Z77 mITX Round-Up: Five of the Best – MSI, Zotac, ASRock, EVGA and ASUS
by Ian Cutress on December 31, 2012 7:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- MSI
- ASRock
- EVGA
- ZOTAC
- Asus
- Ivy Bridge
- Z77
- mITX
Final Words
Despite being a motherboard reviewer for the past couple of years, my foray into the world of mini-ITX based products was initially into the realm of the unknown. I am by no means a HTPC specialist or enthusiast by virtue of circumstance (the small amount of color blindness and a large dollop of tone deafness does not help either), until I decided to fork over some money for a mITX gaming case and get to work. On posting some mITX news regarding a couple of the boards reviewed in this article, the responses I received from the readers of AnandTech pointed towards a request for large mITX review, and thankfully all the big players came to the table with their offerings.
Trying to fit everything on a 17cm x 17cm PCB is not easy. Some manufacturers (MSI, Zotac, ASRock) opt for placing the chipset above the socket for more space along the edges of the motherboard, although this compromises the position of the CPU 8-pin power connector and the size of the CPU heatsink that can be used. Others (ASUS, EVGA) place the socket on top like more typical ATX offerings, with ASUS going a step further and actually removing the VRM off the main motherboard altogether.
We also see a mixture of network, audio and video output offerings along the range. The Zotac offers a pair of Realtek NICs, whereas as all other offer either a single Realtek (MSI), a single Broadcom (ASRock), or a single Intel (EVGA, ASUS). The lower tier manufacturers (EVGA, Zotac) slump a little in the audio codec with an ALC889, MSI has the ALC892, and ASUS/ASRock get the ALC898. EVGA fail to offer a WiFi module, whereas all the others give a standard 802.11 b/g/n except ASUS, whom also enable 5 GHz compatibility. Readers wanting WiDi either have to look at the Gigabyte 7-series mITX or the ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe/WD model.
Manufacturers differ wildly in their package, BIOS and software offerings. Few packages arise above a few SATA cables and antenna – Zotac add in a mDP to DP connector, a USB 3.0 bracket and an 8-pin extension cable, whereas ASRock throw in a DVI-I to VGA converter and EVGA think best to supply molex to SATA power cables. Almost everyone has a graphical BIOS interface except EVGA, who are hoping for one with the 8-series and Haswell. Software also varies from near nil (Zotac, EVGA) to a myriad of programs (MSI, ASRock) to a complete all-in-one package (ASUS).
|
Gigabyte H77N-WiFi |
MSI Z77IA-E53 |
Zotac Z77-ITX WiFi |
ASRock Z77E-ITX |
EVGA Z77 Stinger |
ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe |
|
| Price | $120 | $145 | $161 | $150 | $200 | $185 |
| CPU OC | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PCIe 8-Pin | Middle-Left | Bottom-Left | Bottom-Left | Middle-Left | Top-Left | Top-Right |
| LAN |
2 x Realtek 8111E |
Realtek 8111E |
2 x Realtek 8111E |
Broadcom BCM57781 |
Intel 82574L |
Intel 82579V |
| WiFi | 802.11 b/g/n WiFi/WiDi | 802.11 b/g/n WiFi | 802.11 b/g/n WiFi | 802.11 b/g/n WiFi | - |
WiFi 2.5 GHz + 5 GHz |
| Audio |
Realtek ALC892 |
Realtek ALC892 |
Reaktek ALC889 |
Realtek ALC898 |
Realtek ALC889 |
Realtek ALC898 |
| SATA 6/3/m | 2 + 2 | 2 + 2 | 2 + 2 + 1 | 2 + 2 + 1 | 2 + 2 | 2 + 2 |
| USB 3/2 | 4 + 6 | 4 + 6 | 4 + 8 | 6 + 6 | 6 + 6 | 6 + 8 |
| Fan Headers | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Video Outputs |
HDMI x 2 DVI-I |
HDMI VGA |
2 x HDMI mDP |
HDMI DP DVI-I |
HDMI mDP |
DVI-I HDMI DP |
| PS/2 Port | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| In The Box |
2 x SATA Cables 2 x Antenna |
2 x SATA Cables 1 x Antenna |
4 x SATA Cables 2 x Antenna USB 3.0 Bracket mDP to DP Connector 8-pin CPU Extension |
2 x SATA Cables 2 x Antenna DVI-I to VGA |
4 x SATA Cables Molex to 2x SATA Power Molex to 3x SATA Power |
4 x SATA Cables 2 x Magnetic Antenna |
Performance does not show any clear winner, though there are some noticeable results. The ASRock draws more power than the rest under discrete GPU loading and is significantly slower on our WinRar testing. The MSI suffers in USB 2.0 speed quite dramatically, especially when compared to the USB boosting techniques used by ASRock for USB 2.0 – ASUS use different techniques to boost their USB 3.0 speed, which we have tested in the past to provide a better benefit under small transfer sizes. ASUS scored significant wins in WinRAR and FastStone, and the discrete GPU performance is also noteworthy.
As a result of all the testing, I have decided to give one recommendation and one bronze award to the following:
ASRock Z77E-ITX: Recommendation
The ASRock Z77E-ITX provides a solid package that hits the price/performance ratio square on the jaw. Their BIOS and software packages provide a better all around experience than most of the competition, and the ease of use ticks all the boxes. Placing the mSATA on the reverse of the motherboard is a great idea. Where some companies are trying to innovate on the hardware, ASRock are attacking both hardware and software, with perhaps some room for improvement. But at $150 (or in the sales) it is definitely worth a look.
ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe: Bronze Award
While the ASUS may not strike bang-for-buck, it does hit the target of being the best board in this roundup without hitting the prize for being the most expensive. With a daughterboard for the VRMs, the P8Z77-I Deluxe willfully expands the available PCB area without an ounce of regret, paving the way for future designs of a similar nature on other products. We get the best audio codec out of the bunch, the best Ethernet NIC, a (personally) preferred socket/chipset orientation, stellar performance in selected benchmarks, and one the best BIOS/Software combinations available. Also, USB ports and video outputs galore, with perpendicular ring antenna combined with a 5 GHz WiFi module. Minor defects are what separate the great from the supreme products, but the great ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe should be in the back of your mind no matter what Z77 mITX you decide to purchase.
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Sabresiberian - Tuesday, January 1, 2013 - link
Thanks for the great comparison review!It looks like there is a little mistake in the spec list for the Asus board, which shows it having a mini-PCIe connector. I would love it if it did, but I didn't see it on the board and it isn't mentioned in other spec lists.
It is important to me because I would ideally need connection for both a graphics card and a sound card (which I believe I could do through a mini-PCIe to PCIe x1 adapter if needed). This makes the EVGA Stinger the choice for me here, though the Asus board is the one I would prefer to buy.
I am truthfully a little disappointed in the EVGA board, which seems all too common with EVGA products in general these days. Great support is still there, but I'd rather they build bleeding edge components and not have to find out whether or not their support is as good as people say it is. The Stinger is a good board to be sure, and the Intel LAN alone puts it in the category of "will buy" for me, but I was hoping it would be something that would match or beat the Asus P877-I, and it just doesn't.
Foeketijn - Tuesday, January 1, 2013 - link
When you take overclocking out of the equation, B75 has it all, for the price just a tiny bit north of the old H61 chipset. Support for IB features (1600Mhz DDR3, PCI-e 3.0), Native Sata III, USB 3.0.It wasn't intended for the DIY market but fits the bill perfectly in my opinion. Only the very very few who need to OC, +16Gb ram or multiple SSD's @ full 6 Gb/s need the Z77 chipset.
The only thing is, that us mere mortals can't predict is, if a much cheaper chipset is used, did the OEM also cheapskate on the critical parts to? I would love to see some in-depth component analysis which I see for example, when a PSU is taken apart.
Which components are used? how well is the soldering done, does it still work at a sauna lanparty, etc.
I might be alone in this, but I would find that much more valuable information than all the performance benchmarks together (race to the bottom, be dammed!).
Including the northbridge in the CPU made motherboard and CPU reviews so predictible (or borring).Since then, I'm only interested in stability, ease of installation (nicely covered) and practical use (fan controll, MEM compatibility ect).
<offtopic> Oh I loved the XP-m 2500+ siverpainting 2001 era where you actually could get a noticeable improvement of performance and not necessarily have to sacrifice stability or risk bankruptcy</offtopic>
vanwazltoff - Tuesday, January 1, 2013 - link
i picked up an asus p8z77-i deluxe/wd before christmas and made a beast gaming computer out of it with an i5-3750k OCed to 4.5ghz and a gtx670 =]vanwazltoff - Tuesday, January 1, 2013 - link
*3570kBeaver M. - Tuesday, January 1, 2013 - link
Loved the POST screen measurements and the DPC latency testing. Something you dont see every day. Actually Ive never seen it, and yet I always wanted to know those.However I am not really interested in the Z77s, since they have a horrible layout for my needs. Only the Asus one comes close to what I need, but I just dont buy Asus anymore because of several very bas experiences.
So, I wish you would also test the B75 and H77s.
paksoy - Tuesday, January 1, 2013 - link
I love the features of this Asus mobo, but i want to use it in a really small form factor case like the Antec ISK 110 VESA Case.http://www.anandtech.com/show/6192/antec-isk-110-v...
I'm just worried that the height of the VRAM board would prevent it from using it with this case.
mi1stormilst - Tuesday, January 1, 2013 - link
I still opted for the Gigabyte Z77N and love it...Sivar - Wednesday, January 2, 2013 - link
Does this refer to the ALC889 playing an audio file encoded at 192KHz?If so, does it really matter? Failing a test is never a good thing, but I know of no widely available 192KHz audio source, and such a source would have no benefit, nor would a 96KHz source.
cjs150 - Wednesday, January 2, 2013 - link
I am a happy user of the AS Rock board in a silent HTPC. It works exceptionally well. However it is clear that some work still needs to be done on motherboard design.MSata on back is excellent - now can we have it as SATA 3 because the better MSata SSDs are all Sata 3.
Placement of Sata connectors is often awkward on these boards. On edge and at right angles please.
Similarly I would love it if someone either did the 24 pin ATX power connector at right angles or someone manufactured a right angled converter that did not require de soldering the motherboard connector. Cable management in Mini-OTX is very hard and that would really help.
Finally, careful choice of RAM can eliminate issues Ian had about the closeness of the CPU socket preventing the use of many after market coolers. I use the Samsung green low profie memory, which is so low that any after market cooler can be used (and runs at 1.35v, is an unbelievably good overclocker and reasonably priced!)
romrunning - Wednesday, January 2, 2013 - link
As has been mentioned previously, the H77 chipset is great for those who do not need overclocking. I've used the Intel DH77DF, and I heartily recommend it. Since the DH77DF has an eSATA port (not too common), I've even been able to keep an eSATA dock that I used before USB 3.0 was more readily available. If you install this board into a Fractal Design Node 304 case, you can use all of the SATA ports as well. I've used it with a Silverstone SG05 case, and the loudest part of my setup is the fan on the graphics card (Radeon 7850).One thing I've noticed, though, is the relatively low mic input from the front audio. Not sure if this is common to the Realtek ALC8xx chip series, but even after boosting the gain in Win7 to +30db, it still isn't quite as loud as an older AMD board I previously had (which didn't need a boost at all).