Six $160-220 Z77 Motherboards, Benchmarked And Reviewed

[josejones]

I'd like to see the Gigabyte UD5 reviewed.

Plus, a review of Gigabyte's Ultra Durable 4 claims tested.

 

[g-unit1111]

I'm going to be upgrading from AM3 to Z77 and I've been heavily debating between the Asrock Extreme 4 and the Gigabyte UD3H - I have the Z68 variant that I have been using in my work PC and I really like it - but for price / performance / feature set you really can't beat the Extreme 4.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]jaquith[/nom]Voltages, I am going to have a hard time recommending a vCore >1.2Xv, VCCSA and CPU VTT of 1.20v on the IB...only a few months ago IF 'I' recommended SB + 1.65v I'd have 20+ negative comments in the Forum...OC observation only, you seemed 'wimpish' with the SB-E compared to the IB - interesting?![/citation]Actually, our engineering contacts recommended 1.40 to 1.45V for Sandy, and we only stepped down to 1.35V when a bio* board burned a CPU around 1.40V (apparently due to increased voltage during BIOS initialization). And the 1.65V memory thing...it was all about the difference between the memory controller and memory being less than 0.50V so VCCSA at 1.15V supposedly solved the 1.65V reliability issue.[citation][nom]Pezcore27[/nom]Just curious as to what made you pick the GA-Z77X-UD3H for $160 over the GA-Z77X-UD5H for $189? Is there not that much difference between the 2 boards?[/citation]Read my first response, Tom's Hardware DID NOT SELECT ANY of these boards for participation. It's on the manufacturer, ask them [citation][nom]Zeppelingcdm[/nom]Is there any reason I shouldn't pop an i7 2600k into one of these motherboards? I have no current gaming machine, and as such am not upgrading from any relevant platform.[/citation]The third slot on the MSI board isn't supposed to work with Sandy Bridge processors, due to the CPU-integrated controller supporting a maximum of two devices. Otherwise, go for it!

 

[aogcme]

would you guys go with the asrock or the msi board for an i5 2550k

 

[Zeppelingcdm]

[citation][nom]Crashman[/nom] The third slot on the MSI board isn't supposed to work with Sandy Bridge processors, due to the CPU-integrated controller supporting a maximum of two devices. Otherwise, go for it![/citation]
Thanks Crash

 

[Why_Me]

Good review I like the power & heat scores of the Asrock board.

 

[jaquith]

[citation][nom]Crashman[/nom]Actually, our engineering contacts recommended 1.40 to 1.45V for Sandy, and we only stepped down to 1.35V when a bio* board burned a CPU around 1.40V (apparently due to increased voltage during BIOS initialization). And the 1.65V memory thing...it was all about the difference between the memory controller and memory being less than 0.50V so VCCSA at 1.15V supposedly solved the 1.65V reliability issue.[/citation]
It's not that I 'think or believe' the IB is going to degrade with 1.3Xv+ vCore voltage, it's the thermal limitations to most folks HSF selection that's the limiting factor.

I still then & now felt/fell the SB thoughts of 'greater than 1.50v RAM is going to fry/burnout/destroy/etc the SB' was a MYTH. In the forum I went along with it, but in real life -- folks want high performance RAM i.e. higher frequencies than DDR3-1600 -- so I gave it to them and the kits sure were above 1.50v. Your choice of 1.60v RAM simply made me think about that issue.

To clarify, my point was since both the SB-E & IB clearly can handle 1.65v RAM ... so could (can) the SB ... and it was/is a MYTH. Stability, sure increase the VCCIO to 1.20v which in most cases correct many stability issues. Ditto with SB-E, VCCSA to 1.10v~1.20v and match the CPU VTT to the VCCSA.

However, IMO don't exceed 1.25v (VCCIO, VCCSA or CPUVTT).

 

[memadmax]

I want to see a "Best motherboards for the money" type of thing.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]memadmax[/nom]I want to see a "Best motherboards for the money" type of thing.[/citation]You just did. This is "Best motherboard for the money" in the $160-220 Z77 class.

The market changes too quickly to put all the motherboards into a single article, and we'd need to test every brand and model. It's not like "Best Graphics Cards for the Money" where we could say "Z77 Wins" as we might say "HD 6950 Wins".

 

[Crashman]

Hey guys, what price range would you like to see next? $100-160 or $220-280?

 

[Why_Me]

Hey guys, what price range would you like to see next? $100-160 or $220-280?

I vote for the $100 - $160. Most people are on a fixed budget and are looking for the bare minimum to have a board for potential SLI/Crossfire.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293 $134.99 + $7.87 Shipping
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131837 $144.99 FREE SHIPPING
ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128546 $144.99 + $7.87 Shipping
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130644 $149.99 FREE SHIPPING
MSI Z77A-GD55 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

 

[Crashman]

I vote for the $100 - $160. Most people are on a fixed budget and are looking for the bare minimum to have a board for potential SLI/Crossfire.

Thanks for the budget vote. As with all roundups, I'm going to leave it to the manufacturers to decide which boards they want to send. That way I won't be responsible for any losses or omissions.

 

[neon neophyte]

look at asrock topping memory bandwidth, pretty decent considering all the boards perform pretty much exactly the same.

 

[re-play-]

the GAz77-ud3h those x8/x4 sli or cf, i already have that in my am3+ mobo... if i decide in future to go intel after 8years with amd i will get the Biostar one it does x8/x8 at least

 

[eddieroolz]

Good board review. I'm personally going with a ASUS Sabertooth Z77 board instead, but I'd love to see it in a $250 review.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]re-play-[/nom]the GAz77-ud3h those x8/x4 sli or cf, i already have that in my am3+ mobo... if i decide in future to go intel after 8years with amd i will get the Biostar one it does x8/x8 at least[/citation]All of these boards do x8/x8 crossfire. Every single one.[citation][nom]eddieroolz[/nom]Good board review. I'm personally going with a ASUS Sabertooth Z77 board instead, but I'd love to see it in a $250 review.[/citation]OK, so we have one vote for low-end and one for high-end. If I don't see a pattern emerge, I'll just leave it to the manufacturers.

 

[Why_Me]

Speaking of high end boards, I'm looking forward to the release of the Asrock Z77 extreme9. It comes with everything but the kitchen sink. Hopefully everything on it works like it's suppose to.

http://www.asrock.com/microsite/intelz77/Z77-Extreme9.html <---- that's it there. I'm guessing an easy $300+ USD for that board.

 

[zeratul600]

but i want to know which one is better for a cross fire/ sli build???? why you guys didn't test that?

 

[Guest]

Minor editorial: the percentage increase on the ASUS BCLK should be 0.30%

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]TachyonD[/nom]Minor editorial: the percentage increase on the ASUS BCLK should be 0.30%[/citation]Fixed, thanks.

 

[dreadlokz]

[citation][nom]sosofm[/nom]Is good a test with PCIE 3.0 video card to see if is a real benefit compare to PCIE 2.0.[/citation]

sry, it was just a scam! truth is there is no much difference in gaming when you compare z68 to z77!
Ivy is all about features and performance overall, z68 just game as well!

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]dreadlokz[/nom]sry, it was just a scam! truth is there is no much difference in gaming when you compare z68 to z77!Ivy is all about features and performance overall, z68 just game as well![/citation]No scam, new standards precede the need for new standards. Besides, there is an excuse in boards such as MSI's, where PCIe 3.0 is needed to make the new x4 slots perform as well as the old x8 slots.

 

[neon neophyte]

+1 vote for 100 through 160. i would like to see who offers the best board for the cheapest.

whenever anyone is asking which mobo they should buy, they usually want to spend as little money as possible while still meeting all their demands.

hence why the asrock extreme 3 gen 3 is one of the most suggested boards on this site

 

[re-play-]

[citation][nom]Crashman[/nom]All of these boards do x8/x8 crossfire. Every single one.OK, so we have one vote for low-end and one for high-end. If I don't see a pattern emerge, I'll just leave it to the manufacturers.[/citation]

no i just look at the Gigabyte on newegg and its not x8/x8

 

[mojorisin23]

I like ASRock products... good price;performance ratio