, and 80% of that is GFX... My I7 seems set for another 5 years of life, just like my e6600 did before.

    I think everyone is going to tablets/ smart phones etc.

  • gentlearc - Monday, March 12, 2012 - link

    *grammar*
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