Comprising its Ivy Bridge-based processors and Panther Point (Z77 Express) chipset components, Intel’s Maho Bay platform is one of the firm's worst-kept secrets. So much has been leaked ahead of today’s launch that the best any publisher can do is to validate known or suspected information.

Of course, we've been privy to the same information scattered about the Web for months now, including internal documents that say Intel’s Z77 Express is basically an updated and die-shrunken Z68 Express. Among the updates applied, an integrated USB 3.0 controller has perhaps the biggest impact on manufacturing costs and motherboard design. Four internally-accessible USB 3.0 ports can easily replace two of the third-party controllers found on most Z68 products.
Between the die shrink and integration of USB 3.0, we're even hoping for a modest drop in power consumption, most easily quantifiable in businesses with large groups of PCs to manage. And speaking of management, upgrades from Intel’s Management Engine 7.0 and Rapid Storage Technology 10.5 to versions 8.0 and 11.0, respectively, add features for remote system and data management.

Getting past the parts that make performance enthusiasts yawn, one big advantage for many Z77 motherboards comes not from Intel but Lucidlogix. Packed exclusively with new boards, the firm’s Virtu MVP software promises improved gaming performance for any graphics card. That probably sounds a little far-fetched to most enthusiasts, so we’re taking the extra time to examine it.
Lucidlogix Virtu software is famed for its ability to combine the performance of Intel's Quick Sync media encode/decode capabilities with a 3D-performance boosting add-in GPU. When its I-mode configuration, which saw all display output run through processor graphics to cut power consumption from the discrete GPU, resulted in small performance and game compatibility issues, the firm added D-mode to let the graphics card operate natively. And all was well in the world of gamers with a penchant for converting their favorite video files to more easily digestible sizes and formats.

MVP retains the familiar Virtu GPU-tasking capabilities, while adding a couple 3D features: Virtual Vsync to reduce screen tearing and HyperFormance to increase frame rates.

Screen tearing is a phenomenon where more than one frame is displayed within a single draw on the screen. Traditional v-sync addresses this by aligning each frame’s output to a single draw cycle, reducing the maximum frames per second to the refresh rate of the monitor (typically 60 Hz). All frames are first completed by the GPU, and those that aren’t synchronous to the display refresh are removed from the output after completion. A frame must be displayed multiple times whenever the GPU’s output capability drops below 60 FPS, resulting in stuttering.
Virtual Vsync attempts to accomplish a similar task without the 60 FPS cap by analyzing rendering time, then instructing the GPU not to start the process on frames that might be later dropped. Preemptive frame elimination reassigns the rendering time that would have been spent on a dropped frame to the next frame, theoretically reducing stuttering. Yet, because this isn’t actual v-sync, it’s still possible to send two frames in a single refresh cycle, and the monitor only displays the first, resulting in an image that appears synced at 60 FPS, even though an app like Fraps will report performance greater than 60 FPS. In fact, this is the test scenario Lucidlogix prefers, reminding us that games that run slower than 60 FPS won't see any benefit from Virtual Vsync.
HyperFormance goes a little further than Virtual Vsync by attempting to preemptively remove any frames that wouldn’t be finished before the next frame is scheduled, again reassigning that rendering time to the next frame. Ideally, average FPS should be increased since partial frames don't tie up rendering resources. The only potential problem with this technology is game compatibility.

While the majority of games are HyperFormance-capable, a few notable exceptions include Battlefield 3 and Metro 2033. HyperFormance can still be enabled in those unvalidated titles by checking the “H” column box next to the game in Virtu MVP Control Panel.
| Test System Configuration | |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i7-2600K (Sandy Bridge): 3.40 GHz, 8 MB Shared L3 Cache, LGA 1155 |
| CPU Cooler | Thermalright MUX-120 w/Zalman ZM-STG1 Paste |
| Z77 Motherboard | MSI Z77A-GD65: Intel Z77 Express, BIOS V10.2 (02-27-2012) |
| Z68 Motherboard | MSI Z68A-GD80: Intel Z68 Express, BIOS V18.8 (01/16/2012) |
| RAM | G.Skill F3-17600CL9Q-16GBXLD (16 GB), DDR3-2200 at DDR3-1600 CAS 9, 1.60 V |
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce GTX 580 1.5 GB 772 MHz GPU, GDDR5-4008 |
| Main Hard Drive | Samsung 470 Series 256 GB, SATA 6Gb/s SSD |
| 2nd Hard Drive | Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 240 GB, SATA 6Gb/s SSD |
| Sound | Integrated HD Audio |
| Network | Integrated Gigabit Networking |
| Power | Seasonic X760 SS-760KM, ATX12V v2.3, EPS12V, 80 PLUS Gold |
| Software | |
| OS | Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64 |
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce 295.73 WHQL |
| Virtu MVP Version | 2.1.110 |
| Lucid Virtu Version | 1.2.103 |
| Chipset | Intel INF 9.3.0.1019 |
MSI sent its Z77A-GD65 for a preview a while back, but hardware issues prevented us from using it in a timely manner. Its replacement returns for today’s launch article.

Mushkin’s Chronos Deluxe hasn’t made it into our reference system yet, but it’s more than fast enough to test Intel’s new USB 3.0 controller.

Carried over from our 2010 pocket enclosure round-up, the ASMedia ASM1051 controller of Bytecc’s HD6-SU3 provides a necessary conversion to USB 3.0 for our controller test.

We mentioned a hardware issue that prevented the publication of our preview. That issue was the failure of our old and frequently-tortured Core i7-2600k CPU. ASRock helped us out (and indirectly, its competitor) by sending a replacement. It took a second CPU failure to determine that the motherboard was damaged, so MSI replaced both the motherboard and the second processor.
| Benchmark Configuration | |
|---|---|
| 3D Games | |
| Battlefield 3 | Campaign Mode, "Going Hunting" 90-Seconds Fraps Test Set 1: Medium Quality Defaults (No AA, 4x AF) Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Defaults (4x AA, 16x AF) |
| DiRT 3 | V1.01, Run with -benchmark example_benchmark.xml Test Set 1: High Quality Preset, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 8x AA |
| Metro 2033 | Full Game, Built-In Benchmark, "Frontline" Scene Test Set 1: DX11, High, AAA, 4x AF, No PhysX, No DoF Test Set 2: DX11, Very High, 4x AA, 16x AF, No PhysX, DoF On |
| Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | Update 1.4.27, Celedon Aethirborn Level 6, 25 Seconds Fraps Test Set 1: DX11, High Detail Defaults (8x AA, 8x AF) Test Set 2: DX11, Ultra Detail Defaults (8x AA, 16x AF) |
| Audio/Video Encoding | |
| iTunes | Version 10.4.1.10 x64: Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minutes, default AAC format |
| Lame MP3 | Version 3.98.3: Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min, convert WAV to MP3 audio format, Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kb/s) |
| MediaEspresso 6.5 | Version 6.5.1210_33281: 1080i HDTV (449MB) to iPad H.264, 1024x768 |
| MediaConverter 7 | Version7.1.0.68: 1080i HDTV (449MB) to iPad, SmartFit profile |
| HandBrake CLI | Version 0.95: "Big Buck Bunny" (720x480, 23.972 FPS) 5 Minutes, Audio: Dolby Digital, 48000 Hz, Six-Channel, English, to Video: AVC Audio: AC3 Audio2: AAC (High Profile) |
| MainConcept Reference | Version: 2.2.0.5440: MPEG-2 to H.264, MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2), Audio: MPEG-2 (44.1 kHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s), Codec: H.264 Pro, Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS), Profile: H.264 BD HDMV |
| Productivity | |
| Adobe Photoshop CS5 | Version 12.1 x64: Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image: Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates |
| Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 | Version 14.0 x64: Space Flyby Mentalray, 248 Frames, 1440x1080 |
| WinZip | Version 15.5 Pro: THG-Workload (464 MB) to ZIP, command line switches "-a -ez -p -r" |
| WinRAR | Version 4.1: THG-Workload (464 MB) to RAR, command line switches "winrar a -r -m3" |
| 7-Zip | Version 9.22: THG-Workload (464 MB) to .7z, command line switches "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5" |
| ABBYY FineReader | Version 10.0.102.82: Read PDF save to Doc, Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages |
Our first gaming test simply looks for any performance improvement in the Z77 chipset, along with any CPU overhead of Intel's integrated GPU with Quick Sync-enabling Lucidlogix GPU Virtualization.
The GeForce GTX 580 renders natively for this first set tests. Virtual Vsync and HyperFormance will be separately tested later in this article.








As expected, we see little to no gaming performance difference between the Z77 and Z68. CPU-bottlenecked settings are still bound by the CPU, and both versions of Virtu affect the results very little.
Because we saw no penalty associated with running Virtu in our game tests, we expect steady performance in most applications as well.
Yet, Virtu also enables Intel Quick Sync on our GeForce GTX 580-equipped platform, so we’re expecting a big boost in transcode applications written to exploit Intel's Media SDK.







Unfortunately, the only Quick Sync-enabled applications we have are Cyberlink MediaEspresso and Arcsoft MediaConverter. Both apps enjoy a significant speed-up compared to what Nvidia's GeForce GTX 580 could do natively with CUDA.
When it comes to power-saving improvements, a smaller manufacturing process giveth, while an integrated USB 3.0 controller taketh away. Fortunately, because Z77 eliminates the Z68 platform's two on-board, third-party USB 3.0 controllers, it manages to achieve a 3-5 W advantage.


Both motherboards also present similar temperatures, though heat sink design has a greater influence than wattage on this chart.

Intel's Quick Sync nearly doubles our transcode performance, in turn boosting the average performance of this encoding suite by roughly 25%.

Lower power consumption gives the Z77 platform a statistically significant efficiency lead over Z68, though the difference on the power bill of a single user might not be noticeable.
MSI was anxious to see how Intel's new platform improved enthusiast overclocking potential. Unfortunately, Panther Point is only half of the Maho Bay platform, and until the Ivy Bridge embargo expires later this month, we're stuck using the same Sandy Bridge-based chips for our tuning exploits.



Now that the memory controller is on the CPU of every Intel platform, voltage stability and trace routing improvements are the only methods motherboard manufacturers can use to improve overclocking. Our CPU overclocks almost identically on both MSI-based motherboards, regardless of whether we're tuning the processor's cores or memory controller.
We’re told that 3DMark is one of the best examples for illustrating the improvement available through Virtu MVP’s HyperFormance mode. We'll move beyond this synthetic metric on the next page. But for now, let's see how the numbers evolve.




Consistent performance in 3DMark’s Physics test proves that Virtu MVP is responsible for little if any CPU overhead. Minimal losses for Virtual Vsync mode are more than overcome by HyperFormance, and combining the two technologies appears to create an optimal 3DMark viewing experience.
We never let manufacturer recommendations influence our game selection. After all, you don't pick the games you play based on the platform's capabilities. It's the other way around. You expect your platform to work with the games you play.
The immensely popular Battlefield 3, for example, is on Lucidlogix’s list of non-validated games. We can say, however, that Virtu MVP version 2.1.110 worked fairly well with it. Unfortunately, newer builds of Virtu MVP prevented the game from running at all.


Virtu MVP imparts a Battlefield 3 performance penalty at 2560x1600, regardless of which technologies are enabled. Naturally, you wouldn't want to use Virtual Vsync at that setting, though, since the frame rate already falls below 60 FPS. HyperFormance provides a big boost in average FPS at other resolutions, though we couldn’t find a cause for the anomalous results at 1280x720.


HyperFormance did not work at all in DiRT 3. Enabling it caused an error report in Virtu MVP, and ignoring the error caused the application to crash and burn to the point that reinstallation was required. Yet, if all you want is the elimination of tearing, you can use Virtual Vsync with little performance loss.




HyperFormance holds little to no performance benefit for Metro 2033 and Skyrim, other than to offset the performance lost to Virtual Vsync. Both games have it disabled by default, and Metro 2033 shows strange artifacts when the technology is “forced”.

Although Intel’s Z77 Express offers minor power reductions and management software updates, integrated USB 3.0 and the inclusion of Virtu MVP are the best reasons for users to care. But didn’t we miss something?
In a side-by-side comparison of third-party PCIe based and integrated Intel USB 3.0 controllers, we found that our drive’s ASM1051 adapter was the bottleneck. That means we’re going to need new test hardware before we add Intel’s USB 3.0 controller to our next controller comparison.
By moving USB 3.0 onto the chipset without reducing the number of available PCIe 2.0 lanes, Z77 allows manufacturers to stuff more devices onto their boards at lower cost. In many instances, this means they can even avoid expensive multi-lane PCIe bridges to bring us enthusiast-class features at mainstream prices. While we probably wouldn’t spend the money to upgrade from Z68, new system builders have nothing to lose and a few small things to gain by choosing a motherboard with Intel’s latest mainstream platform controller hub.

