Asus P8Z77-V Premium VS. Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP5 TH.

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XYMan

XYMan

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So, which is it guys?

Only key features I'm finding between the 2 is that the Asus one comes with an on-board 32GB SSD for SSD caching purposes and the Gigabyte one doesn't (it has the slot in it for an on-board SSD though). However, the Gigabyte one has x2 Thunderbolt ports and the Asus has only 1, it's not a game changer for me that extra port but I wanted to know if we were to remove that SSD from the Premium, would there be any REAL difference in performance between the 2? Is any of them have any noticeable awesome features to take in consideration? So far I've found them extremely similar, but I do want to know other people's opinions before I make the purchase and I'm not finding any good reviews since it's still considerably new to the market.

Pictures of the 2 sexy beasts:

P8Z77-V Premium


114249-thunderbolt-asus-p8z77-v-premium.png



GA-Z77X-UP5:


kPm9J.jpg



Thanks! :3
 
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geok
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captain kayos

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Well, I don't know about that (it would help if there were some damning links), there are also a few rave reviews.
I'm looking at the same comparison for myself. Personally I prefer ASUS boards, but Gigabyte have a good rep and I've built a couple of PCs using both makes. My concern about the ASUS is the lack of USB3 headers on the board. ASUS has only 1, while Gigabyte has 3. Not much room for future front panel upgrade. The ASUS is also a lot more expensive...

Cheers, Captain Kayos.
 
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XYMan

XYMan

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I was thinking the exact same thing, buddy! The Premium mobo will almost be double the Gigabyte price, atleast where I live in Israel, not just because of the added 32GB SSD but because of the ASUS name. I don't know how I feel about that, I mean, I'm not killing myself to use that SSD caching feature, I'm buying a completely separate Intel 180GB for boot and stuff so I might go with the Gigabyte one :)
 
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XYMan

XYMan

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I'm not finding those reviews, mate ;p
Can you link me to some of them to have a look?

Thanks :3
 
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captain kayos

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I've only found a handful of negative reviews for the Gigabyte. One board DOA and a couple of builders with questionable assembly experience. ie trying to plug the wifi card into x16 slot... what can I say!

The ASUS board comes with an extra SATA 6GB/s port but no Firewire ports. From what I can make out, one of the USB3 headers isn't "true" USB3 on the Gigabyte, but it does have 2xThunderbolt ports, which may be of benefit in the future. The ASUS looks better, the Gigabyte looking a bit plain. I think it all comes down to personal choice and budget constraints.

I've ordered the Gigabyte this morning, so here's hoping...

Cheers, Captain Kayos.
 
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XYMan

XYMan

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Would be awesome if you gave me a review or something after you have tested it, I should mention I am a little bit on the shorter side of budget. In my mind I already bought the Gigabyte one, I'm still collecting money for the PC, lol. I'm still at the point of doing research for parts.

Thanks :3
 
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XYMan

XYMan

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If it was just a matter of picking I would have already picked the Premium ;]. But it's $450 and the Gigabyte is $250. That's a pretty factor in my eyes for just an added SSD on the Premium.
 
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arzbhatia

arzbhatia

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You know what I recommend.

The BEST board out there is the Asus Maximus V Formula (Without the ThunderFX) - It's for 279 and according to me, it's much better than the V-Premium. I have the Maximus V Extreme and it's MIND-BLOWING!!!!!!!!! Lol yeah no kidding. And the formula is 95% identical to the Extreme, has better overclocking and wins in some benchmarks too.

GO FOR THE MAXIMUS V FORMULA!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131854
 
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XYMan

XYMan

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Will take some time to think about the Maximus ;)
 
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XYMan

XYMan

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Because they don't sell it in Israel :)
 
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captain kayos

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I'll let you know how it goes when the box arrives -probably next week.

I read all those newegg reviews. Some really happy and really unhappy people for sure, but not just for the Gigabyte board either. I've built systems using both Gigabyte and ASUS and haven't had any problems -touch wood. I wonder if all these unhappy builders follow the handbook instructions and use correct ESD procedures using earth strap, etc. Manufacturers don't just use anti-static bags bags for decoration...

For the record, my existing system is ASUS A8N-SLI Premium with Athlon 3500+ and 2GB RAM on Win7 32bit. Still goes well after 7 years, but way too slow for anything serious, hence the upgrade.

Cheers, Captain Kayos.
 
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XYMan

XYMan

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Yeah, I figured the same thing. All of them are just bitching about stuff they didn't pay attention to and they're blaming the manufacturer for their own faults.

Idiots.
 
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geok

geok

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Comparing ONLY the specifications, and ignoring, for the moment, the reviews, there are actually quite a few differences...

First off, the Gigabyte board has one PCI slot, whereas the ASUS has none. Which of those is an advantage is up to you. For me, that would give the ASUS board the advantage, as the existence of the PCI slot means that I lose a slot.

The ASUS board also has twice the number of SATA 6 Gb/s connectors, although four of those are from the Marvell controller. Both boards obviously have the same number (2) of SATA 6 Gb/s from the Intel Z77 chipset.

The ASUS also has two eSATA connectors vs. just one on the Gigabyte board, although, as you mentioned, the Gigabyte board has two Thunderbolt connectors.

In addition to losing a slot to the useless (IMHO!) PCI slot, the WiFi card on the Gigabyte board is a PCI-E card, meaning you lose ANOTHER slot vs. the ASUS board, which uses an mSATA connector at the top of the board for the WiFi mini-card.

So, let's assume you have a double slot x16 graphics card that you want to RUN at x16...

The Gigabyte board gives you an extra three PCI-E slots, losing two to the graphics, one to the PCI, and one to the WiFi.

The ASUS board has four x16 slots, but using all four of them makes them all run at x8. So, leaving the last one empty, you're left with four PCI-E slots, two x8 and two x1.

As you can see there really are some differences in the specifications, although which, if any, of these is important is entirely up to you! In addition to the specifications, however, you also need to take the user reviews and experiences into consideration.

Finally, one thing that is often overlooked is post-purchase technical support. It's been many years since I've had an ASUS board, so I don't know the state of their technical support. Gigabyte, however, is another story entirely!

Gigabyte has just about the WORST technical support that I have ever dealt with!!! They are often unable to answer even the most trivial questions, and anything more complicated is out of the question.

This might not matter, if you never wind up contacting tech support, but, if you do, it one more thing to keep in mind!
 
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XYMan

XYMan

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Thanks. This was informative enough for me to make my decision. I think I'll go with the Gigabyte one since I don't need any extra PCI slots at all than the Gigabyte one has. Plus, any problems with the board I can directly go to the store I bought it from, they got great diagnostics team and it's free! :3

 
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geok

geok

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If you have local tech support that's helpful, then the Gigabyte board will probably be a good bet, given the rather LARGE price difference! I've had some really great Gigabyte boards in the past. I've found their engineering to be as good as their tech support is bad! :D

I'm glad I was able to help! :)
 
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XYMan

XYMan

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Lol. True.

Thanks man :3
 
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captain kayos

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Yep, that pretty well sums it up. The PCI slot IS a bit useless, but both ASUS & GB still put them on some of their boards. I've got an old PCI WiFi adapter and PCI 56K dial-up modem (OMG! haven't I binned that yet?) but that's it.

The GB's 3 SATA 6GB/s are a bit limiting, but if you go for a striped SSD array and a 2 or 3TB HDD for data, then that should be good enough for the average high performance Joe. I'm not even going down the RAID route at all, just a single SSD for the OS, a couple of old 1TB SATA2's for data and a Bluray combo drive. My case has USB2 ports, USB3 ports and Firewire (another nearly dead technology). A high speed 3.5" card reader, with an additional USB3 port. The GB MoBo has Firewire & enough USB3 headers for this, but for the ASUS board I'd have to forgo the Firewire and plug USB3s into the back panel...

The available PCIe slots is another thing. You have to remember that the Z77 chipset only supports 16 lanes, so going SLI with 2 graphic cards isn't the ultimate for serious gamers (although I expect it would still go well). If you want to go all out with SLI, then you can't beat the ASUS ROG boards, which (from my vague memory), run 32 lanes, using an extra chip or something, giving a true 16+16 full bandwidth. I'm only going single graphics, as I only do Photoshop, Video rendering & web surfing. Let's face it, anything is going to scream compared to my old Athlon 3500+

There is a good wrap up of Ivy Bridge & Z77 MoBos in the September edition of APC. Basically, the top of the line $570 ASUS board won out, but all the other ASUS, GB, EVGA & Intel boards performed nearly identically, with MSI not doing so well.

I hope I haven't detracted from your original thread in talking about my own build, XYMan. You have to look at all the possibilities. You may not even plan on using RAID, but what about next year? Do you want a serious gamers PC? Thunderbolt is insanely expensive at the moment (a 3 metre cable costs $50), but it has support from Intel (and Apple), so who knows? Plugging a thunderbolt adapter into a PCIe may seem like a good work around for an unequipped board, but it uses 4 lanes of your available 16 on a Z77 board (not to mention another PCIe slot!) Is Gigabyte service really that bad? Has Gigabyte service improved? Maybe somebody else has some more useful knowledge and experiences...

Cheers, Captain Kayos.
 
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