ASRock Z77 Extreme6
ASRock’s $165 Z77 Extreme6 targets value seekers in the mid-range enthusiast market with three-way graphics capability, an extra USB 3.0 controller, an extra SATA 6Gb/s controller, a two-digit diagnostics display, and an I/O panel CLR_CMOS button to assist in recovery from failed overclock attempts.
Those extra controllers bring the total number of USB 3.0 ports to eight, and the total number of SATA 6Gb/s ports to four. One of the added SATA ports is still shared with the eSATA connector, however.
ASRock even adds mini-PCIe beneath the primary x16 slot to enable the addition of notebook-style adapters, such as internal Wi-Fi cards, which lay flat over its PCI-based VIA IEEE-1394 controller.
There’s no good way to host a third PCIe 3.0 graphics card on an LGA 1155 platforms, since only sixteen of these lanes are native to Ivy Bridge CPUs. The Z77 Extreme6 divides those lanes into x8/x8 mode whenever a card is detected in the second slot, relying on the Z77 PCH's slower PCIe 2.0 controller to drive the third slot at x4. That makes this primarily a two-way graphics design, so ASRock triple-spaces the two high-bandwidth slots to support extra airflow and/or extra-thick cards.
Complaining about a layout this clean could be difficult, with its well-placed USB 3.0 front-panel header, replaceable firmware ROM, forward-facing SATA ports and a downward-facing latch on its eight-pin CPU power connector. Yet, further inspection reveals small nags like a front-panel audio header located in the extreme lower-rear corner and the fact that this is a single-ROM motherboard in a primarily dual-ROM market. Amusing asides include floppy and serial port headers next to that audio connection.
The Z77 Extreme6 installation kit includes four SATA cables, a two-way SLI bridge, and ASRock’s USB 3.0-to-3.5” bay adapter with integrated 2.5” drive tray. The ports can be moved to the back of a case by instead attaching them to an included slot plate.
Great review! At the end of day, it comes down to brand loyalty.
do you mean nvidia and intel gets news during weekends not only news but featured articles?
There's a typo on the last page. It says X77H2-A2X instead of Z77H2-A2X
It's on the second to last paragraph...
I am surprised that you guys did not include the Asus z77-V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131820
why not with Pci-e 3.0?
Nice article thank you!
One thing i was looking for was the part about asrock not having true "digital" PWM and going with an analog PWM. Does this really matter?
Great review! At the end of day, it comes down to brand loyalty.
I don't think the article stated anything like that. It comes down to the features you want and the cards you plan to use. In the MSI vs ASRock debate, it's x8-x4-x4 with all three slots in PCIe 3.0 mode, or x8-x8-x4 with x4 in PCIe 2.0 mode, and you're definitely wiser to pick between them based on WHAT you plan to use in the third slot.
do you mean nvidia and intel gets news during weekends not only news but featured articles?
It's Monday here, and editorial has very little contact with news.
I am surprised that you guys did not include the Asus z77-Vhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131820
Tom's Hardware didn't "include" anything in the review. A couple boards were excluded based on price, and everything else was let in. The P8Z77-V Pro was the cheapest board Asus sent.
why not with Pci-e 3.0?
Editor had no PCIe 3.0 cards. And the reason he didn't get one yet is because it didn't matter. The only thing that really mattered in a single-GPU MOTHERBOARD comparison was to use the same card on all platforms.
One thing i was looking for was the part about asrock not having true "digital" PWM and going with an analog PWM. Does this really matter?
Some digital voltage regulators have been garbage, take a look at a few of the older reviews to see this. Very few have been very good. And many more analog voltage regulators have been garbage, while many more analog voltage regulators have been very good. Quality of execution is more important than the underlying technology.
UD3H seems to be an excellent value board.
would it be possible to review the asus z77 and gigabyte ud5h in a future review.
this review needs crossfire/sli results
Still no boot/post time comparison? With all performance scores being almost identical, I would have thought this could be a useful differentiator.
Is good a test with PCIE 3.0 video card to see if is a real benefit compare to PCIE 2.0.
z77 sabertooth wanted !
Thanks Thomas another Great Article! Don't like what I see, but I digress.
Something's gotta be pooched with the ASUS P8Z77-V Pro BIOS (UEFI) -- hopefully. In the past the ASUS Pro line has been the meat & potatoes for my recommendations, and this is not the only review with similar performance numbers.
Voltages, I am going to have a hard time recommending a vCore >1.2Xv, VCCSA and CPU VTT of 1.20v on the IB. I still need to see otherwise. From what I've seen the IB is more 'girlish' with voltages than the SB or SB-E, and there's little point having the fans spinning 'through' the case and creating high dBA with a high vCore. RAM (voltage), it goes back to my feelings that 1.50v DIMM was a bunch of Urban Myths especially since the SB-E and seemingly the IB can handle 1.65v DIMM RAM.
Yeah, I noticed the XMP tried to set 1.25v VCCSA, or at least the set is encoded that way. Further, I don't wan to debate the OC until I get my hands on an IB, it should be any day now.
Further, either the Engineers were dead wrong on the SB (1.50) or IB (1.65) they're wrong in both instances. I 'get' ultra fast kits (today) >DDR3-2133 e.g. DDR-2400 or faster are 1.65v kits, but only a few months ago IF 'I' recommended SB + 1.65v I'd have 20+ negative comments in the Forum. Seems counter intuitive step in DRAM voltage.
Also, I am assuming you're testing the IB ES and I wonder how much of an impact that has in that the CPUID are geared towards the Retail. I remember all of the E5 (ES) problems and drops in performance compared to the Retail sisters.
OC observation only, you seemed 'wimpish' with the SB-E compared to the IB - interesting?!
i don't understand why the mobo don't have all sata6 and usb 3.0? i mean they're backwards compatible. why even include the old stuff? why not have 8 sata 6 and 8 usb 3.0 with 0 sata 3 and 0 usb 3.0? :?
Good review, I read a similar review before i decided for MSI Z77A-GD65.
A chose this board as it has a better Audio Chipset then the Competitors. This board comes with ALC898, while the other ones come with ALC892. Apparently ALC898 is far better than ALC892.
So far i am quite happy with the board.
Just 1 note, if overclocking do not disable "Power technologies", it will prevent overclocking. If i disabled the power saving features 1 by 1 i had no problems.
like it good review!
Just curious as to what made you pick the GA-Z77X-UD3H for $160 over the GA-Z77X-UD5H for $189? Is there not that much difference between the 2 boards?