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.
- Seven Affordable Z77 Express-Based Motherboards Get Dissected
- ASRock Z77 Extreme4
- Z77 Extreme4 Applications
- Overclocking With ASRock Extreme Tuning Utility
- Z77 Extreme4 UEFI
- Asus P8Z77-V LX
- P8Z77-V LX Applications
- Overclocking With Asus TurboV
- P8Z77-V LX UEFI
- Biostar TZ77XE3
- TZ77XE3 Applications
- Overclocking With Biostar Toverclocker
- TZ77XE3 UEFI
- ECS Z77H2-A2X Deluxe
- Z77H2-A2X Deluxe Applications
- Overclocking With ECS eOC
- Z77H2-A2X Deluxe UEFI
- Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H
- Z77X-D3H Applications
- Overclocking With Easy Tune6
- Z77X-D3H UEFI
- Intel DZ77SL-50K
- DZ77SL-50K Applications
- Overclocking With Intel Extreme Tuning Utility
- DZ77SL-50K UEFI
- MSI Z77A-G45
- Z77A-G45 Applications
- Overclocking With MSI Control Center
- Z77A-G45 UEFI
- Benchmark Settings And Peripheral Compatibility Testing
- Benchmark Results: 3DMark 11
- Benchmark Results: PCMark And Sandra
- Power, Heat, And Efficiency
- Overclocking
- Three Sub-$160 Motherboards Rise To The Top


The things that actually get screwed-up are typically related to the clock generator, multiplier control, memory timings and power options.
Nice review.
You're kidding - Biostar. I guess this article is not about the 'Best Sub-$160 Z77' MOBO's but about the best manufacturers sent you. The cheapest MOBO I recommend for the SB/IB (K) is the ASUS P8Z77-V which pops your 'unique' budget cap depending where you shop; found it here for $159.99 - http://www.gadgetneeds.net/asus-p8z77-v-atx-intel-motherboard/
Interesting you didn't get an ASUS P8Z77-V LK ~$120 which offers SLI. The ASRock Z77 Extreme4 and Gigabyte Z77X-D3H for the price aren't bad.
There's NO WAY I'm recommending Biostar in the forum, folks and myself would thing I've lost my mind.
Would really like to see how the UD3X Atheros Ethernet controller fares against the Intel and broadcom ones.
Thank you!
This is what differentiates them performance wise.
Also, I love the True Studio Pro software, if you are running digital audio it really makes any idea of a dedicated sound card a thing of the past. Every computer I build now either has True Studio Pro with the mobo, or I purchase the MB2 software suite, it makes such a difference if using headphones or quality speakers, and much less buggy that Creative's sound cards and driver issues that we all know and love.