Gigabyte Z77X-UP7 Review: OC Oriented Orange Overkill
by Ian Cutress on March 1, 2013 10:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Intel
- Gigabyte
- Z77
Gigabyte Z77X-UP7 In The Box
When spending $400 on a motherboard, even one aimed at a specific niche such as extreme overclockers, box contents are a vital part of the package to woo the user. As mentioned previously in the review, the Z77X-UP7 feels like an upgraded G1.Sniper 3, so I would not be too surprised if we see similar contents in the box. My hope for these themed packages is that something part of the package holds up to that theme, such as the ASRock Z77 OC Formula that comes with standoffs and an OC Formula labeled carry bag.
In our Gigabyte Z77X-UP7 package, we get:
Driver CD
WiFi Card CD
Motherboard Manual
WiFi Card Manual
Rear IO Shield
Dual slot Rigid 4-way SLI Bridge
Dual slot Rigid 3-way SLI Bridge
Quad slot flexi SLI Bridge
Quad slot flexi CrossFireX Bridge
GC-WB300D Dual Band 2x2 WiFi PCIe x1 Card supporting 802.11 a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0
Dual Antenna for GC-WB300D
Eight SATA Cables
USB 3.0 Front Panel
eSATA Rear Panel with Molex Connectivity
Voltage Point Connectors
I am struggling to think of a package with this much kit included. Admittedly users wanting 4-way GPU action will have to forgo the WiFi card (as well as have a tight squeeze on the connectors at the bottom of the board). Overclockers will not care much about most of the package – the multi-GPU connectors and voltage point connectors being the priority here, but no doubt the inclusion of stand-offs (like the OC Formula) would have been appreciated. The only thing really missing is that essence of exclusivity – nothing in the package is solely specific to the UP7. Sometimes in motherboard packages we get posters or something similar, but no so here.
Gigabyte Z77X-UP7 Overclocking
Note: Ivy Bridge does not overclock like Sandy Bridge. For a detailed report on the effect of voltage on Ivy Bridge (and thus temperatures and power draw), please read Undervolting and Overclocking on Ivy Bridge.
Experience with Gigabyte Z77X-UP7
Overclocking on Gigabyte boards is a distinct mix when it comes to automatic and manual options. All the automatic overclock options are in the OS using EasyTune6, offering three different levels of fixed overclock and an automatic tuning option. Most users will head to the BIOS for manual overclocking outside of ET6 or GBTL, which as mentioned in the BIOS section of this review is an odd mish-mash of options around the place rather than menus focusing in on all the options of one particular element of overclocking. GBTL is a great little tool for extreme overclockers to eek out the last few MHz while in the OS.
For automatic overclocks, all of our options worked fine, although the Level 3 settings were extremely loose causing high temperatures due to voltage. The automatic tuning option did not fare too well, resulting in a mid range overclock that failed a memory test.
Manual overclocking was straight forward enough, although at every CPU speed we seemed to be one notch on the voltage higher than other boards. Temperatures were content up to 4.9 GHz on our setup as well.
For memory, our system did XMP on a 2x4 GB G.Skill DDR3-2666 11-13-13 1.65 V kit wonderfully, but failed to boot our memory kit with a simple notch up on the memory strap (2800 11-13-13) which both the ASRock Z77 OC Formula and MSI Z77 MPower did without issues. For kits in this range, it is advised to head over to this thread at HWBot to ask Gigabyte’s in house overclocker regarding what sub-timings should be changed. In terms of BCLK, our board rose to 109.6 MHz.
Methodology:
Our standard overclocking methodology is as follows. We select the automatic overclock options and test for stability with PovRay and OCCT to simulate high-end workloads. These stability tests aim to catch any immediate causes for memory or CPU errors.
For manual overclocks, based on the information gathered from previous testing, starts off at a nominal voltage and CPU multiplier, and the multiplier is increased until the stability tests are failed. The CPU voltage is increased gradually until the stability tests are passed, and the process repeated until the motherboard reduces the multiplier automatically (due to safety protocol) or the CPU temperature reaches a stupidly high level (100ºC+).
Automatic Overclock:
For automatic overclocking we used QuickBoost in EasyTune 6:
QuickBoost offers three levels of overclock and an auto tuning option. Our results were:
All three ET6 options were stable in our overclock testing, although the 4.68 GHz setting reached 91C during OCCT on an open test bed. The Auto Tuning option did its usual thing of going raising BCLK/Multiplier with stress testing, and finished with a staggered overclock (46x/46x/45x/44x) based on load with a CPU load voltage of 1.200 volts. This passed our CPU stress test (81C max) but failed our memory test.
Manual Overclock:
For the manual overclock testing, our usual procedure is to test the stock values, then dive in at 4.4 GHz at 1.100 volts as set in the BIOS. Based on previous overclocking scenarios, the following options were chosen throughout:
Power Limit: 500W
Current Limit: 300A
CPU Load Line Calibration: Turbo
If the settings were stable as per our testing, the multiplier is raised. If the settings fail, the voltage is raised by 0.025 V in the BIOS and tested again. Here are our results:
Compared to most of our Z77 testing, the UP7 does a good job - we hit 4.9 GHz within temperature limits, and 4.8 GHz with ease.
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Beenthere - Saturday, March 2, 2013 - link
Don't be concerned about the $400 entry fee to the Pumpkin fanbois club, as there are quite a few kids able to spend Mommy's money on impractical toys. Asus has proved that there are many PC enthusiast suckers born every minute so Gigabyte might as well cash in on the technically dumbness, too.CeriseCogburn - Sunday, March 3, 2013 - link
With the amount of technically challenged I see here at Anand that proclaim otherwise I don't believe it has anything to do with hype for pretty colors or expensive items.Most people don't have a clue, a few have a bit, and those that do keep learning, it doesn't relate to pocketbook depth or how money is "foolishly spent", or how jealous the poorboy crybabies are when others buy the best of the best, as your personal life experience should tell you.
Without extravagant waste widespread the world would still be a 3rd world dirtbag hole, everywhere.
Pretty sick of the new crybaby constant whines - if the group of whackos isn't squealing penny pinch bang for the buck, they're whining about top end items.
I think we need a new "computer blog law" or two in order to outline the pervasive complaint themes that have become popular.
Uber_Roy - Wednesday, March 6, 2013 - link
LoL give this man a prize funnest shit i seen in a while :Pehume - Saturday, March 2, 2013 - link
And now we seem to be able to survey the field. So, looking down from this height, what would you recommend for someone who wants to get the highest overclock from a 3770k, using the lowest Voltage (thus producing the lowest temps) and doesn't do any gaming?Sniper boards seem unnecessarily fancy, with too much emphasis on GPU's. The ASRock Z77 Extreme6 or Extreme4 seem OK, but maybe not great. Somewhere between those ends is a sweet middle spot for a simple overclocker.
Given a year of Ivy Bridge, what would you recommend?
C.C. - Saturday, March 2, 2013 - link
The ASROCK Extreme4 would work perfectly for your needs! I have done several builds using the Extreme 4 and I 3770Ks. They are simply the best bang for the buck motherboard. You get all the features you need, at an awesome price. I am currently running an i7 3770K with the IHS removed (aka de-lidded) @ 4.8Ghz @ 1.272V..I have run a 48hr Prime95 stress test, and with watercooling and CL Liquid Ultra TIM, max core temps are 45,43,53,and 44C. The CL ultra is amazing, it doubled my thermal gains from de-lidding. I was using IC Diamond, and max temps were 74,73,85,and 75C.CeriseCogburn - Sunday, March 3, 2013 - link
I agree they have been pushing out some great deals for some time, although there are other brands that do well at good prices too.(I don't quibble about $5, $10, $20, $30, or $50 bucks)
IanCutress - Sunday, March 3, 2013 - link
I would never suggest aiming for the highest overclock from a CPU to run in a 24/7 machine. Find the best, then dial it back a few notches so you hit a sweet spot in terms of performance/power usage/temperatures.Ivy Bridge CPUs can vary so much, where one CPU off the shelf could take 0.1 volts less than another to hit the same clocks. For a 24/7 system, I would rather go with a motherboard that makes it easy to overclock to a nice speed rather than one that necessarily does the best. And what is the best motherboard? It's hard to tell - every CPU curve is different - is the best board one that could take a mediocre processor to new heights, or one that has the ultimate capacity to take the most expensive and best CPUs to the top in terms of performance?
Then it all comes down to price. The ASRock Z77 OC Formula, ASUS P8Z77-V Pro and GIgabyte Z77X-UD5H are all around the $210 (+/- $30) mark that will happily take a good Ivy Bridge processor to 4.8 GHz. I still have the ASUS Maximus V Formula and Gene to review shortly, as well as the G1.Sniper M3.
CeriseCogburn - Sunday, March 3, 2013 - link
LOL, good luck at the OC'ing tunaman.stren - Tuesday, March 5, 2013 - link
If you're repeating the gaming benchmarks then let's stress the PLX chip next time - 4xCF won't do that:- Use Nvidia cards because they use a ton more pci-e bw than the amd cards
- Preferably 3/4xTitans or 4x 680s as they have the most potential to be pci-e limited
- Run at super high resolutions. E.g. 3x1080p minimum, preferably 3x1440p.
This is where vega saw pcie bw issues really show up. A good comparison would be versus the R4E and the Asrock X11. I.E. native 8x8x8x8x vs PLX 8x8x8x8x vs 2xPLX 16x16x16x16x However as both those boards are x79 though I would suggest just maxing out the cpu clock rather than equalizing it as this is more fair and representative of what the high end users would do.
iamkyle - Thursday, March 7, 2013 - link
There is one thing I loved about the previous iteration of this board being the X58A-OC - the minimalist I/O panel. Although it didn't go far enough in my opinion, it was a delight to behold.The whole bit about the enthusiast community is customization - the ability to change out whatever setups they want in regards to video, ram, cooling, you name it. But yet the manufacturers still continue to force choices in sub-par audio codecs and NIC choices.
The ideal enthusiast board should be devoid of of any excess I/O outside of USB ports. I should be able to put in my audiophile-grade sound card, enterprise-class NIC, what have you without the extras being thrown in. That is true choice.