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Six $160-220 Z77 Motherboards, Benchmarked And Reviewed

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  • Motherboards
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April 30, 2012 4:00:04 AM

Combining the newest features with moderate expandability, Intel’s mainstream platforms provide high value to most gaming and overclocking enthusiasts. We compare six examples with Z77 Express to find the best features, overclocking, and efficiency.

Six $160-220 Z77 Motherboards, Benchmarked And Reviewed : Read more

More about : 160 220 z77 motherboards benchmarked reviewed

April 30, 2012 5:04:08 AM

Great review! At the end of day, it comes down to brand loyalty.
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Anonymous
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April 30, 2012 5:18:29 AM

do you mean nvidia and intel gets news during weekends not only news but featured articles?
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a b V Motherboard
April 30, 2012 5:44:20 AM

There's a typo on the last page. It says X77H2-A2X instead of Z77H2-A2X :p  It's on the second to last paragraph...
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April 30, 2012 6:27:25 AM

why not with Pci-e 3.0?
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April 30, 2012 6:29:10 AM

Nice article thank you!
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April 30, 2012 6:31:27 AM

One thing i was looking for was the part about asrock not having true "digital" PWM and going with an analog PWM. Does this really matter?
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a b K Overclocking
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April 30, 2012 6:39:52 AM

TekN9NeGreat review! At the end of day, it comes down to brand loyalty.
I don't think the article stated anything like that. It comes down to the features you want and the cards you plan to use. In the MSI vs ASRock debate, it's x8-x4-x4 with all three slots in PCIe 3.0 mode, or x8-x8-x4 with x4 in PCIe 2.0 mode, and you're definitely wiser to pick between them based on WHAT you plan to use in the third slot.
simone saysdo you mean nvidia and intel gets news during weekends not only news but featured articles?
It's Monday here, and editorial has very little contact with news.
HMSvictoryI am surprised that you guys did not include the Asus z77-Vhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131820
Tom's Hardware didn't "include" anything in the review. A couple boards were excluded based on price, and everything else was let in. The P8Z77-V Pro was the cheapest board Asus sent.
rickrentswhy not with Pci-e 3.0?
Editor had no PCIe 3.0 cards. And the reason he didn't get one yet is because it didn't matter. The only thing that really mattered in a single-GPU MOTHERBOARD comparison was to use the same card on all platforms.
confish21One thing i was looking for was the part about asrock not having true "digital" PWM and going with an analog PWM. Does this really matter?
Some digital voltage regulators have been garbage, take a look at a few of the older reviews to see this. Very few have been very good. And many more analog voltage regulators have been garbage, while many more analog voltage regulators have been very good. Quality of execution is more important than the underlying technology.

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a b K Overclocking
April 30, 2012 7:05:20 AM

UD3H seems to be an excellent value board.
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April 30, 2012 7:38:52 AM

would it be possible to review the asus z77 and gigabyte ud5h in a future review.
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April 30, 2012 7:42:50 AM

this review needs crossfire/sli results
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April 30, 2012 8:42:54 AM

Still no boot/post time comparison? With all performance scores being almost identical, I would have thought this could be a useful differentiator.
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a b K Overclocking
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April 30, 2012 8:50:18 AM

Is good a test with PCIE 3.0 video card to see if is a real benefit compare to PCIE 2.0.
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April 30, 2012 9:45:12 AM

z77 sabertooth wanted !
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a b K Overclocking
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a c 717 V Motherboard
April 30, 2012 11:41:02 AM

Thanks Thomas another Great Article! Don't like what I see, but I digress.

Something's gotta be pooched with the ASUS P8Z77-V Pro BIOS (UEFI) -- hopefully. In the past the ASUS Pro line has been the meat & potatoes for my recommendations, and this is not the only review with similar performance numbers.

Voltages, I am going to have a hard time recommending a vCore >1.2Xv, VCCSA and CPU VTT of 1.20v on the IB. I still need to see otherwise. From what I've seen the IB is more 'girlish' with voltages than the SB or SB-E, and there's little point having the fans spinning 'through' the case and creating high dBA with a high vCore. RAM (voltage), it goes back to my feelings that 1.50v DIMM was a bunch of Urban Myths especially since the SB-E and seemingly the IB can handle 1.65v DIMM RAM.

Yeah, I noticed the XMP tried to set 1.25v VCCSA, or at least the set is encoded that way. Further, I don't wan to debate the OC until I get my hands on an IB, it should be any day now.

Further, either the Engineers were dead wrong on the SB (1.50) or IB (1.65) they're wrong in both instances. I 'get' ultra fast kits (today) >DDR3-2133 e.g. DDR-2400 or faster are 1.65v kits, but only a few months ago IF 'I' recommended SB + 1.65v I'd have 20+ negative comments in the Forum. Seems counter intuitive step in DRAM voltage.

Also, I am assuming you're testing the IB ES and I wonder how much of an impact that has in that the CPUID are geared towards the Retail. I remember all of the E5 (ES) problems and drops in performance compared to the Retail sisters.

OC observation only, you seemed 'wimpish' with the SB-E compared to the IB - interesting?!
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April 30, 2012 12:02:19 PM

i don't understand why the mobo don't have all sata6 and usb 3.0? i mean they're backwards compatible. why even include the old stuff? why not have 8 sata 6 and 8 usb 3.0 with 0 sata 3 and 0 usb 3.0? :?
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April 30, 2012 12:33:24 PM

Good review, I read a similar review before i decided for MSI Z77A-GD65.

A chose this board as it has a better Audio Chipset then the Competitors. This board comes with ALC898, while the other ones come with ALC892. Apparently ALC898 is far better than ALC892.

So far i am quite happy with the board.

Just 1 note, if overclocking do not disable "Power technologies", it will prevent overclocking. If i disabled the power saving features 1 by 1 i had no problems.
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a b K Overclocking
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April 30, 2012 12:37:38 PM

like it good review!
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April 30, 2012 1:13:33 PM

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?
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a b K Overclocking
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April 30, 2012 1:42:15 PM

Fun mobo review as always!
I have always loved ECS for cheap 'value' builds (in fact I am using a 6 year old ECS board in a little htpc I am throwing together, it doesn't do much, but it has never let me down either), it is wierd seeing them in the 'high end' market like this, and (unlike previous boards they have produced) it looks stunning!
The first time I saw the gold on black look was with my ex3 gen3 board, which looked odd in pictures, but great in real life, and this new ECS board looks absolutely gorgeous in pics, so I am sure it looks great in real life as well.

Still, at the end of the day I am not sure that I would go for ECS on a high end build, but it is good to see that they are getting somewhere.

Also, it is good to see that ASRock is still doing OK now that they are no longer under the ASUS umbrella.

As for the review: Why even do the program benchmarks? We all know that the mobo is merely for the feature set, parts cooling, and power management quality for OCing (and truth be told aesthetics as well), and has next to no bearing on how fast things get processed at any specific frequency. All that I personally care about is the feature set, OC ability, and subjective ease of use for the UEFI and keeping it updated, vs the overall cost of the board.
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April 30, 2012 2:35:19 PM

spyfishGood review, I read a similar review before i decided for MSI Z77A-GD65.A chose this board as it has a better Audio Chipset then the Competitors. This board comes with ALC898, while the other ones come with ALC892. Apparently ALC898 is far better than ALC892.So far i am quite happy with the board.Just 1 note, if overclocking do not disable "Power technologies", it will prevent overclocking. If i disabled the power saving features 1 by 1 i had no problems.


Blame intel for that issue. The intel chipsets only support two 6gb sata ports, so motherboard manufactures have to install add in chips to get more and that drives up the cost.
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April 30, 2012 2:50:35 PM

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.
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April 30, 2012 3:44:09 PM

The only ECS Z77H2-A2X I can find is the regular one, not the golden, which seems to come in at around $220. I can't find built-in wifi on either of them, and the regular one doesn't state SLI ready.

It's hard to figure out if the golden one is worth the $55 price premium instead of just going for the ASUS board.
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April 30, 2012 4:05:51 PM

I'm not really satisfied with the z77 features. I was hoping they'd do away with all the gen 2 stuff and go all gen 3 i.e. no USB 2, PCIe 2, sata 2 etc. and go all gen 3. Why not since they're backwards compatible?

Will there be a z78 chipset for Ivy Bridge? Otherwise, there will be zero upgrade options for the Ivy bridge. Especially since the z87 chipset supposedly will be for Haswell and the 1150 socket. I'd wait for Haswell but, my work computer I need to replace is from 2004 and I don't think it will make it another year.
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April 30, 2012 4:08:46 PM

I'd like to see the Gigabyte UD5 reviewed.

Plus, a review of Gigabyte's Ultra Durable 4 claims tested.
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a b K Overclocking
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April 30, 2012 4:32:21 PM

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.
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a b K Overclocking
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April 30, 2012 5:21:19 PM

jaquithVoltages, 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?!
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.
Pezcore27Just 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?
Read my first response, Tom's Hardware DID NOT SELECT ANY of these boards for participation. It's on the manufacturer, ask them :) 
ZeppelingcdmIs 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.
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!
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April 30, 2012 5:39:25 PM

would you guys go with the asrock or the msi board for an i5 2550k
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April 30, 2012 5:40:08 PM

Crashman 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!

Thanks Crash
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a b 4 Gaming
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April 30, 2012 5:49:31 PM

Good review :)  I like the power & heat scores of the Asrock board.
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a b K Overclocking
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a c 717 V Motherboard
April 30, 2012 7:11:07 PM

CrashmanActually, 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.

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).
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a b V Motherboard
April 30, 2012 7:44:59 PM

I want to see a "Best motherboards for the money" type of thing.
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a b K Overclocking
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April 30, 2012 8:44:59 PM

memadmaxI want to see a "Best motherboards for the money" type of thing.
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".
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a b K Overclocking
a b V Motherboard
May 1, 2012 12:56:14 AM

Hey guys, what price range would you like to see next? $100-160 or $220-280?
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a b 4 Gaming
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May 1, 2012 1:50:57 AM

Crashman said:
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=N82E168... $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=N82E168... $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=N82E168... $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=N82E168... $149.99 FREE SHIPPING
MSI Z77A-GD55 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
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a b K Overclocking
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May 1, 2012 2:44:26 AM

Why_Me said:
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.
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a b K Overclocking
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May 1, 2012 4:51:05 AM

look at asrock topping memory bandwidth, pretty decent considering all the boards perform pretty much exactly the same.
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May 1, 2012 1:11:02 PM

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
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May 1, 2012 5:06:35 PM

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.
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a b K Overclocking
a b V Motherboard
May 1, 2012 6:45:28 PM

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
All of these boards do x8/x8 crossfire. Every single one.
eddieroolzGood board review. I'm personally going with a ASUS Sabertooth Z77 board instead, but I'd love to see it in a $250 review.
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.
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May 1, 2012 7:23:23 PM

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.h... <---- that's it there. I'm guessing an easy $300+ USD for that board.

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May 1, 2012 11:48:26 PM

but i want to know which one is better for a cross fire/ sli build???? why you guys didn't test that?
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Anonymous
a b K Overclocking
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May 2, 2012 2:22:33 AM

Minor editorial: the percentage increase on the ASUS BCLK should be 0.30%
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a b K Overclocking
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May 2, 2012 3:17:25 AM

TachyonDMinor editorial: the percentage increase on the ASUS BCLK should be 0.30%
Fixed, thanks.
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May 2, 2012 4:43:41 AM

sosofmIs good a test with PCIE 3.0 video card to see if is a real benefit compare to PCIE 2.0.


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!
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a b K Overclocking
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May 2, 2012 4:50:00 AM

dreadlokzsry, 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!
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.
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a b K Overclocking
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May 2, 2012 7:25:51 AM

+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
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May 2, 2012 12:57:47 PM

CrashmanAll 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.


no i just look at the Gigabyte on newegg and its not x8/x8
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May 2, 2012 2:26:44 PM

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