Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H Review: Functionality meets Competitive Pricing
by Ian Cutress on July 25, 2012 5:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Gigabyte
- Z77
Multi-GPU Setups
The Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H is the first Z77 motherboard we have tested that uses a full PCIe 3.0 tri-GPU setup, such that we have:
One GPU: x16
Two GPUs: x8/x8
Three GPUs: x8/x4/x4
Our other comparison points use four PCIe 2.0 lanes from the chipset. These setups suffer from limited bandwidth on the third GPU, as well as additional latency as data must transfer through the chipset. These motherboards have a setup such that:
One GPU: x16
Two GPUs: x8/x8
Three GPUs x8/x8/PCIe 2.0 x4
In our testing, we show that the first method of PCIe layout performs a lot better in tri-GPU setups. Note that the downside of this is that if a Z77 motherboard is paired with a non PCIe 3.0 CPU (such as Sandy Bridge), then the final PCIe slot on the board is not functional.
Civilization V
Civilization V is a strategy video game that utilizes a significant number of the latest GPU features and software advances. Using the in-game benchmark, we run Civilization V at 2560x1440 with full graphical settings, similar to Ryan in his GPU testing functionality. Results reported by the benchmark are the total number of frames in sixty seconds, which we normalize to frames per second.
While the UD5H does not perform the best in single and dual AMD cards in Civilization V, it does take the top spot against our tri-AMD setup.
For whatever reason our single NVIDIA test does not perform that well, but the dual NVIDIA GPU test comes near the top.
Dirt 3
Dirt 3 is a rallying video game and the third in the Dirt series of the Colin McRae Rally series, developed and published by Codemasters. Using the in game benchmark, Dirt 3 is run at 2560x1440 with full graphical settings. Results are reported as the average frame rate across four runs.
While in the single AMD Dirt3 test the Z77X-UD5H comes bottom, all the results are within statistical variance. In comparison, in the dual AMD Dirt3 test the Z77X-UD5H comes near the top. In our tri-GPU test, the full PCIe 3.0 x4 of the Z77X-UD5H shows its worth with an extra 35-40 FPS over our other motherboards tested.
In both our Dirt3 NVIDIA tests, the Z77X-UD5H performs well but within statistical variance of every other board tested.
Metro2033
Metro2033 is a DX11 benchmark that challenges every system that tries to run it at any high-end settings. Developed by 4A Games and released in March 2010, we use the inbuilt DirectX 11 Frontline benchmark to test the hardware at 2560x1440 with full graphical settings. Results are given as the average frame rate from 10 runs.
On our Metro 2033 tests, the full PCIe 3.0 functionality of the third GPU shows again, with the Z77X-UD5H performing another 5% better than the Biostar.
Our NVIDIA testing in Metro 2033 shows every board performing almost the same.
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Aunt Fritzi - Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - link
I have a 3-year-old Biostar motherboard (go ahead and laugh)... it has two PS/2 ports. A PS/2 keyboard is needed to bring up the BIOS tool at startup. Is that generally the case when mobos have PS/2 ports?Samus - Thursday, July 26, 2012 - link
You need to enable "USB Legacy Keyboard" in the BIOS, and your USB keyboard will work.Samus - Thursday, July 26, 2012 - link
PS/2 has a limitation of 5 keystrokes within 250ms of each other.The ultimate test is Stepmania (DDR) where you hit many, many keys at the same time.
PS/2 is a joke for gaming or fast typing. It has no place in modern computing.
Questor - Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - link
My wife can type like lightning and mistake free. It astounds me to watch her. I made the switch from PS/2 to buying USB keyboards some years ago, she has been blowing my mind with them without missing a beat since the switch.I am not half-bad at typing and have neither of us have noticed a difference.
I am not saying you are wrong, I am just saying, we have not noticed any issues.
Einy0 - Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - link
PS/2 is dead long live USB!!!Belard - Thursday, July 26, 2012 - link
For my 1996 keyboard, the ps/2 port is a must. They don't make them like they used... my $20 keyboard is easily better made than todays $20~80 keyboards.Really, todays keyboards from MS and Logitech and most others use stickers for for the keys and have weak support. Mine is solid, heavy and will hopefully last another 10 years.
Most PS/2>USB adapters don't work.
Grok42 - Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - link
I guess I'll be the lone supporter of ps/2 as well. I haven't found a replacement for my $20 IBM KB-8923 ps/2 keyboard. I don't even consider myself a picky keyboard guy either. I don't want a cheap light piece of junk that moves around my desk as I type and I don't want some 10lb monster clickty clackety old school keyboard either. Most importantly, I like to keep the number of "shopping" and "email" buttons to a minimum. Seems that's an impossible list of needs these days.Of course, it might be possible to use this ps/2 keyboard with a ps/2 to USB converter but I haven't tried.
Belard - Thursday, July 26, 2012 - link
That IO panel is full of ports. If you need ps/2, go for a lower-end Gigabyte board. Their Z77 boards start at about $125 (or $80 in Dallas) and have ps/2 connectors.For my 1996 keyboard, the ps/2 port is a must. They don't make them like they used... my $20 keyboard is easily better made than todays $20~80 keyboards.
johnrysf - Saturday, August 4, 2012 - link
Before ya'll plunge off the road and into the weeds in the typing speed, etc. discussion that follows, let me mention that I have 2-3 ps/2 <---> USB pigtails that I've picked up free over the years. They're maybe 8" long. Perhaps this will offend your PC-related aspirations, but one of them even says "Radio Shack" on it.Life really is short. Geez.
Nickel020 - Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - link
First, nice review! I like the more in-depth single board reviews!You always point out the software situation with GB boards. While this is definitely an issue as far as fan controls goes, as far as overclocking goes, there's also the GB Tweak Launcher:
http://gigabytedaily.blogspot.de/2012/04/gigabyte-...
While not looking pretty, I actually prefer this functionality focussed UI to a fancy one (while I like the Asus UI, the clicking does get a little bit tedious when trying a lot of different settings). I don't know whether you're not aware of this software, or don't mention it for another reason, but I think you should include it in the review. Or at least mention it, so people are aware of it.
Another point is the voltage read points, which you don't mention in the review as well. I think these are actually a major selling point for overclockers, and should be mentioned, if not even used to check actual voltages versus BIOS settings. That's also an issue that I have with your UD3H/GD65 etc. review: You say that the GD65 gains voltage read points over the UD3H, yet the UD3H *has* voltage read points (even though I like MSI's implementation far better than what Asus/GB are doing).
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5793/intel-z77-mothe...
That's it for now, I'll read the complete review now :)