Gigabyte H77N-WiFi Review – First Look at Ivy Bridge with mITX
by Ian Cutress on November 6, 2012 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Gigabyte
- H77
- mITX
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.
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.
Portal 2
A stalwart of the Source engine, Portal 2 is the big hit of 2011 following on from the original award-winning Portal. In our testing suite, Portal 2 performance should be indicative of CS:GO performance to a certain extent. Here we test Portal 2 at 2560x1440 with maximum graphical setting using the same timedemo used in our GPU and notebook reviews.
Batman Arkham Asylum
Made in 2009, Batman:AA uses the Unreal Engine 3 to create what was called “the Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever”, awarded in the Guinness World Record books with an average score of 91.67 from reviewers. The game boasts several awards including a BAFTA. Here we use the in-game benchmark while at the highest specification settings without PhysX at 2560x1440. Results are reported to the nearest FPS, and as such we take 4 runs and take the average value of the final three, as the first result is sometimes +33% more than normal.
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extide - Tuesday, November 6, 2012 - link
Seems like it would be more appropriate than using a 7970 or 580desiredusername145 - Wednesday, November 7, 2012 - link
C'mon Anandtech whats the point testing this with an i3???Now I wasted time even opening this article, shame on you
cjs150 - Wednesday, November 7, 2012 - link
"C'mon Anandtech whats the point testing this with an i3???"That is a bit harsh. I suspect lots of people will pair an i3 with a mini-itx board.
Personally I have an i7-3770T in my mini z77 board but lots of people would regard that as overkill (also runs a bit hot - I suspect the culprit is intel using cheap thermal paste on the IHS as widely reported).
HappyCracker - Wednesday, November 7, 2012 - link
Agreed. Even a Clarkdale i3 will happily push 1080p content to a 1080p display with its integrated graphics and I think this is where a lot of users will position their ITX boxes. As long as you're not in a huge hurry, you can also encode video. It's all about positioning the right computer in the right spot.hasseb64 - Wednesday, November 7, 2012 - link
mITX boards are more and more intresting, but I want you as a reviewer to focus more on power consumption.Th-z - Wednesday, November 7, 2012 - link
Is there going to be a review on APU (FM2) with mITX? I'm also looking for a prebuilder that sells APU mITX system using small chassis with external power supply. Puget has them using Antec ISK 110 and 310 cases, but you can only customize them for Intel parts.Last question, isn't it illogical to say "UEFI BIOS"? As UEFI is to replace BIOS, not an extension of BIOS, as "UEFI BIOS" would imply. The F in UEFI already stands for Firmware, so conceptually, it's like saying "Firmware BIOS". If wheel is to replace feet, we just need to call it wheel, not wheel feet.
Urbanos - Wednesday, November 7, 2012 - link
you didn't cover wireless! its a main feature of this mobo.missing all networking bench's, also does it allow for teaming? and how well?
did you test the raid setup? will each controller see each other's array in the config utility?
chassis options? temperatures?
dual HDMI tests and examples? image quality?
don't mean to be a dick here, but anandtech has a much higher standard than this.
klmccaughey - Wednesday, November 7, 2012 - link
We need you to spot the flaws before we buy it Ian, so I see no problem with you being critical as you are always constructive.Keep up the great reviews! I'm still waiting for my ITX HTPC killer board - they are all far to expensive.
rwpritchett - Wednesday, November 7, 2012 - link
Good review Ian. I've been running with this motherboard for about a month now in an ISK 310-150. It's good to see someone review the H77 version rather than the Z77.I'd like to add another gripe about the layout- the 24-pin power header. It's right on the top edge of the board. My case has fans on that side and the fan blades hit the clip on the power connector. If it was moved away from the edge just 2mm it would be in the clear (or better yet, it should be on the memory side of the motherboard like the Asus H77 ITX) . I had to forego a fan in that position for now, but I plan to add washers to slightly space a fan away from the 24-pin connector.
Another slight annoyance is that the BIOS refuses to see my SSD if the SATA is set to RAID. I don't know if it is specific to my model of SSD, a Crucial M4, or there is a bug that needs to be fixed.
cjs150 - Thursday, November 8, 2012 - link
Would the 24 pin position work for you ?I prefer the 24 pin to be at the edge of the board but at right angles to current position (ie not pointing straight up). Would be nice if someone would prefer a 90 degree 24 pin adapter