Best value Z77 MOBO (Canada)

[lastsd]

EDIT2: Are on-board wi-fi cards worth it (for models like P8Z77-V, GA-Z77X-UD5H, or just go for ones without wifi and get a usb wifi card?)

EDIT: If you guys could add few lines on when you choose that would help me a lot thanks!

Hi,
I am looking at Z77 mother boards.
I am thinking of i5-3570k + GTX 670 + slight OC(nothing serious)
I have read the tom's hardware articles on mother boards

< $160

$160~220

What I gather from reading forums is that

Price: ASrock > Asus & MSI & Gigabyte
Reputation: Asus & Gigabyte > ASrock & MSI

With most suggesting ASrock Extreme 4 for the price.
However up here in Canada the price is a bit different.

Here are some prices (using http://pcpartpicker.com/ca)

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 $150
ASRock Z77 Extreme6 $190

Asus P8Z77-V LK $126 (good sale but probably won't buy this week so $135)
Asus P8Z77-V $185
Asus SABERTOOTH Z77$230

Biostar TZ77XE3 $140

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H $150
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H $178

MSI Z77A-GD65 $140

Canada price are usually higher than US but ASRock margin seems bigger than other company.

Thank you in advance.

 

[rolli59]

The Asus LK!

 

[lastsd]

Do anyone here have experience with the MSI board?

Tom Hardware review chose MSI Z77A-GD65 over Asus P8Z77-V and Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H but I don't usually see people recommending this board
Thanks

 

[mubin]

MSI is good brand. You can trust them. TOM recommend for best featured and performance for price.

 

[anthonyn7]

I definitely recommend the GD65, I built a computer myself not long ago with your very same specks (i5-3570k, GTX 670, slight overclocking) and went with this and have no complaints and for the price being one of the cheapest in your line up it’s a steal. I did a lot of research myself before buying as I knew next to nothing about other brands been using Asus for years, I will give you a quick run over the boards good and bad so you can get a bit of extra info that might help.

ASRock Z77 Extreme4: normally excellent value 20-30 cheaper than any others on this list which is a big selling point but not the case here

ASRock Z77 Extreme6: basically an Extreme4 with firewire connection and a display port, not worth the extra 40

Asus P8Z77-V LK: can’t give much info on this one as I don’t know much about it myself but have been told its bad value.

Asus P8Z77-V: very good quality board like Asus is well known for, spent some time working with one and it was well built and very user friendly and one of the best in its price range

Asus SABERTOOTH Z77: and interesting board this one it comes with many unique features and its hard to separate the gimmick from the truth, but basically its very similar to the Asus P8Z77-V but including a plastic cover (thermal armor) and a 5 year warranty, the best way I could sum it up is a quote found “with the Sabertooth your paying for looks", it’s nice but unless you really like its look, or the warranty is important to you then you won’t see much difference between this the cheaper P8Z77-V board.

Biostar TZ77XE3: like the Extreme4 this boards normal selling point is price with it normally being even cheaper than the extrem4 but at the price listed compared to others it’s not a stand out at all.

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H: good value board alongside the Extreme4, gigabyte have had some issues recently but sorted most of them out, good and solid budget board and have seen a lot of good feedback.

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H: very good overall, one of the best high-end boards i think personally comes with a lot of good features for a low price, lot of people say it can be compared to the ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe which is a much more expensive board.

MSI Z77A-GD65: as I said at the start for this price it is my personal pick as i would compare it in quality to Asus P8Z77-V without hesitation even at a similar price.

Recommendations

Very High
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H (if you can use all those features)
MSI Z77A-GD65 (value!!!)

High
Asus P8Z77-V
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H
Asus SABERTOOTH Z77 (if you like the look)
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 (if the price goes down by $30)

Hope it wasn’t to boring a read: P

 

[lastsd]

I definitely recommend the GD65, I built a computer myself not long ago with your very same specks (i5-3570k, GTX 670, slight overclocking) and went with this and have no complaints and for the price being one of the cheapest in your line up it’s a steal. I did a lot of research myself before buying as I knew next to nothing about other brands been using Asus for years, I will give you a quick run over the boards good and bad so you can get a bit of extra info that might help.

ASRock Z77 Extreme4: normally excellent value 20-30 cheaper than any others on this list which is a big selling point but not the case here

ASRock Z77 Extreme6: basically an Extreme4 with firewire connection and a display port, not worth the extra 40

Asus P8Z77-V LK: can’t give much info on this one as I don’t know much about it myself but have been told its bad value.

Asus P8Z77-V: very good quality board like Asus is well known for, spent some time working with one and it was well built and very user friendly and one of the best in its price range

Asus SABERTOOTH Z77: and interesting board this one it comes with many unique features and its hard to separate the gimmick from the truth, but basically its very similar to the Asus P8Z77-V but including a plastic cover (thermal armor) and a 5 year warranty, the best way I could sum it up is a quote found “with the Sabertooth your paying for looks", it’s nice but unless you really like its look, or the warranty is important to you then you won’t see much difference between this the cheaper P8Z77-V board.

Biostar TZ77XE3: like the Extreme4 this boards normal selling point is price with it normally being even cheaper than the extrem4 but at the price listed compared to others it’s not a stand out at all.

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H: good value board alongside the Extreme4, gigabyte have had some issues recently but sorted most of them out, good and solid budget board and have seen a lot of good feedback.

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H: very good overall, one of the best high-end boards i think personally comes with a lot of good features for a low price, lot of people say it can be compared to the ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe which is a much more expensive board.

MSI Z77A-GD65: as I said at the start for this price it is my personal pick as i would compare it in quality to Asus P8Z77-V without hesitation even at a similar price.

Recommendations

Very High
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H (if you can use all those features)
MSI Z77A-GD65 (value!!!)

High
Asus P8Z77-V
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H
Asus SABERTOOTH Z77 (if you like the look)
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 (if the price goes down by $30)

Hope it wasn’t to boring a read: P

Wow a lot of info.
Thank you
Could you also tell me the the details about your computer since I would be building something similar?
(case, power supply, etc)

 

[rolli59]

Asus P8Z77-V LK not a bad value considering MIR http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131837 Only downside is fewer power phases than the more expensive siblings but its simpler version LX got good review here but added features of the LK would probably have given it recommendation http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z77-express-ivy-bridge-benchmark,3254-35.html

 

[anthonyn7]

CPU: i5-3570K
Mobo: MSI Z77A-GD65
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB
Optical Drive: LG DVD Burner
Ram: Corsair 8GB Low Profile Vengeance (2x4GB)
GPU: EVGA GTX670 2GB
Case: Cooler Master Storm Trooper
PSU: Corsair HX-750
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14

I don’t include SSD but you might want to if want your computer to run a bit faster.

 

[lastsd]

Too bad the MSI sale ends today and I can't get it today
1. No time today
2. I haven't decided on all other parts.(I want to buy them around the same time so I can easily test and return if necessary by going to store instead of using warranty)

I believe without the sale the MSI board will be around $170~180 here (basically around ASUS V version price)

 

[anthonyn7]

That is disappointing but yes that’s the price I would expect it to be normally, it compares very well to the Asus but neither are really built towards best value more best quality, so the UD3H, Extreme4 and perhaps LK are your best bets for value.