Five $220-280 Z77 Express-Based Motherboards, Reviewed
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Graphics Cards
- Thunderbolt
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Motherboards
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Expanded graphics card support, enhanced on-board features that include Thunderbolt on some models, and more-robust voltage control are all good reasons to consider paying a little extra for a higher-end motherboard. Today we examine five top choices.
Five $220-280 Z77 Express-Based Motherboards, Reviewed : Read more
Five $220-280 Z77 Express-Based Motherboards, Reviewed : Read more
More about : 220 280 z77 express based motherboards reviewed
roberta
October 10, 2012 4:59:23 AM
Related resources
- Is there a Z77 High-End Motherboard Review out? - Forum
- Asus sabertooth z77 motherboard review. - Forum
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October 10, 2012 5:57:57 AM
robertaAs u have reviewed SIX (6) motherboards, the article's title should be:"Six $220-280 Z77 Express-Based Motherboards, Reviewed"
Let's see what the article says:Quote:
The one motherboard in today’s line-up with a 48-lane PCIe 3.0 bridge is ECS’ Golden Z77H2-AX. Unfortunately, this platform climbed $40 beyond the budget limit of today’s round-up in the time we've been reviewing it. We're tired of seeing board vendors playing pricing games based on our review schedule (this isn't the first time we're seeing a curiously-timed price move). So, since we put the work in to review ECS' submission, we're including our already-gathered data and simply withholding the board from any award candidacy.mayankleoboy1No SATA and USB tests ? data transfer speed differences will typically be noticable in everyday usage.Also, the time taken to show the windows loading screen/ BIOS page..
Would have covered windows load time except that it wasn't markedly different. That is, after disabling empty SATA controllers. If you count the time that it takes to get the "No Device Found" error on boards that have extra SATA controllers, you're penalizing a board for having more features.Andrew Ku tests drive controllers. I'm trying to get him to "write the book" on controller performance, since dozens of boards use only a few different controllers. As for testing things like Z77 controller performance on board A vs Z77 controller performance on board B, it's a waste of time unless something is broken. So the article looked for "broken stuff". See the red bar on the first chart:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z77x-up5-th-z77a-gd...
With nothing broken, there's no excuse to test the Z77 controller six times. Back to me begging Andrew Ku for a comprehensive comparison of every SATA controller currently available on mainstream-brand enthusiast boards.
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JeanLuc
October 10, 2012 12:36:42 PM
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October 10, 2012 5:17:21 PM
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ttg_Avenged
October 10, 2012 7:33:51 PM
Why_Me said:
The Asus Sabertooth got it's arse handed to it in the over clocking results, it runs hot and is a power hog, it's expensive...yet I see a photo of it on the last page along with the Gigabyte board that didn't do much better than the Sabertooth. What did I miss?Score
3
GabZDK
October 11, 2012 1:43:54 AM
Really good review Toms, and yes the results are a little more towards Thunderblot usage, but hey thats trend with this new line of mobos right??
On a side note, in a future I would love to see a comparison including boards like the Z77X-UP7 from Gigabyte, haven't got a chance to see that one in action
On a side note, in a future I would love to see a comparison including boards like the Z77X-UP7 from Gigabyte, haven't got a chance to see that one in action
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Anonymous
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October 11, 2012 11:04:17 AM
rayhands0meWhy didn't you compare Asus ROG MAXIMUS V FORMULA instead of Asus SABERTOOTH
Because Asus send the Sabertooth.windguessthis is not a Benchmark competition, this is stupid warranty fight and thunderbolt award.Why not I send you a mobo with 50yrs warranty and 10 thunderbolt ports? tom's hardware sucks!
No, it's just you. Really, the boards perform almost identically, because all properly designed boards perform identically, and the only two ways to get non-identical performance is to cheat (force people to overclock by default) or screw up (and get lower performance).The problem isn't the review, the problem is that only two people didn't realize that the performance is supposed to be identical. Those two people are you, and the person who gave you the "thumbs up".
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Onihikage
October 13, 2012 9:28:43 AM
Cash091
October 15, 2012 3:30:08 AM
sentralservers
October 15, 2012 1:09:07 PM
rubiased
October 18, 2012 9:12:58 PM
This review is either BIASED or Dont have all the facts... ECS Z77H2-AX have been $269.99 for over a month.
https://www.google.com/search?q=z77h2-ax&rls=com.micros...
PLUS ECS HAVE 99 HOUR SERVICE.
THIS REVIEW is wrong on so many level... its time to move to a different site.
https://www.google.com/search?q=z77h2-ax&rls=com.micros...
PLUS ECS HAVE 99 HOUR SERVICE.
THIS REVIEW is wrong on so many level... its time to move to a different site.
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0
rubiased
October 18, 2012 9:14:16 PM
rubiased
October 18, 2012 9:14:34 PM
sents2011
October 29, 2012 11:12:48 AM
sents2011
October 29, 2012 11:13:45 AM
sents2011
October 29, 2012 3:06:53 PM
A very good and thorough review. Really made me feel every board too close to each other. I take it the hardware components in Asus sabertooth is superior than asrock plus a 5 year warranty, shifted the side right? Also I missed to see how well "Asus z77 formula V ROG board(without thunderbolt)", competes with the others. Asus should have sent it to you.
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sents2011
October 30, 2012 5:51:38 AM
maxkremeur
November 1, 2012 5:14:20 PM
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November 15, 2012 5:54:41 PM
I bought this MB and bought an Thunderbolt (TH) to Firewire 800 adapter from Apple but the cable would not fit. Called Gigab Tech support and they said that the TH ports may not fit the Apple TH cable...isn't TH standard? And would all TH cables be the same? I think maybe my MB TH ports are deformed or poorly manufactured. Has anyone experienced TH cable connection issues?
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0
trevorheck
June 16, 2013 2:53:37 PM
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