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Seven Sub-$160 Z77 Express Motherboards, Reviewed
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1. Seven Affordable Z77 Express-Based Motherboards Get Dissected

Everyone loves a fast machine, but buying the best of the best is an expensive habit. Thank goodness for Intel's Ivy Bridge architecture then, right? You don't need to sink a ton of cash into a Sandy Bridge-E-based processor and the expensive motherboards they require. Instead, a third-gen Core chip and a Z77-based platform should do the trick nicely.

Alright, so you do lose some functionality. Sandy Bridge-E features 40 lanes of on-die PCI Express, after all. The Ivy Bridge/Z77 combination slims that number down to 16 lanes and a "modest" two-channel memory controller. But the features it does facilitate are good enough for a majority of our readers looking for a smart play that's fast, energy-efficient, and affordable.

As a bonus, in addition to more attractive pricing than LGA 2011, Ivy Bridge-based chips include Intel's second-generation Quick Sync technology. Sandy Bridge-E doesn't enjoy any form of fixed-function transcoding acceleration. Of course, Quick Sync is a component of the architecture's integrated graphics engine, and most enthusiasts won't want to bother with HD Graphics 4000. Fortunately, Lucidlogix's Virtu software makes it easy to use discrete graphics for gaming and Intel's built-in stuff for your video work.

But you've heard all of that before, we're sure. Rather than blathering on about Ivy Bridge and Intel's most modern desktop chipset, let's instead introduce the cheaper-than-$160 motherboards we'll be reviewing today. They're what make fast, inexpensive, enthusiast-oriented machines a reality. And by the time you get to the end of today's incredibly information-packed story, you'll know which of these platforms are our favorites.

Motherboard Features
 ASRock
Z77 Extreme4
Asus
P8Z77-V LX
Biostar
TZ77XE3
PCB Revision1.051.025.0
ChipsetIntel Z77 ExpressIntel Z77 ExpressIntel Z77 Express
Voltage RegulatorTwelve PhasesSix PhasesTwelve Phases
BIOSP1.40 (05/14/2012)0610 (05/08/2012)Z77AF419 (04/19/2012)
100.0 MHz BCLK100.0 (+0.00%)100.30 (+0.03%)100.00 (+0.00%)
Internal Interfaces
PCIe 3.0 x162 (x16/x0 or x8/x8)1 (16-lanes)2 (x16/x0 or x8/x8)
PCIe 2.0 x16None1 (4-lanes from PCH)1 (4-lanes from PCH)
PCIe x1/x42/02/02/0
Mini PCIeNoneNoneNone
USB 2.03 (6-ports)3 (6-ports)2 (4-ports)
USB 3.01 (2-ports)1 (2-ports)1 (2-ports)
IEEE-1394NoneNoneNone
SATA 6Gb/s4 (1 shared w/eSATA)22
SATA 3Gb/s444
4-Pin Fan231
3-Pin Fan412
FP-Audio111
S/PDIF I/OOutput OnlyOutput OnlyOutput Only
Power ButtonYesNoYes
Reset ButtonYesNoYes
CLR_CMOS ButtonNoNoNo
Diagnostics PanelNumericPass/Fail LEDsNumeric
Legacy InterfacesSerial, 2 x PCISerial, 3 x PCISerial, 2 x PCI
I/O Panel Connectors
P/S 2111
USB 3.0422
USB 2.0224
IEEE-1394NoneNoneNone
NetworkSingleSingleSingle
eSATA1 (shared w/SATA)NoneNone
CLR_CMOS ButtonYesNoNo
Digital Audio OutOptical OnlyOptical OnlyNone
Digital Audio InNoneNoneNone
Analog Audio536
Video OutVGA, DVI-D, HDMIHDMI, VGA, DVI-DHDMI, VGA, DVI-D
Other DevicesNoneNoneNone
Mass Storage Controllers
Chipset SATA2 x SATA 6Gb/s
4 x SATA 3Gb/s
2 x SATA 6Gb/s
4 x SATA 3Gb/s
2 x SATA 6Gb/s
4 x SATA 3Gb/s
Chipset RAID Modes0, 1, 5, 100, 1, 5, 100, 1, 5, 10
Add-In SATAASM1061 PCIe
2 x SATA 6Gb/s
1 shared w/eSATA
NoneNone
USB 3.0ASM1042 PCIe
Intel Z77 Integrated
Intel Z77 IntegratedZ77 Integrated Only
IEEE-1394NoneNoneNone
Gigabit Ethernet
Primary LANBCM57781 PCIeRTL8111E PCIeRTL8111E PCIe
Secondary LANNoneNoneNone
Audio
HD Audio CodecALC898ALC887ALC892
DDL/DTS ConnectNot SpecifiedDTS ConnectNot Specified


Motherboard Features
 ECS
Z77H2-A2X Deluxe
Gigabyte
Z77X-D3H
Intel
DZ77SL-50K
MSI
Z77A-G45
PCB Revision1.01.0Initial1.1
ChipsetIntel Z77 ExpressIntel Z77 ExpressIntel Z77 ExpressIntel Z77 Express
Voltage RegulatorNine PhasesNine PhasesSix PhasesSix Phases
BIOS120424 (04/24/2012)F8 (05/11/2012)0066 (04/13/2012)V2.4 (05/09/2012)
100.0 MHz BCLK99.77 (-0.23%)100.89 (+0.89%)99.78 (-0.22%)100.0 (+0.0%)
Internal Interfaces
PCIe 3.0 x162 (x16/x0 or x8/x8)2 (x16/x0 or x8/x8)1 (16-lanes)2 (x16/x0 or x8/x8)
PCIe 2.0 x16None1 (4-lanes from PCH)None1 (4-lanes from PCH)
PCIe x1/x42/03/01/1 (open ended)4 (two shared)/0
Mini PCIe1NoneNoneNone
USB 2.01 (2-ports)2 (4-ports)2 (4-ports)3 (6-ports)
USB 3.01 (2-ports)1 (2-ports)1 (2-ports)1 (2-ports)
IEEE-1394NoneNoneNoneNone
SATA 6Gb/s4422
SATA 3Gb/s24 (1 shared w/mSATA)34
4-Pin Fan1433
3-Pin Fan2NoneNone2
FP-Audio1111
S/PDIF I/OOutput OnlyOutput OnlyOutput OnlyNone
Power ButtonNoNoNoNo
Reset ButtonNoNoNoNo
CLR_CMOS ButtonNoNoNoNo
Diagnostics PanelNoneNoneNoneNone
Legacy InterfacesSerial, 2 x PCISerial, 1 x PCI3 x PCISerial Port
I/O Panel Connectors
P/S 2None111
USB 3.04622
USB 2.04244
IEEE-1394NoneNoneNoneNone
NetworkSingleSingleSingleSingle
eSATA1None1None
CLR_CMOS ButtonNoNoNoYes
Digital Audio OutOptical OnlyOptical OnlyNoneOptical+Coaxial
Digital Audio InNoneNoneNoneNone
Analog Audio5536
Video OutVGA, DVI-D, HDMIVGA, DVI-D, HDMIHDMIHDMI, VGA, DVI-D
Other DevicesNoneNoneNoneNone
Mass Storage Controllers
Chipset SATA2 x SATA 6Gb/s
2 x SATA 3Gb/s
1 x eSATA 3Gb/s
2 x SATA 6Gb/s
4 x SATA 3Gb/s
2 x SATA 6Gb/s
3 x SATA 3Gb/s
1 x eSATA 3Gb/s
2 x SATA 6Gb/s
4 x SATA 3Gb/s
Chipset RAID Modes0, 1, 5, 100, 1, 5, 100, 1, 5, 100, 1, 5, 10
Add-In SATAASM1061 PCIe
2 x SATA 6Gb/s
88SE9172 PCIe
2 x eSATA 6Gb/s
NoneNone
USB 3.0ASM1042 PCIe
Intel Z77 Integrated
VL800-Q8 PCIe
Intel Z77 Integrated
Z77 Integrated OnlyZ77 Integrated Only
IEEE-1394NoneNoneNoneNone
Gigabit Ethernet
Primary LANRTL8111E PCIeAR8151 PCIeWG82579V PHYRTL8111E PCIe
Secondary LANNoneNoneNoneNone
Audio
HD Audio CodecALC892VT2021ALC892ALC892
DDL/DTS ConnectNot SpecifiedNot SpecifiedNot SpecifiedNot Specified


Thanks to the efforts (and unified voice) of our readers, all seven of the motherboard vendors participating in today's story are now on equal footing when it comes to the length of their warranties, each offering three years of protection. There's more to each of these boards than its specification sheet, though, so we’re diving into the features, firmware, and software package included with them all.

2. ASRock Z77 Extreme4

ASRock takes its recent ambitions to rule the overclocking world seriously in its Z77 Extreme4, putting much of its design effort into the CPU’s voltage regulator. We still find the expected budget-oriented enthusiast feature set, though, and the board’s mid-range price creates enough headroom for ASRock to add extra USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s connectivity to the mix.

The extra USB 3.0 controller accounts for the I/O panel’s two additional ports, and there's one more SATA 6Gb/s port on the rear I/O panel, too. Where's the second port you'd expect to find corresponding to a discrete dual-port controller? It's inside, next to all of the discrete SATA connectivity. In fact, there are actually two ports in addition to Intel's native six, which means that one of those internal ports is shared with the eSATA connector. If you want to hook up external storage, you'll need to leave one of those value-added internal SATA ports open.

In keeping with its overclocking theme, the Z77 Extreme4 retains the rear-panel-based CLR_CMOS button normally found on higher-end products, along with the internal on-board power and reset buttons that make bench testing easier.

A Port 80 diagnostics display aids overclockers by letting them know what part of the boot sequence is responsible, should the system hang.  Above it, a replaceable CMOS IC allows the ROM to be swapped out if its programming is ever completely ruined.

The Z77 Extreme4 sends sixteen PCIe 3.0 lanes to the first x16 slot, while a set of switches allow eight of those lanes to be sent to the second x16-length slot whenever a card is installed there. The second slot is far enough from the bottom edge of the motherboard to prevent most graphics cards from blocking the view of its Port 80 display, and forward-facing SATA ports allow cables to fit under the ends of extra-long cards. Forward-facing ports sometimes conflict with the drive cages of certain cases, but this 8.5”-wide board is narrow enough that you shouldn't encounter an issue, even in the tightest of full-ATX enclosures.

The USB 3.0 header is similarly tucked into a conflict-free zone, right next to the main ATX connector and a hair above the centerline of the top PCIe x1 slot. In fact, front-panel audio is the only header that might cause a problem with any of our builds, since several cases have been manufactured with a cable that’s approximately one-inch too short to reach it. Really, the case vendors are to blame for this, though motherboard manufacturers need to work around it.

While the Z77 Extreme4 should install easily into any of our ATX enclosures, the upward-facing ATX12V latch might make removing the platform a little more difficult. That’s because many cases are designed with an access hole right above this connector to route the cable behind the motherboard tray. Doing so loops the cable over the top of the latch, though. As you might imagine, we've run into problems like that before.

Two SATA cables and an SLI bridge are what come bundled. Anyone who expects more from an ASRock installation kit needs only to look at the Z77 Extreme4’s modest price to see why the firm felt this might be a suitable limitation.

3. Z77 Extreme4 Applications

ASRock’s current installation CDs include an “Install All” option that, fortunately, can be modified after opening the company's setup routine. Several of the applications are simply annoying, while others may be unnecessary to most users.

Most obnoxious of all is SmartView, which begs users to start its trial period every time you launch your browser.

Norton Internet Security trial alerts are made a little less annoying by the knowledge that some users might actually need a temporary A/V solution. A gadget was also present, though easy to ignore.

Even less bothersome (and perhaps even useful to some folks) is the inclusion of THX TruStudio Crystalizer. Added to entice users into purchasing Creative’s $25 TruStudio Pro upgrade, this free version adds dynamic range to digital music (louder louds and quieter quiets), helping address the limitations imposed during analog-to-digital conversion.

Simultaneously annoying and useful, ASRock’s XFast USB software prompts users to remove and reconnect any previously-undetected USB storage device before attempting and often achieving in its effort to improve transfer performance.

Potentially more useful is ASRock’s XFast LAN application, which lets you specify network packet priority, among other things.

ASRock also includes Intel’s Smart Connect software, which can wake a system occasionally to download updates from apps like Twitter and Facebook. This feature actually alleviates the annoyance of waiting for a bunch new messages to stream in when you first sit down at your PC.

Other applications include ASRock’s Instant Boot hibernation utility, a trial copy CyberLink MediaEspresso for use with the included Virtu MVP software, and ASRock 3 TB+ Unlocker to enable large drive access within 32-bit operating systems.

4. Overclocking With ASRock Extreme Tuning Utility

We can’t forget ASRock’s overclocking and hardware monitoring utility, which allows users unfamiliar with or scared of UEFI changes to attempt an overclock within Windows. More hardware overclockers occasionally use the same type of software to make minor adjustments beyond what they’ve already set in a board's UEFI.

ASRock Extreme Tuning Utility opens to its hardware monitoring page, showing most of the voltage, fan, and temperature readings also found in the UEFI, without needing to exit Windows.

AXTU provides temperature-based fan control only for the CPU fans and one chassis fan header. Manual adjustment is available for the two CPU and three chassis fan headers, and our tests demonstrate that feature to work as advertised.

We slid the clock and voltage controls all the way up under AXTU’s Overclocking tab to show how far these scale. Although we didn't apply those extreme settings to our delicate hardware, we did find smaller changes in BCLK, CPU ratio, and CPU voltage reflected in CPU-Z.

UEFI overclocking profiles are repeated into AXTU’s OC DNA menu.

ASRock Inteligent Energy Saver gets a tab, but we didn’t find settings beyond On and Off.

XFast RAM is ASRock’s RAM drive utitility. RAM disks provide a super-fast place to temporarily store files while working with them, such as large images that are being manipulated in Photoshop. The capacity of any RAM-based drive is subtracted from total available system memory. ASRock points out that putting temporary files on the RAM drive minimizes strain on SSDs, and the firm even has a video that shows XFast RAM using unavailable memory (installed memory beyond the 4 GB limit) within a 32-bit operating system.

5. Z77 Extreme4 UEFI

A particularly useful feature within the Z77 Extreme4 UEFI’s Main tab, “System Browser” illustrates the position of attached hardware, rather than trying to break it all down in a simple list, as we've seen other vendors attempt. If a part isn’t detected in Windows, a quick trip to the UEFI can show whether it’s an actual interface problem.

Our primary UEFI focus remains on overclocking-oriented features, and the Z77 Extreme4 provides a laudable array compared to the competing models in this price range. ASRock begins by enabling newbie modes like Advanced Turbo 30 (a 30% overclock), built-in overclocking profiles ranging from 4.0 to 4.8 GHz, and several integrated GPU performance-boosting profiles.

Though processor cores can be configured all at the same time, the only way we found to disable Intel's Turbo Boost technology was to first set the CPU Ratio setting to “Per Core.” This actually keeps Turbo Boost enabled, but disables the processor’s ability to self-adjust each configuration under normal operation. Thermal and power overrides still apply.

Following several complaints by multiple readers and one manufacturer, we decided to scale back our processor’s overclocking voltage to 1.25 V. This gets us within 2.5% of our previous super-high overclocks, while reducing maximum power consumption by around 25%. Setting 1.24 V CPU and Level 1 Load-Line Calibration in ASRock's UEFI got us very close to our 1.25 V full-load goal, and the Z77 Extreme4 approaches 4.7 GHz at 46 x 102 MHz using these settings.

Scrolling all the way to the bottom of the Z77 Extreme4’s OC Tweaker menu, we find three user-definable overclocking profile registers.

The DRAM Configuration submenu provides a full set of primary and secondary timings.

6. Asus P8Z77-V LX

For about $5 less than ASRock’s competing model, the P8Z77-V LX gives users access to Asus' legendary support structure, including frequent firmware updates long after a product has left production. You'll need to give up a few luxuries to get that lower price, however. You can start with the board's rear panel, which hosts only two USB 3.0 ports and three 1/8" analog audio jacks.

Budget builds are often stuck with old analog speaker system, and three jacks are still enough for 5.1-channel surround sound. While Asus relies on its front-panel header to support an eight-channel output claim, most users use those two additional channels to plug in a headset.

Also missing are any PCIe 3.0 pathway switches, which would have made x8/x8 mode possible for the P8Z77-V LX’s two x16-length slots. Instead, users get one slot locked into 16-lane transfers and a second locked into four-lane PCIe 2.0 transfers through the Z77 PCH. That limitation still allows for CrossFire configurations, but crosses SLI off the feature list, unless you get your hands on a single-card, dual GPU solution. Fans of Nvidia's multi-card rendering technology might want to consider the better-equipped P8Z77-V LK, though that model was priced above our $160 cut-off when review invitations went out.

Asus also omits on-board power and reset buttons, which other vendors use to woo bench testers without adding any real value to the average enthusiast. After all, those buttons become redundant once a motherboard is mounted into a case with its own externally-accessible buttons. This reviewer does miss the Port 80 diagnostics display that Asus fails to include, however. Asus believes its less informative pass/fail LEDs are easier to read.

Asus' MemOK and GPU Boost features are engaged using two switches along the P8Z77-V LX’s front edge that some builders will find useful. MemOK temporarily underclocks poorly-programmed memory to get you into the UEFI, where problematic modules can be configured manually. GPU Boost goes the other direction, overclocking the HD Graphics engines built into Intel’s LGA 1155-based processors.

We always look for layout problems that could hinder a build, and the worst thing we could find on Asus' P8Z77-V LX was that none of the fan connectors were located within easy reach of a case’s front panel. This complaint is trivial, since so many cases come with four-pin Molex power connectors. Asus even moves the P8Z77-V LX’s front-panel audio connector forward about an inch from the corner in which we usually find it, heading off any complaints we might have lodged about short cables. Bravo!

Two SATA cables are enough to complete the simplest builds. The P8Z77-V LX doesn’t include an SLI bridge because the board doesn’t have the hardware required to support two cards rendering cooperatively in SLI.

7. P8Z77-V LX Applications

The P8Z77-V LX includes several freeware and trial software applications, in addition to those written by or for Asus. Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Adobe Reader X, and a 60-day trial for Norton Internet Security are among them. They're all installed by default using Asus' “InstAll” method. Fortunately, that option can be deselected from the driver package’s “InstAll” menu, since you'd otherwise be plagued by Norton's pesky register/upgrade reminder.

Asus includes a USB Turbo Mode application. Unlike its competitors, however, the company uniquely supports UASP. Our recent investigation into this technology shows that certain USB 3.0-based devices already support USB Attached SCSI Protocol. But Asus thus far maintains exclusivity on the host side.

Asus still calls its vastly-updated monitoring utility PC Probe II, though today’s version is much more versatile and accurate than early versions of the software. We find voltage, temperature, and fan speed measurements, though several less significant voltage readings (such as CSA and DIMM) are still missing.

Fans of Asus' monitoring software should make sure they want to keep it before making the decision to install, as our copy would not uninstall cleanly. The pieces left behind caused no problem with a motherboard we tried to install later on using the same drive, but they did sabotage a competing vendor's monitoring software.

Going beyond live reporting, Asus Sensor Recorder provides a chart of the values seen in PC Probe II over time.

Asus Fan Expert allows users to modify the P8Z77-V LX’s automatic fan profiles for all three of the board’s four-pin headers.

Asus' EPU utility provides several automatic power-saving profiles, two of which can be reconfigured by users. We found a maximum savings of approximately 2 W at idle, compared to CPU- and operating system-based settings.

The P8Z77-V LX also includes Asus Network iControl, with which you can optimize packet prioritization to favor, for example, latency-sensitive online gaming.

Some people back things up to their 2 GB-or-larger email accounts, but downloading that saved content isn’t always convenient. Asus provides 2 GB of Web-based storage for free. You can get up to 10 GB of capacity by referring others or 1 GB by subscribing to another Asus service. The WebStorage program is used to sync and backup whatever folders you wish.

8. Overclocking With Asus TurboV

In addition to its manual overclocking options, Asus TurboV offers less-knowledgeable users a chance to capitalize on the P8Z77-V LX’s impressive overclocking capabilities through an auto-adjustment utility. The program achieved a stable 4.22 GHz at 1.216 V using its “Fast” overclocking scheme, and 4.84 GHz at 1.456 V after choosing its “Extreme” alternative.

The biggest problem with the Extreme profile is that it applied far too much voltage for our Ivy-Bridge based CPU. These cores are notorious for an interface problem that prevents even the best coolers from achieving useful temperatures at moderate voltage levels, and 1.456 V far exceeds the 1.30 V we feel comfortable recommending as a safe limit for reasonable longevity. With only a little trepidation about potentially frying our CPU, we fired up Prime95 and watched as Intel’s thermal protection mechanism throttled the processor clock within about 20 seconds.

Although TurboV's Auto-Tuning feature is supposed to be easier to use for less experienced overclockers, it's unfortunate that it'd push such an aggressive voltage that isn't even useable without throttling, which inexperienced performance-seekers might not know to check for. Manual tuning became the safer choice for our efforts, then.

Picking settings ourselves, we were able to reach the same overclock using TurboV as we did using Asus' UEFI, and as we've established, some hardcore overclockers find programs like TurboV very useful for altering voltage and clock rates on-the-fly as they toy with extreme cooling methods.

Sliders are shown in their maximum position to indicate TurboV’s limits, though we never approached these in actual operation. “Advanced Mode” adds CSA, PLL, and PCH options to the basic set of voltage controls.

While we don’t believe many users will bother overclocking an Ivy Bridge-based processor’s integrated graphics core, Asus provides both frequency and voltage options in TurboV’s GPU Boost.

A separate menu provides CPU ratio selection in both synchronized and load-based settings. Though the slider is maxed, we never approached its maximum 63x multiplier in our own efforts.

9. P8Z77-V LX UEFI

Perhaps the biggest reputation-builder for Asus has been its feature-packed and easy-to-use firmware. The value-priced P8Z77-V LX continues that trend by providing most of the same settings as the company's more enthusiast-friendly models.

Ai Overclock Tuner remains, though it only has XMP and Manual configuration modes. CPU settings between these modes are nearly identical, as XMP users are expected to set this first. Switching between XMP and Manual modes does cause you to lose your CPU overclock settings.

Though 47 x 100 MHz wasn’t stable at our desired 1.25 V core setting, 46 x 102.2 MHz got us to 4.7 GHz. The most likely reason 47 x 100 didn’t work was that Asus’ 100 MHz setting provided an actual 100.3 MHz, resulting in a slightly higher 4.71 GHz.

Getting to 1.25 V under load required a combination of 1.245 V in the UEFI and a higher load line calibration setting. Our 1.65 V memory setting appears to have been set manually, but this change was performed by the firmware when we enabled XMP Profile 1.

Remarkable among budget-oriented enthusiast motherboards, the P8Z77-V LX includes primary, secondary, and tertiary timing controls.

Depending on what other settings are used, the multiplier changes might be blocked on the main Ai Tweaker menu. A fixed ratio can be set in its CPU Power Management submenu.

An Ultra High CPU Load-Line Calibration setting got our overclocked CPU core to the desired 1.25 V under load. We tried other load-line and core voltage settings and found these to most closely match our goals. The Digi+ VRM submenu also contains amperage limit and voltage regulator frequency settings.

More than double that of several competing products, eight customized UEFI configurations can be stored on the P8Z77-V LX.

10. Biostar TZ77XE3

Biostar has consistently marketed itself as the quintessential budget overclocking brand, and its TZ77XE3 continues that theme by presenting only the parts needed to make most systems perform better.

A low $130 price doesn’t get us any added interface controllers, though Biostar does use a slightly more expensive flat-black opaque mask to give its budget-oriented board the look of a high-end part. On top of that, we get the PCIe 3.0 switches needed to change from one x16 to two x8 PCI Express slots, plus a third 16-lane slot wired to support four lanes of second-gen PCIe for a potential three-way CrossFireX configuration.

Nvidia has too little faith in a four-lane PCIe 2.0 slot to permit three-way SLI. Yet, we still have to admit that Biostar beats ASRock (two x8 slots) and especially Asus (two slots running x16/x4) by way of graphics support at this price.

The TZ77XE3 also has a handy Port 80 diagnostics display to help overclockers interpret boot failures, and Biostar even includes bench-tester-friendly on-board power and reset buttons. Since those buttons are often inaccessible in a finished build and redundant to case buttons, we aren't giving away any value points for a feature that primarily seems to excite other reviewers.

Biostar’s overclocking theme extends to its voltage regulator, matching Asus' board with 16 phases. Asus claims a digital design advantage, while Biostar typically aims for increased capacity. Our overclocking tests have the potential to demonstrate which brand is best.

We always make a point to look over layout issues that novice builders often miss, but didn’t find anything seriously wrong in Biostar’s design. Its perpendicular SATA headers are, for example, low enough to clear extra-long double-slot graphics cards installed into the board’s middle slot, though a rare triple-slot card might run into issues. Older cases often lack the clearance to fit forward-facing cables, though, so perpendicular connectors have some merit in the budget market.

Locating the front-panel audio connector along the middle of the TZ77XE3’s back edge requires most builders to drag an ugly cable over the top of the board. Again, though, if you have an older case with a short front-panel cable, you'll find merit in this placement. Score another point for function dictating form.

Biostar's USB 3.0 front-panel header is placed just above the leading edge of the TZ77XE3’s third graphics slot. While this location should yield adequate clearance for nearly any graphics configuration, we simply couldn’t come up with a good reason for it to be there. Perhaps Biostar ran out of space to put it elsewhere when optimizing its circuit design for over-stock frequencies?

Biostar beats ASRock by including four SATA cables in the TZ77XE3’s installation kit, adds an extra CrossFire bridge, and further damages Asus by supporting SLI.

11. TZ77XE3 Applications

The TZ77XE3’s installation CD includes some useful utilities, as well as a few potential annoyances. For example, our experience with a competitor’s nagging Internet security software trial dissuaded us from installing the included Bullguard, though we found value in much of the remaining bundle.

For example, Biostar adds the full THX TruStudio Pro package, an application that ASRock’s version begged us to pay $25 for. With advanced features like active volume control and movie dialog enhancement, this difference could be worth as much as (or even more than) the extra SATA and USB 3.0 controllers offered by ASRock. The winner of that value comparison depends upon buyer preference.

Simplest of Biostar’s branded utilities is its eHot-Line email utility, which relies on your email client to send messages to Biostar Tech Support. That requirement makes eHot-Line more of a gimmick than a feature.

BIOS Live Update checks Biostar’s servers for the latest UEFI version.

Biostar also includes a utility to modify the UEFI’s boot-up splash screen. We’ve seen other manufacturers offer similar utilities in the past, but those manufacturers typically targeted white-box builders rather than enthusiasts.

BIO-Remote ties Biostar’s programs to specific buttons on Microsoft’s MCE Remote.

Biostar’s Green Power Utility saved us up to 3 W over CPU-based automatic power controls at idle.

12. Overclocking With Biostar Toverclocker

With few overclocking options enabled, Biostar uses monitoring pages to bulk-up its Toverclocker utility. The first two tabs, for instance, show CPU and memory status.

Overclocking settings are few, but they do work for the most part. We say “for the most part” because we were only able to increase our BCLK to 105 MHz on a CPU known to work at up to 109 MHz via UEFI changes. The utility also doesn’t recognize the TZ77XE3’s 300 MHz maximum base clock setting, though that hardly matters, given the roughly 110-112 MHz limit inherent to most LGA 1155-based platforms.

CPU core, memory, and chipset voltage levels can be adjusted via Biostar's app, but GPU voltage changes don’t work at all, while a system agent voltage entry appears missing from Toverclocker’s menu. We weren’t able to show maximum values in our screen shot because voltage changes are made in real-time, without the need or even the ability to click Apply.

An unfortunate lack of multiplier adjustment makes Toverclocker appear optimized only for low-end processors. Neophytes are welcome, however, to try Biostar’s V6 and V12 automatic overclocking profiles.

Biostar actually protects inexperienced users by creating V6 and V12 profiles without added CPU core voltage. But the resulting frequency increases are fairly small. The third choice, Auto, crashed our system.

Don't worry too much about the limited readings available in Toverclocker’s CPU and Memory monitoring menus, as a far greater selection of data exists across its three H/W Monitor pages.

13. TZ77XE3 UEFI

If low-cost overclocking is Biostar’s niche, then a solid UEFI has be its first priority. Biostar's O.N.E. menu has changed only slightly in the transition from BIOS to UEFI, retaining all of the straightforward functionality that overclockers love without the glamor and confusion introduced by some competitors.

CPU multiplier and base clock controls are found up top, followed by a few pertinent power settings. We were able to reach almost 4.7 GHz using 46 x 101.80 MHz, and the only thing that could have made those settings easier would have been a decimal point on the base clock menu.

Scrolling past a few more power settings, we were able to reach a DRAM data rate of nearly 2.7 GT/s with two modules installed. XMP works, but setting it blocks access to manual multiplier and timing adjustment. Switching back to manual frequencies also forces tuners to set all timings manually. The baseline are derived from SPD values rather than XMP timings, and automatic configuration doesn’t exist for individual settings.

Biostar's O.N.E. menu continues to display SPD timings rather than current timings, even after setting XMP. Users who want to use XMP values as a baseline for manual overclocking must instead rely on its Biostar Memory Insight submenu to see most of those timings. Unfortunately, the Biostar Memory Insight menu doesn’t show things like tREFI, and UEFI’s reversion to too-tight SPD values forced us to look at screen shots from competing products to see what the missing settings were actually supposed to be. Users who would like to manually configure their RAM but don’t have another motherboard to show them appropriate settings for unfamiliar timings might be stuck.

The TZ77XE4 supports CPU Vcore at both fixed levels and more energy-conscious offset modes. We achieved our 1.25 V full-load target using 1.230 V core with 0% Load Line. Wait, what?

Rather than list load-line as a positive compensation value, Biostar lists it as a negative stock value. So, 100% Load Line means 100% of Intel’s intended droop, and Disabled means 0% droop.

Scrolling a little further down the O.N.E. menu, we find DRAM voltage and the link to the previously-viewed Biostar Memory Insight submenu. Note that 1.620 V gets us to at least 1.644 V. The board responded to our memory’s 1.65 V XMP value by setting nearly 1.69 V!

Five custom UEFI configurations can be saved as user profiles at the bottom of the TZ77XE3’s Exit menu.

14. ECS Z77H2-A2X Deluxe

The Z77H2-A2X Deluxe continues ECS’ struggle to prove to the overclocking market that its mid-priced motherboards are stable and feature-packed. Having tested a few of the firm’s recent products, we find that its claims of overclocking stability are believable. What’s incredible to us is how unstable the company's prices are. We watched the Z77H2-A2X Deluxe drop from around $165 to around $145, and then shoot back up to $165 before we could publish our review. After hearing our concern, ECS reached an agreement with some of its channel partners to stabilize prices on new shipments at $160.

Now that the Z77H2-A2X Deluxe is once again able to compete with other boards in our sub-$160 story, we want to know how well it sizes up. An added pair of rear-panel USB 3.0 ports and eSATA are good steps towards securing the company's value goals.

Flipping to the top view, we discover four two-lane PCIe 3.0 pathway switches that allow a pair of x16 slots to go from x16-x0 to x8-x8 mode whenever a second graphics card is installed. Add to that a pair of voltage regulator heat sinks and a mini-PCIe slot that could be used for a notebook-style wireless card, and we’ve covered the full set of features that ECS uses to justify the Z77H2-A2X Deluxe’s price premium over less expensive competition, such as Asus' P8Z77-V LX.

ECS understands that some buyers make their purchase decision based on looks alone, so it applies the number 88 over the empty spot where a Port 80 diagnostics display is found on its higher-end models. Review readers aren’t so easily fooled.

The Z77H2-A2X Deluxe’s layout is good overall, with few concerns for users of certain older or low-cost cases. Those concerns include forward-facing SATA ports that almost butt up against the lower drive cage of many older cases, and a front-panel audio header that’s slightly out-of-reach for the short cables on a few poorly-designed cases. The easy solution to those worries is to choose a better chassis.

ECS includes six SATA cables and an SLI bridge in the Z77H2-A2X Deluxe installation kit. Those two extra cables likely cost pennies, but could save some builders a few dollars.

15. Z77H2-A2X Deluxe Applications

ECS' installation disk autoruns to reveal an exciting array of software, which we discovered is mostly garbage. For example, a bad system date following a firmware update lead us to these three screens:

The “Special Upgrade” price for Power Director 10 Ultra and Power DVD 12 Ultra are $80 and $85. We hope that CyberLink is paying ECS for that kind of advertising.

ECS' proprietary programs continue to function, such as its eBLU firmware updating utility. It found us an update that we didn’t even spot on the motherboard’s download page.

The eDLU utility opens an ECS webpage showing the latest drivers the firm has loaded for the detected motherboard.

The eSF utility is able to set a temperature-based fan speed slope. It was limited to CPU fan speed for this particular hardware configuration.

16. Overclocking With ECS eOC

ECS’ eOC utility opens to a page with two temperature readings, Platform Environment Control Interface and chipset. PECI is measured directly from the CPU’s thermal diode, in degrees below the processor’s thermal throttle point.

ECS mimics an older Gigabyte utility by putting only the CPU base clock on its Easy Tuning tab, but does one better by also showing the status of key voltage points.

The eOC Advanced tab provides all the features that the program can control through Windows. There are no multiplier settings, but base clock and voltage levels can be changed on the fly. Though we certainly would have liked to see multiplier controls on a separate page, Gigabyte could learn something from eOC’s simplified menu assortment.

The eOC Options page lets users decide if and how they’d like their overclock to be automatically applied: when booting, loading the program, or waking from sleep mode.

17. Z77H2-A2X Deluxe UEFI

ECS' M.I.B. X menu opens to reveal important voltage settings, including CPU core and Vdroop. Setting Vdroop to Disabled allows the system to keep voltage stable under increased load.

With Vdroop disabled, we found that our CPU climbed from 1.15 V at idle to 1.25 V under load using the Z77H2-A2X Deluxe’s 1.15 V setting. That voltage got our processor to a stable 4.69 GHz with all four cores fully taxed.

A mere 1.25 V isn’t enough to push 4.7 GHz from our chip on most motherboards, yet ECS still supported the 47x multiplier. An under-spec base clock of 99.7 MHz at the 100 MHz setting explains this discrepancy.

The Z77H2-A2X Deluxe supports Intel’s XMP technology to ease the overclocking of most DDR3 memory modules. Fortunately, the XMP timings stick when switching from XMP to Manual mode, and SPD timings stick when switching from full-auto to Manual mode.. Thus, we were able to keep our memory’s complete timing configuration while playing with its multipliers. Biostar could learn something from this.

ECS appears to learn from all of its competitors, expanding its overclocking profile storage to support up to eight custom UEFI configurations.

18. Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H

The Z77X-D3H is meant to thrill budget-oriented buyers and appease enthusiasts with its combination of design, mid-market features, and a moderate $145 price. Six I/O panel-based USB 3.0 ports, two added-on SATA 6Gb/s ports, and three x16-length PCIe slots are prominent among those features.

While we’re happy to see a board with such a robust combination of features sell for $15 less than this article’s price limit, there aren’t any magic bullets for its triple graphics slot configuration. We still get the same single x16 to twin x8 slot conversion from the processor’s sixteen PCIe 3.0 lanes, and the third slot is still a four-lane PCIe 2.0 product of the Z77 Express PCH. Gigabyte further warns that all three of the board’s x1 slots are disabled whenever a PCIe x4 (or larger) card is installed in the bottom slot, since only four of the chipset’s eight lanes are available for expansion. The aforementioned drive controllers, plus a network controller and PCIe-to-PCI switch, consume the chipset’s other four lanes.

Designed to support Intel’s SSD caching technology, an mSATA card slot centered beneath the CPU socket could potentially host a system drive now that 120 GB and 240 GB models are available in this format. Yet, because it borrows a SATA 3Gb/s port from the chipset, we wouldn’t count on it to deliver record-breaking performance. Nevertheless, the idea of building a gaming system without the messy drive cables intrigues us.

The Z77X-D3H’s layout is good overall, with forward-facing SATA ports preventing conflict with graphics cards and a front-panel USB 3.0 header mounted above the highest graphics slot to more-easily connect its ports. Gigabyte even puts an extra space between its two PCIe 3.0 slots to help cool double-slot graphics cards or allow for a pair of triple-slot boards.

That doesn’t make the layout perfect for everyone, however. For example, we’ve noted for years that some case companies use front-panel audio cables that are approximately 1” too short to reach a bottom-rear-corner header, and Gigabyte only helps that condition by moving its header forward about half of the necessary distance. Also, several older/cheaper cases block access to the front edge of full-ATX motherboards, blocking access to forward-facing SATA ports. Both of those problems can be solved easily by simply choosing a better case. We at least need to warn anyone looking to purchase this board to upgrade an older system, though.

The Z77X-D3H is also one of the few enthusiast-oriented motherboards to include a four-pin ATX12V, rather than an eight-pin EPS12V, CPU power connector. Mainstream power regulators live well within the confines of a four-pin connector, but we find it odd that Gigabyte admits this in its design decision. A larger 8-pin connector gives competitors the appearance of greater power capacity.

The Z77X-D3H includes four SATA cables, which is two times more than some of its competitors. We also find an SLI bridge in the box. Most buyers who need a CrossFire bridge should look for one bundled with their graphics card.

19. Z77X-D3H Applications

Gigabyte includes a huge software bundle with its latest motherboards, offering, for example, three different adware trial version Internet security suites. Moving past those annoyances, we did find a few gems.

Audio Deck, for the integrated Via Envy codec, provides an old-fashioned multi-channel positioning diagram to accompany the settings that might otherwise take normal users a while to find in Windows.

Gigabyte @BIOS downloads the latest firmware directly from Gigabyte’s server.

Users can choose their own BIOS splash screen from several published by Gigabyte, or use their favorite search engine to find forums for help in creating their own.

Gigabyte’s 3D Power controller repeats several of the 3D Power settings from the Z77X-D3H’s firmware. From our standpoint, all of these features could have been combined on a single page of the company's Easy Tune6 utility.

Gigabyte Smart Recovery 2 provides an easy way to back up your drive or specific folders to a second drive.

Gigabyte Update Manager checks for updates to many of Gigabyte’s brand-specific applications. So, where are the gems we spoke of?

20. Overclocking With Easy Tune6

Gigabyte’s Easy Tune6 utility reflects both the usefulness and cumbersomeness of its firmware. The first menus, for example, contain no settings, though they are far more detailed than those in the popular CPU-Z application.

One of the added details that we’d like to see adopted by CPU-Z is the ability to read more than three SPD, XMP, and/or EPP registers. Easy Tune6 provides ten, though it does not tell us that one of these is XMP.

Quick Boost quickly got us to 4.18, 4.44, and 4.69 GHz at 1.32 to 1.33 V. While we still think that’s a little too much to protect the longevity of our Ivy Bridge-based CPU, it’s far less voltage than many of its competitors use for similar speeds. Perhaps ironically, the Auto Tuning option achieved worse overclocking results (4.49 GHz at 1.32 V), and we never successfully reset the program. After successfully altering several settings only to have the system revert to old Auto Tuning levels at the next reboot, we gave up and removed Easy Tune6 before reinstalling it to continue our evaluation.

The only visible difference between the Easy and Advanced overclocking tabs is the presence of memory ratio control. Base clock can be changed on the fly, but memory ratio changes require a reboot. That’s probably why Gigabyte wasted two tabs to separate these; a few words of warning would have sufficed.

Ratio and Frequency tabs are only active in Advanced mode. Per-core and all-core changes can be set, but a reboot is required to make the change. Given that memory ratios also require a reboot, that’s one more tab Gigabyte could have consolidated.

Easy Tune6 has enough voltage options that they actually deserve their own menu. Like base clock, voltages can be changed without rebooting.

Gigabyte’s Graphics overclocker worked with all of the GeForce GTX 580s in our test lab, though firmware customization could prevent its use with some brands.

Separate menus provide temperature-based CPU and system fan speed control.

Two menus under the HW Monitor tab provide extremely limited voltage readouts and status alarm controls.

21. Z77X-D3H UEFI

Gigabyte’s Motherboard Intelligent Tweaker menu opens to reveal a few key status readings and a short list of submenus.

The Advanced Frequency Settings submenu might have otherwise been called a CPU menu, if not for the redundant memory multiplier setting. We reached a stable 4.66 GHz at our target 1.25 V. A submenu there reveals further CPU settings, including per-core and all-core multiplier options.

Setting Intel Turbo Boost technology to Disabled doesn’t completely disable it, but instead disables the CPU’s ability to manage its own clock speed in response to CPU load. This allowed us to more easily seek the maximum stable frequency for four-core loads without worrying about how much further the CPU would try to scale on its own in less demanding tasks.

The Advanced Memory Settings submenu contains the memory multiplier plus a few timing mode settings. Changing DRAM Timing Selectable from Auto enables the two Timing Settings submenus at the bottom of the page, where "Quick" links the timings of both channels and "Expert” enables per-channel timing settings.

An individual Auto option for each memory timing allows tuners to change only the timings they're familiar with. Setting an XMP profile on the previous menu causes each Auto timing to change from its original SPD to the corresponding XMP value.

Gigabyte’s Advanced Voltage Settings menu appears to be its biggest step toward inflating menu complexity. It merely contains three sub-submenu links.

Advanced Voltage Control is the one menu in Gigabyte’s UEFI structure with enough settings to justify its extra page. Of these, we found setting Vcore Loadline Calibration to High kept our CPU voltage stable under changing loads.

While CPU and DRAM voltage levels could have been incorporated into the CPU and DRAM settings menus, Gigabyte could have satisfied our drive for simplicity by at least combining these into one extra page rather than two. The Vcore setting is fairly accurate for low-load conditions, and Loadline Calibration can be used to keep voltage stable at higher CPU loads.

After experiencing some extremely good two-DIMM memory overclocks, we stuck a voltage meter on the board and found that the actual voltage is 0.03 V higher than both the settings and readings from the board. That is to say, setting 1.62 V got us our desired 1.65 V, even though both the firmware and Gigabyte’s monitoring utility reported 1.62 V.

Up to eight custom UEFI configurations can be stored as user profiles on the Z77X-D3H.

22. Intel DZ77SL-50K

Intel’s latest effort to establish itself as an enthusiast-oriented motherboard vendor comes from the amazingly low-priced DZ77SL-50K. The company knows that its customers don’t expect big features at this price, so it instead aims for budget-oriented enthusiasts with its reputation for stability and an overall clean aesthetic.

Intel’s famous Back to BIOS button is missing from this particular model, though overclockers will still find the setup jumper on the board’s top. Enabling it allows the motherboard to bypass current settings and boot using defaults, whereby users can enter UEFI, see the settings that prevented their system from starting up, and make any needed changes.

The scarcity of add-in features could have also made this a great board for white-box builders, except for its lack of DVI and VGA ports. The solder points for several of the board’s omitted features are easily seen in the above photo, while the below photo also shows the omitted serial and parallel ports used almost exclusively in commercial and industrial environments. We wouldn’t be surprised to see multiple variations of this PCB bearing different model names.

The DZ77SL-50K is one of only two products in today’s round-up expressly designed not to support high-bandwidth dual-card graphics arrays, as the cost of the associated PCIe switches would have prevented this from being the least-expensive product reviewed. Instead, we find an open-ended second-gen PCIe x4 slot, which supports the added length of a secondary PCIe x16 graphics card through that slotted end. The bandwidth may not be appropriate for games, but you could drop a secondary card in to add more monitor outputs.

Although it seems to be missing two SATA 3Gb/s ports from the Z77 chipset’s controller, those ports were simply moved: one to the I/O panel (eSATA) and the other to an outward-facing port located slightly behind the front-facing SATA 3Gb/s ports. That single outward-facing port could potentially be blocked by a long graphics card in the x4 slot, but we don’t think any experienced builder would put a big graphics card in such a low-bandwidth slot.

The same can be said of the internal USB 3.0 header, since it’s found between the PCIe x4 and first PCI slot. This could potentially be blocked by a single-slot graphics card, however, so we think that Intel could have thought that placement out a little better.

Some users trying to upgrade older systems will find the bottom-rear corner header for front-panel audio to be beyond the reach of their cables, and others may find that an older case's lower drive cage blocks access to the forward-facing SATA ports. But both issues were addressed a long ago by most chassis manufacturers and shouldn't be a problem for new builds.

Intel proves its environmental commitment by including only a basic installation sheet in the DZ77SL-50K kit, relying on the bundled software disc to hold the full-length manual. There definitely aren't any resources wasted on unneeded cables either, since the two included are required by most users to install one hard drive and one optical drive.

23. DZ77SL-50K Applications

Intel includes a significant software bundle with the DZ77SL-50K, though much of it is trialware. That applies to both its ESET and Norton security suites.

Laplink’s PC Mover is also included, which appears to be a great way to migrate applications. This version is unfortunately limited to three program transfers, and warns that even those three might not work. We recommend searching your favorite apps for compatibility with this program before bothering to try it.

On the other hand, Splashtop Remote Desktop really does work (at least on other people’s hardware). It enables enhanced remote desktop capabilities from portable devices, and the software looks promising (in other people's videos). Locked in an office with only his work, this editor doesn’t have any portable devices (Ed.: Sad face).

Going beyond its manufacturing partner’s splash screen apps, Intel Integrator Tool Kit offers the level of firmware customization needed to make every builder a baby Dell. Unfortunately, none of its recent firmware files had the proper extension to work with this program.

Our criticism of Gigabyte’s monitoring menu sprawl appears harsh in retrospect. Intel Desktop Utilities provides all of the hardware information we would want, but we’re fairly certain that the firm could have picked a more compact way to display it.

A spread-out selection of system status menus wouldn’t matter to many users if it didn’t also come with an equally-excessive alarm settings group.

We have not yet mentioned Virtu MVP software in our coverage of other boards because we thought it was universal across the full range of enthusiast-oriented Z77 motherboards. Intel's DZ77SL-50K instead includes Virtu Universal, without the HyperFormance mode available in MVP.

24. Overclocking With Intel Extreme Tuning Utility

Intel doesn’t seem to want you to use its Extreme Tuning Utility. How else could we explain why it isn’t mentioned in the motherboard’s software suite, or referred to on the motherboard’s product page? How else could we explain why it isn’t even listed as compatible for recent motherboards, or that motherboards are only added to its list after they’ve fallen out of our spotlight?

XTU is likely intended for “in the know” overclocking exhibitionists and members of the press who usually get their hardware long before our round-ups are published. Most end-users are forced to search for it, and the lack of references to the name makes that search even more difficult.

XTU’s system information tab provides basic information about your software and hardware configuration, but lacks most of the status readings found in its Desktop Utilities application. The pair might be complementary.

Manual Tuning controls primarily focus on increasing the power ceiling for overcurrent protection, with voltage increases limited to Additional Turbo Voltage. We're showing everything maxed out, but the only part of the program we really used was its base clock controls. We’ll discuss the reason for this on the next page.

Intel has its own stress-testing program, which many professional-level overclockers use to prove that their systems are stable.

As in the UEFI, a complete set of XTU values can be saved as an overclocking profile.

25. DZ77SL-50K UEFI

Intel’s newest UEFI opening screen reads “Welcome to the Future of BIOS.” That ambitious-sounding statement accompanies menus that primarily focus on pre-programmed overclocking techniques.

Fortunately, a small tab on the top of the above menu switches us to Classic Mode, where we can cover all of the important manual overclock settings within a few pages.

Though it's now more colorful and sports spiffier icons compared to Intel’s previous UEFI, the Performance tab of Classic mode still provides only a few overclock settings, of which Host Clock Frequency is primary.

Even after disabling low power states and setting Processor Idle State to “High”, our CPU would idle down when not loaded. Full load voltage was our biggest problem, though, as the shift from partial to full load caused a voltage spike of around 50 mV, even with Processor VR Droop Control set to “High V-droop”. Things got even worse at lower Vdroop modes, forcing us to use the 1.205 V setting to reach our 1.25V full-load goal.

Our maximum stable CPU clock dropped to 4.64 GHz. Less than 2% behind today’s leader, the compromise appears barely worth mentioning in spite of the time we wasted trying to overcome it.

Intel doesn’t offer automatic settings for individual timings, but gives us the same benefits in a different way. Switching from Auto to Manual modes causes the board to retain SPD values, while switching from an XMP profile to Manual modes causes the board to retain those XMP timings. This allowed us to adjust the memory’s data rate without taking time to manually configure XMP values, though the maximum multiplier supported by this board (DDR3-2400) is actually lower than our memory’s DDR3-2666 rating.

Up to five custom UEFI configurations can be saved as user profiles on the DZ77SL-50K.

26. MSI Z77A-G45

Two enormous voltage regulator heat sinks, three graphics card slots, and an I/O panel full of connectors are perfect examples of how MSI sees its Z77A-G45 taking back the value crown from a certain similarly-priced competitor. Aesthetics aside, we’ll put those big sinks to use in our heat and overclocking analysis.

Those three long slots are configured as x16-x0-x4 or x8-x8-x4, with the four-lane slot deriving its connectivity from the Z77 PCH. That actually makes this a two-way SLI motherboard, according to both its slot configuration and its silk-screened logo, with the top two slots sharing the CPU’s sixteen PCIe 3.0 lanes. Three-way CrossFireX is available via the third slot, but we wouldn’t hamper any high-end card with so little bandwidth. These slots put the Z77A-G45’s graphics capability on-par with the more-expensive Gigabyte and ECS products in today’s comparison.

The biggest problem with the slots is not configuration, but documentation. MSI refers to the Z77A-G45 as three-way SLI-compatible, but Nvidia doesn’t support a third card through the slower four-lane, second-gen slot. And the documentation foibles don’t end there, as both the manual and specifications page try to convince us that both slots are 16-lane-capable. Four two-lane pathway switches above the top x16 slot let us know otherwise, and we think (or at least hope) that these documentation mistakes were accidental.

MSI saves one of the Z77’s PCIe 2.0 lanes by omitting the PCIe-to-PCI bridge needed by certain competing boards to support legacy slots, and then uses it on a PCIe-based network controller. Only three PCIe 2.0 lanes remain to feed four x1 slots, so MSI decided to connect both of the center x1 slots to the same pathway. These can’t be used simultaneously. Appearing to be a blatant move to artificially bolster the board’s spec sheet, we think MSI should have simply left off the x1 slot immediately below the top x16 interface. The GPU coolers of most high-performance graphics cards cover that slot anyway.

MSI doesn’t include a Port 80 diagnostics display to assist overclocking diagnostics, but does add a row of voltage checking points near the board’s front edge to address an overclocker’s voltage monitoring needs.

The Z77A-G45’s layout is fairly straightforward without any major issues to affect a majority of new builds. Users upgrading older systems may find that their hard drive cage blocks access to the board’s forward-facing SATA and USB 3.0 slots, or even that their front-panel audio cables are too short to reach the bottom-rear corner header. If either of these appear in doubt, we recommend starting your upgrade with a better case.

The Z77A-G45 we received was packaged for a different region, without the SLI bridge we would have expected. A quick check with one of our favorite vendors showed that U.S.-destined boards do get that part, but are still limited to two SATA cables.

27. Z77A-G45 Applications

MSI has shifted more of its attention to freeware and trial software in the Z77A-G45. The company still has a few applications of its own, however, though a few of them simply replicate Windows features.

For example, MSI Easy Viewer and Video Genie are very basic photo viewing and gamma-correcting apps. They’re redundant to our system’s basic operating system and driver features.

Live Update 5 is slightly more useful, as it can be set to automatically locate driver and BIOS updates. Selecting the “Total Installer” button allows manually-checked updates to be downloaded and installed semi-automatically.

MSI Network Genie provides very basic packet prioritization control. The simplified menu is probably more than most users need, but we have a feeling that those who like it may eventually begin searching for additional features.

MSI spent a bunch of time marketing “Click BIOS II”, a Windows-based program that replicates its firmware menu. It’s unfortunately very slow to respond when used with this version of the Z77A-G45 firmware. It changes firmware settings and, like firmware, requires a reboot to affect those changes.

MSI uses the same THX TruStudio Pro package as Biostar, with the same range of benefits.

While Intel scales back it’s Lucidlogix software to the Virtu Universal package, MSI doesn’t offer it at all. Though it is on the installation disk, Virtu MVP installs only in trial mode and can’t be registered.

28. Overclocking With MSI Control Center

Unlike its Click BIOS II for Windows, MSI’s Control Center allows users to change multiple settings on the fly. We were able to verify that voltage, base clock, CPU multiplier, and memory timing controls operate as they should.

We did need to reboot the system once to activate real-time CPU multiplier controls, but that’s likely because a setting had to be changed at the firmware level. The program worked flawlessly after that.

Intel uses various Turbo Boost ratios to maximize CPU performance within a certain power threshold, yet overclockers can sometimes benefit from similar multiplier schemes to stay within a peak thermal threshold. We’re interested in maximum stable clock (best-case scenario) at maximum possible load (worst-case scenario), so a single multiplier is better for our tests.

We were also able to set memory timings on-the-fly, but only after changing from per-channel timings (Channel A or Channel B) to all-channel timings (Channel AB) at the top of the above menu.

MSI Control Center has an OC Genie automatic overclocking program, which is supposed to achieve an optimized overclock. The program appears optimized for efficiency, though, only pushing our CPU to 4.20 GHz at 1.10 V. It also chose our slower memory’s DDR3-2133 XMP profile.

Though Control Center also has a Green Power page, fan speed was the only thing we were able to set.

29. Z77A-G45 UEFI

MSI’s UEFI hasn’t changed noticeably in the past year, still placing the greatest visual priority on the system clock and the least visual priority on truly useful settings. Fortunately, the array of available settings is plentiful.

Base clock and CPU multiplier controls top the Z77A-G45’s OC menu. We were able to reach 4.65 GHz at our target 1.25 V when pairing these settings with a Vdroop Offset Control of 100%.

Unfortunately, we found that set voltage levels weren’t accurate whatsoever, requiring 1.235 V CPU core and 1.6330 V DIMM settings to reach our desired 1.25 V and 1.65 V. Using the 1.25 V setting with a lower Vdroop Offset Control simply allowed the CPU voltage to drop under load while remaining high at idle.

The Z77A-G45 allows the CPU multiplier to be raised as other features of Intel Turbo Boost technology are disabled.

Individual memory timings can be left in auto mode, while others are manually configured. MSI also allows XMP profiles to set the timings baseline by choosing the profile first, then manually altering other values (including memory ratio).

Up to six custom firmware configurations can be saved on the Z77A-G45 as overclocking profiles.

30. Benchmark Settings And Peripheral Compatibility Testing
Test System Configuration
CPUIntel Core i7-3770K (Ivy Bridge): 3.50 GHz, 8 MB Shared L3 Cache, LGA 1155
CPU CoolerThermalright MUX-120 w/Zalman ZM-STG1 Paste
RAMG.Skill F3-17600CL9Q-16GBXLD (16 GB)
DDR3-2200 at DDR3-1600 CAS 9, 1.60 V
GraphicsNvidia GeForce GTX 580 1.5 GB
772 MHz GPU, GDDR5-4008
Hard DriveSamsung 470 Series 256 GB, SATA 6Gb/s SSD 
SoundIntegrated HD Audio
NetworkIntegrated Gigabit Networking
PowerSeasonic X760 SS-760KM
ATX12V v2.3, EPS12V, 80 PLUS Gold
Software
OSMicrosoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64
GraphicsNvidia GeForce 296.10 WHQL
Virtu MVPVersion 2.1.114, GPU Virtualization, HyperFormance, No Virtual Vsync, where applicable
ChipsetIntel INF 9.3.0.1019


While G.Skill’s F3-17600CL9Q-16GBXLD provides the default DDR3-1600 CAS 9 settings we want for benchmarks, it’s no longer fast enough to push the limits of today’s best memory controllers. The firm provided a set of its F3-2666C11Q-16GTXD Trident X DDR3-2666 specifically to extend our overclocking capabilities.

We’re shifting focus towards features in this month’s comparison, and one of the features we noticed lacking was the ability of some manufacturers to support certain peripherals in firmware (or DOS mode). We purchased keyboards and mice from Microsoft and Logitech, plus a Saitek keyboard and Razer mouse, to verify this problem.

The good news is that ASRock, Asus, and MSI supported all combinations of hardware through both Windows and UEFI, which is important when certain UEFI features are accessible only via mouse.

This version of Gigabyte’s Z77X-D3H firmware didn’t fare as well, with the Razer mouse moving very slowly and clicking inconsistently. It was possible to use it for UEFI configuration, but doing so took much patience.

Biostar’s TZ77XE3 had trouble with the Logitech mouse; the cursor would move vertically, but not horizontally.

ECS and Intel exhibited both problems, with the Razer mouse movement becoming so unpredictable that sometimes the cursor moved backwards. The issue was somewhat amusing on the Intel platform, since this problem occurred only after we updated its UEFI.

The reason for the DZ77SL-50K’s regressive compatibility is that we were forced to go backwards with its firmware. Our rules for participation specifically stated that all firmware must be available for public download, and the version Intel delivered on its sample was not. This rule was intended to prevent cheating, as some of its manufacturing partners have accused each other of optimizing firmware for specific review configurations.

Benchmark Configuration
3DMark 11Version 1.0.1.0, Benchmark Test Only, Virtu MVP Enabled
Entry, Performance, and Extreme Presets
PCMark 7Version 1.0.4, PCMark, Productivity, Storage Suites
Intel SATA Driver, Intel RST Monitor Installed
SiSoftware SandraVersion 2011.10.17.80
CPU Arithmetic, Multi-Media, Memory Bandwidth benchmarks


When testing products of different technology, a real-world benchmark set helps us determine real-world performance differences. Yet, today’s boards use the same technology, and synthetics are more useful for finding the cause of performance deficits. Performance parity between all properly-design Z77 motherboards has forced us to look for problems rather than solutions.

31. Benchmark Results: 3DMark 11

We thought that, all things being equal, 3DMark could show us whether any particular product was broken or artificially boosted. Unfortunately, equal hardware doesn’t always translate to equal performance. Two of the boards in today’s round-up didn’t include Lucidlogix's performance-boosting Virtu MVP software.

Besides giving the program additional resources through the processor’s integrated GPU, Virtu MVP adds a little more variability to the already slightly-inconsistent 3DMark scoring system. Yet, the trend is clear. 3DMark favors boards that use MVP technology.

The biggest performance boost for MVP software comes in 3DMark’s graphics test.

Performance deficits are what we really wanted to look for, since these boards are equipped with the same basic hardware. ECS’ Z77H2-A2X Deluxe appears to have slightly lower CPU performance, as reflected in 3DMark’s Physics score.

32. Benchmark Results: PCMark And Sandra

We’re still primarily looking for broken parts or artificially inflated scores (and hoping not to find any). PCMark shows the performance parity we expected.

Ocassionally, we find a company trying to beat the system by altering its base clock setting to operate beyond the 100 MHz specification. With a stock BCLK overclock of only 0.03%, Asus’s P8Z77-V LX finds itself atop Sandra’s CPU Arithmetic chart.

Asus’ tiny lead continues through Sandra's Multi-Media module.

ECS falls to the bottom of an otherwise-mundane Sandra Memory Bandwidth chart, while Biostar, Gigabyte, and Asus pick up a few nanoseconds in its Memory Latency tests. Tighter default timings can lead to lower DRAM overclocks, so we’re interested to see how these three boards fare in our overclocking evaluation.

33. Power, Heat, And Efficiency

ECS might claim that its $160 board has the most features, but that still doesn’t excuse a full-load power increase so large. We’d expect no more than a few watts of difference, similar to what we see between Asus and Intel at the miserly end of the scale.

Those huge heat sinks that MSI uses to make its Z77A-G45 looks like a top overclocker do have real functionality, dropping its voltage regulator temperature by around 10° compared to Asus' uncovered P8Z77-V LX.

Gigabyte, Asus, and Biostar top our average performance chart, which should help to boost each vendor's efficiency scores.

High performance and low power consumption put Asus' reduced-feature P8Z77-V LX at the top of our efficiency charts. Biostar’s similarly-barren board takes second place.

34. Overclocking
BIOS Frequency and Voltage settings (for overclocking)
 ASRock
Z77 Extreme4
Asus
P8Z77-V LX
Biostar
TZ77XE3
CPU Base Clock95-150 MHz (1 MHz)80-300 MHz (0.1 MHz)95-300 MHz (0.01 MHz)
CPU MultiplierUp to 63xUp to 63xUp to 63x
DRAM Data Rates1066-2800  (200, 266.6 MHz)800-3200  (200, 266.6 MHz)1066-2800  (200, 266.6 MHz)
CPU Vcore0.60-1.70 V (5 mV)0.80-1.99 V (5 mV)1.00-1.79 V (10 mV)
VTT Voltage0.77-1.63 V (10 mV) 1.05-1.70 V (12.5 mV)
VCCSA Voltage0.93, 1.02, 1.11, 1.20 V 0.74-1.69 V (5 mV)0.90-1.70 V (12.5 mV)
PCH Voltage0.78-1.65 V (9.3 mV)0.74-1.69 V (5 mV)1.05 V +0 to +15% (5%)
DRAM Voltage1.17-1.80 V (5 mV)1.19-2.14 V (5 mV)1.30-2.11 V (12 mV)
CAS Latency4-15 Cycles1-15 Cycles4-15 Cycles
tRCD3-15 Cycles1-15 Cycles3-15 Cycles
tRP3-15 Cycles1-15 Cycles3-15 Cycles
tRAS9-63 Cycles1-255 Cycles9-63 Cycles
BIOS Frequency and Voltage settings (for overclocking)
 ECS
Z77H2-A2X Deluxe
Gigabyte
Z77X-D3H
Intel
DZ77SL-50K
MSI
Z77A-G45
CPU Base Clock99-150 MHz (1 MHz)80-133.33 MHz (0.01 MHz)100-300 MHz (1 MHz)0-655 MHz (0.1 MHz)
CPU MultiplierUp to 59xUp to 63xUp to 255xUp to 63x
DRAM Data Rates1066-2800 (200, 266.6 MHz)800-3200 (200, 266.6 MHz)1066-2400 (266.6 MHz)800-2933 (200, 266.6 MHz)
CPU Vcore1.00-1.50 V (25 mV)0.80-1.90 V (5 mV)1.00-1.92 V (5 mV)0.81-1.52 V (5 mV)
VTT Voltage+0 to +0.63 V (10 mV)0.80-1.70 V (5 mV)1.00-1.80 V (5 mV)0.95-1.55 V (10 mV)
VCCSA Voltage+0 to +0.63 V (10 mV)0.72-1.40 V (5 mV)0.85-1.75 V (5 mV)0.87-1.51 V (10 mV)
PCH Voltage+0 to +0.63 V (10 mV)Not Adjustable1.00-1.50 V (12.5 mV)0.78-1.73 V (5.5 mV)
DRAM Voltage+0 to +0.63 V (10 mV)1.10-2.10 V (5 mV)1.20-1.80 V (50 mV)1.11-2.47 V (7.25 mV)
CAS Latency4-15 Cycles5-15 Cycles2-255 Cycles5-15 Cycles
tRCD3-15 Cycles4-15 Cycles2-255 Cycles4-15 Cycles
tRP3-15 Cycles4-15 Cycles2-255 Cycles4-15 Cycles
tRAS9-63 Cycles5-63 Cycles5-65535 Cycles10-40 Cycles


In spite of cooling differences, Asus’ hot-running P8Z77-V LX tops our CPU overclocking chart, while MSI’s cold-blooded Z77-G45 falls to the bottom.

Gigabyte’s Z77X-D3H takes the lead in base clock, accomplishing the highest reference frequency this processor has ever seen! This astonishing feat should be most significant to builders who can’t afford one of Intel’s unlocked K-series processors.

Intel uses 21.33x as its highest memory multiplier, and doing so leaves the DZ77SL-50K stuck with sub-2200 MT/s data rates. ASRock and Asus are on par, with MSI only slightly behind.

35. Three Sub-$160 Motherboards Rise To The Top

Asus and Gigabyte both notified us that they didn't feel our previous round-up’s price-per-performance chart properly reflected the cost of value-added features, a fact that had already been noted in that round-up. Rather than use the same chart as our starting point today, we are choosing to use actual prices, and then figure out whether each step up in functionality is worth paying more money.

Our chart begins with Intel’s DZ77SL-50K, which beats Asus’ P8Z77-V LX in only one area: the heat sink covering the primary part of its voltage regulator. Asus gives us VGA and DVI ports, an optical audio connector, and Lucid Virtu MVP software, so both boards are close to comparable when it comes to features-per-dollar. Asus rises to the top, though, because of its superior overclocking capability.

But Asus can't stand up to Biostar so easily. For the same price, the TZ77XE3 delivers real SLI support, a low-performance third graphics slot that’s as fast as Asus’ second slot, heat sinks on both sides of its voltage regulator, a Port 80 diagnostics display for easier overclocking diagnostics, twice as many analog audio outputs, and the full TruStudio Pro audio software suite. The TZ77XE3 doesn’t overclock as well as the P8Z77-V LX, but it’s close.

For another $5, ASRock’s Z77 Extreme4 adds an extra pair of USB 3.0 ports and an extra pair of SATA 6Gb/s connectors. It does not support a third graphics card, but the chipset these boards use can’t do that properly anyway. We can’t concede value leadership to ASRock’s extra controllers though, because the board also gives up the TruStudio Pro suite that’s probably about as valuable as one of those two extra on-board chips. That makes the Z77 Extreme4 a value match to the TZ77XE3, with user preference determining the true winner.

MSI’s Z77A-G45 comes with huge heat sinks that enable the low voltage regulator temperatures we crave. But looking past that slight thermal advantage, the board is otherwise equipped similarly to the TZ77XE3. MSI gives up the Port 80 diagnostics display, but gives back a row of handy voltage detection points along the board’s front edge. Showing similar worth from the hardware side, MSI’s $10 higher price makes the value argument much more difficult. And that’s before we consider that the board doesn’t include Virtu MVP software to make better use of Intel’s integrated GPUs.

Climbing the budget ladder another $5, Gigabyte’s Z77X-D3H needs to prove that it’s worth $15 more than Biostar’s TZ77XE3. For that price difference we get four extra USB 3.0 ports plus a pair of added SATA 3Gb/s ports. Those four 5 Gb/s ports have to share a single 5 Gb/s pathway (if they're all being taxed at the same time), so we’re a little split on the amount of added value. Gigabyte also loses the Port 80 display, gains a handy mSATA interface that takes away one of the SATA ports, keeps Virtu MVP, but loses TruStudio Pro. Gigabyte’s firmware and EasyTune6 overclocking software are also easier to use than Biostar’s. This combination only puts the $145 Z77X-D3H on par with the $130 TZ77XE3’s value, however, so we still can't pick a winner.

All of these comparisons put ECS’ $160 Z77H2-A2X Deluxe in a tough fight for value leadership, since its feature set resembles that of the $135 Z77 Extreme4.

Consequently, our seven-way Z77 Express-based motherboard comparison ends in a three-way value tie between the Biostar TZ77XE3, ASRock Z77 Extreme4, and Gigabyte Z77X-D3H. None of the three boards earn a definitive victory, so they receive our Tom's Hardware Approved award, indicating superiority over the rest of today's field.