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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ASUSTechMKT - Monday, April 9, 2012 - link
ASMedia does not produce or design a bluetooth controller. Additionally you are correct in that add in controllers do offer support for specialized modes of operation.functionality ( like charging )ASUSTechMKT - Monday, April 9, 2012 - link
the Intel controller under Windows 7 does not offer operating in UASP mode. With UASP the ASMedia add in controller can provide superior performance especially in queue depth. The USB3 Boost package is offered for both the Intel controller and the ASMedia ( Intel support change from BOT mode to SCSI ( Turbo mode ) and the ASMedia controller of support for BOT, SCSI ( Turbo ) as well UASP.MrMaestro - Sunday, April 8, 2012 - link
I didn't know a motherboard could be kitsch until I saw the ECS.XSCounter - Sunday, April 8, 2012 - link
P8Z77-M is the one I am waiting for for my Micro ATX build. It has no those xtra useless controllers which are all gonna be inferior to native Intel ones. So won't overpaying anything.However, I am planning to overclock so I wish to know how it will perform in this regard! Hoping to see these ASUS Micro ATX boards on Anandtech asap :)
http://uk.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/...
ASUSTechMKT - Monday, April 9, 2012 - link
It features a Digi+ VRM with robust VRM components overall in our testing the -M Pro provide comparable scaling to that of our standard board. You will see this information from ASUS soon. Solid board !Lonyo - Sunday, April 8, 2012 - link
What happened to the boards with 10 SATA ports?There were some from tradeshows earlier in the year, but none listed here (apart from the one with 8 + 2 eSATA).
Obviously this isn't a comprehensive lineup, but most of these seem to be fairly high end boards, yet no 10 SATA ports.
ASUSTechMKT - Monday, April 9, 2012 - link
Very few users use this many ports it makes sense more to prioritize expansion lane support to add ons that will be used. Keep in mind even with a board with that number of ports you may not actually be able to have that usable bandwidth.Should you really need that many you should consider an add on controller card. Things like SATA ports while important are not the only way to distinguish true attention to design in higher end boards.
aranyagag - Sunday, April 8, 2012 - link
"four SATA 6 Gbps also from the PCH," shouldn't that be sata 3 gbpsin the msi gd65 board
ConVuzius - Sunday, April 8, 2012 - link
The article says Virtu MVP has an i-Mode and a d-Mode, but which one is the better one? I kinda didnt get the difference, except where you connect your display.Ryan Smith - Sunday, April 8, 2012 - link
For regular Virtu, d-Mode is the mode that was better from a performance perspective, since at times performance under i-Mode dipped due to having to send frames out to the iGPU.For MVP, there's not going to be all that much of a difference. Regardless of the mode used Virtual V-Sync needs frames passed from the dGPU to the iGPU. The only difference is which display output is used, since a copy of the frame is on both GPUs (i.e. while you have to send frames to the iGPU, you don't have to send them back even in d-Mode).