Intel Z77 Panther Point Chipset and Motherboard Preview – ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, ECS and Biostar
by Ian Cutress on April 8, 2012 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Intel
- Biostar
- MSI
- Gigabyte
- ASRock
- Asus
- Ivy Bridge
- ECS
- Z77
Gigabyte GA-Z77MX-D3H—Visual Inspection
In a twist to the previous motherboards, Gigabyte sent us a micro-ATX sample, the GA-Z77MX-D3H. While still a Z77 product, capable of dual GPU setups, we have a motherboard aimed at the cheaper end of the spectrum. This is shown with what looks like a 4 + 2 VRM power delivery, and the relatively small sized heatsinks. We are also limited in terms of fan headers (three), and rear panel USB 3.0 ports (only two) compared to the Z77X-UD3H WiFi bigger brother.
The socket itself is clean with little obstructions—fan headers are found below the VRM heatsink, where we have two of the 4-pin variety. The other fan header on board can be found at the bottom next to the TPM.
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Despite being a cheaper small motherboard, we still have typical Gigabyte features, such as dual BIOSes next to the USB 3.0 header underneath the 24-pin ATX power connector, but only the SATA ports from the PCH. This means two SATA 6 Gbps and three SATA 3 Gbps. The chipset heatsink is also small but has enough surface area to keep Gigabyte confident of its functionality.
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The south side of the board is relatively naked, with a front panel audio, fan header, TPM and two USB 2.0 headers. Given the look of the board and that it does not display many potential features (presumably to fit into a price bracket), I was not expecting anything elaborate such as power/reset buttons.
The PCIe layout is aimed at users wanting dual GPUs or users needing an extra PCIe device alongside their GPU. The PCIe layout becomes x16 (x8 on dual GPU), x1, x8, x4, with this final x4 only being PCIe 2.0.
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The rear IO panel is more substantial than I assumed, which can only be a good thing. From left to right we have a pair of USB 2.0 (black), a combination PS/2 port, D-Sub, DVI, two USB 3.0 (blue), HDMI, four more USB 2.0 (black), gigabit Ethernet, and standard audio jacks with a combination optical SPDIF output.
Board Features
| Gigabyte GA-Z77MX-D3H | |
| Size | mATX |
| CPU Interface | LGA-1155 |
| Chipset | Intel Z77 |
| Power Delivery | TBC |
| Memory Slots |
Four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 32 GB Up to Dual Channel, 1066-1600 MHz |
| Video Outputs | HDMI, DVI-D, D-Sub |
| Onboard LAN | Atheros |
| Onboard Audio | Via VT2021 |
| Expansion Slots |
2 x PCIe x16 Gen3 (x16, x8/8) 1 x PCIe x16 Gen2 (x4) 1 x PCIe x1 Gen2 |
| Onboard SATA/RAID |
2 x SATA 6 Gbps (PCH), Support for RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 4 x SATA 3 Gbps (PCH), Support for RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 |
| USB |
4 USB 3.0 ports (2 back panel, 2 from headers) 10 USB 2.0 ports (6 back panel, 4 from headers) |
| Onboard |
4 x SATA 3 Gbps 2 x SATA 6 Gbps 3 x Fan Headers 1 x Front Panel Header 1 x Front Audio Header 1 x SPDIF Output Header 1 x USB 3.0 Header 2 x USB 2.0 Headers 1 x TPM |
| Power Connectors |
1 x 24-pin ATX connector 1 x 8-pin 12V connector |
| Fan Headers |
1 x CPU Fan Header (4-pin) 2 x SYS Fan Headers (4-pin) |
| IO Panel |
1 x PS/2 Combo Port 1 x D-Sub 1 x DVI-D 1 x HDMI 2 x USB 3.0 6 x USB 2.0 1 x Gigabit Ethernet 1 x Optical SPDIF Audio Jacks |
| Warranty Period | 3 Years |
| Product Page | Link |
As with the Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H WiFi, this Z77MX-D3H comes with an Atheros/Via network and audio combination. Given the lack of features on the main area of the board due to the size and the audience this product is aiming for, it seems good if all you want is a stock processor and a working Ivy Bridge system with no frills.
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MrSpadge - Sunday, April 8, 2012 - link
"multiples of 15 Hz (15, 30, 35, 60, 75)" on page 2Ryan Smith - Sunday, April 8, 2012 - link
Got it. Thanks.MrSpadge - Sunday, April 8, 2012 - link
How does it work together with nVidias adaptive VSync, which debuted with the GTX680? And which, IMO, looked quite promising (lowering average power consumption a lot while gaming).Ryan Smith - Sunday, April 8, 2012 - link
You wouldn't use MVP with Adaptive V-Sync. It only makes sense to use MVP by itself.Thaine - Thursday, August 16, 2012 - link
"Predicting which frames (or rendering tasks) will never be shown and taking them out of the pipeline so the GPU can work on what is needed"Along the lines of power consumption (and the ever-important side effect, heat), I would be very interested in seeing an article on MVP vs power consumption/heat on a power-hungry dGPU (ala GTX 480).
primonatron - Sunday, April 8, 2012 - link
Not sure why most of these boards bother including the non-Intel USB 3.0 controllers any more.Not many people have several USB 3.0 devices, so they could be saving costs. Or instead bringing back some of the things the article mention were taken away - like DVI on an ASUS board.
GreenEnergy - Sunday, April 8, 2012 - link
I think board makers are getting desperate for ways to add value.Less and less components to change and diversify with.
And its not getting better in the future. Haswell on LGA1150 basicly removes the entire VRM part on the motherboard. No more 32 phases or whatever.
A 50$ board performs identical to a 200$ board if you dont overclock. Actually the 50$ board might be more reliable (less components to fail) and more power efficient.
Xale - Sunday, April 8, 2012 - link
50 dollar boards are probably going to at least boot faster. The driver load and POST times with many 3rd party controllers, SATA especially, is atrocious. Seen some boards that take nearly 3x longer if the external controllers aren't disabled.Metaluna - Sunday, April 8, 2012 - link
Mostly marketing I would guess. Intel only supports 4 3.0 ports, so if you add another chip you now have a checklist item to justify the premium price of your motherboard and possibly differentiate it from lower-end versions in the same product line.Second, ASUS owns ASMedia, who makes a lot of the (mediocre, IMHO) USB 3 and Bluetooth controllers on their boards, so there's probably an incentive to use them in their own products to help prop up their production volumes.
Third, a lot of the third party controllers have special modes to support things like high-current charging for iPads or charging when the computer is turned off. Does anyone know if it's possible to add these features to Intel-based ports? If not, that would be an incentive to include a secondary chip.
GreenEnergy - Sunday, April 8, 2012 - link
I saw the DH77DF im looking at myself got high current recharge. So that doesnt seem to be related to the controller at all.