Combining the newest features with moderate expandability, Intel’s mainstream platforms provide high value to most gaming and overclocking enthusiasts. We compare six examples with Z77 Express to find the best features, overclocking, and efficiency.
The components of Intel’s Maho Bay platform, including the Z77 Express chipset and Ivy Bridge-based processors, have been floating around our SoCal lab all year. And yet, the company waited until April to to slowly roll its parts out, allowing channel partners to clear as many Sandy Bridge-based machines as possible before relegating the architecture to "prior-gen."
The Z77 Express chipset was quickly followed by Ivy Bridge-based processors, and both of our stories on those parts came to the same conclusion: mainly, that the new generation of hardware is barely better than the Z68 Express and Sandy Bridge architecture it replaces.

Nevertheless, Maho Bay's improvements still make it the preferred choice for anyone replacing an older system. If you're already running a machine that center on Sandy bridge, an upgrade doesn't make sense. But if you're stuck with a Core 2- or Phenom-based box, Z77 Express and an Ivy Bridge-based processor are the logical path forward.
If you're patient enough to hold off on Sandy Bridge, sticking with two- or three-year-old hardware for this long, then X79 is probably totally out of the question. It's a good thing, then, that the Maho Bay platform inherits its predecessor's mainstream pricing. On the other hand, if you're savvy enough to read Tom's Hardware, then you probably also share our high expectations for quality, stability, and robust features.
With that degree of frugality in mind, we begin our Z77 Express-based motherboard round-ups right in the middle of the enthusiast market: between $160 and $220.

| Motherboard Features | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ASRock Z77 Extreme6 | Asus P8Z77-V Pro | Biostar TZ77XE4 | |
| PCB Revision | 1.02 | 1.02 | 5.0 |
| Chipset | Intel Z77 Express | Intel Z77 Express | Intel Z77 Express |
| Voltage Regulator | Twelve Phases | Sixteen Phases | Twelve Phases |
| BIOS | P1.30 (04/12/2012) | 0906 (03/26/2012) | Z77CF412 (04/12/2012) |
| 100.0 MHz BCLK | 100.46 (+0.46%) | 100.30 (+0.30%) | 100.01 (+0.01%) |
| Internal Interfaces | |||
| PCIe 3.0 x16 | 2 (x16/x0 or x8/x8) | 2 (x16/x0 or x8/x8) | 2 (x16/x0 or x8/x8) |
| PCIe 2.0 x16 | 1 (4 lanes from PCH) | 1 (4 lanes from PCH) | 1 (4 lanes from PCH) |
| PCIe x1/x4 | 1/0 | 2/0 | 1/0 |
| Mini PCIe | 1 | None | None |
| USB 2.0 | 3 (6 ports) | 4 (8 ports) | 2 (4 ports) |
| USB 3.0 | 1 (2 ports) | 2 (4 ports) | 1 (2 ports) |
| IEEE-1394 | 1 | None | None |
| SATA 6.0 Gb/s | 4 (1 shared w/eSATA) | 4 | 4 |
| SATA 3.0 Gb/s | 4 | 4 | 4 (1 shared w/eSATA) |
| 4-Pin Fan | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| 3-Pin Fan | 4 | None | 2 |
| FP-Audio | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| S/PDIF I/O | Output Only | Output Only | Output Only |
| Power Button | Yes | No | Yes |
| Reset Button | Yes | No | Yes |
| CLR_CMOS Button | No | No | Yes |
| Diagnostics Panel | Numeric | Pass/Fail LEDs | Numeric |
| Legacy Interfaces | Serial, Floppy, 2 x PCI | 2 x PCI | Serial, 2 x PCI |
| I/O Panel Connectors | |||
| P/S 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| USB 3.0 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| USB 2.0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| IEEE-1394 | 1 | None | None |
| Network | Single | Single | Single |
| eSATA | 1 (shared w/SATA) | None | 1 (shared w/SATA) |
| CLR_CMOS Button | Yes | No | No |
| Digital Audio Out | Optical Only | Optical Only | None |
| Digital Audio In | None | None | None |
| Analog Audio | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Video Out | VGA, DVI-D, DisplayPort, HDMI | HDMI, DisplayPort, VGA, DVI-D | DisplayPort, HDMI, VGA, DVI-D |
| Other Devices | None | 802.11n Wi-Fi Module | None |
| Mass Storage Controllers | |||
| Chipset SATA | 2 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 Modes | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 |
| Add-In SATA | ASM1061 PCIe 2 x SATA 6Gb/s 1 shared w/eSATA | ASM1061 PCIe 2 x SATA 6Gb/s | ASM1061 PCIe 2 x SATA 6Gb/s |
| USB 3.0 | EJ168A PCIe Intel Z77 Integrated | 2 x ASM1042 PCIe Intel Z77 Integrated | Z77 Integrated Only |
| IEEE-1394 | VT6308P PCI 2 x 400 Mb/s | None | None |
| Gigabit Ethernet | |||
| Primary LAN | BCM57781 PCIe | WG82579V PHY | RTL8111E PCIe |
| Secondary LAN | None | AR9485 PCIe Wi-Fi | None |
| Audio | |||
| HD Audio Codec | ALC898 | ALC892 | ALC898 |
| DDL/DTS Connect | Not Specified | DTS Connect | Not Specified |

| Motherboard Features | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ECS Golden Z77H2-A2X | Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H | MSI Z77A-GD65 | |
| PCB Revision | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.1 |
| Chipset | Intel Z77 Express | Intel Z77 Express | Intel Z77 Express |
| Voltage Regulator | Eight Phases | Eight Phases | Twelve Phases |
| BIOS | 120328 (03/28/2012) | F7 (03/28/2012) | V10.3 (03/27/2012) |
| 100.0 MHz BCLK | 99.77 (-0.23%) | 100.89 (+0.89%) | 100.0 (+0.0%) |
| Internal Interfaces | |||
| PCIe 3.0 x16 | 2 (x16/x0 or x8/x8) | 2 (x16/x0 or x8/x8) | 3 (x16/x0/x0, x8/x8/x0, x8/x4/x4) |
| PCIe 2.0 x16 | None | 1 (4 lanes from PCH) | None |
| PCIe x1/x4 | 2/0 | 3/0 | 4/0 |
| Mini PCIe | 1 | None | None |
| USB 2.0 | 1 (2 ports) | 3 (6 ports) | 3 (6 ports) |
| USB 3.0 | 1 (2 ports) | 1 (2 ports) | 1 (2 ports) |
| IEEE-1394 | None | None | 1 |
| SATA 6.0 Gb/s | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| SATA 3.0 Gb/s | 2 | 4 (1 shared w/mSATA) | 4 |
| 4-Pin Fan | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| 3-Pin Fan | 2 | None | 2 |
| FP-Audio | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| S/PDIF I/O | Output Only | Output Only | None |
| Power Button | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reset Button | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CLR_CMOS Button | No | Yes | No |
| Diagnostics Panel | Numeric | Numeric | Numeric |
| Legacy Interfaces | Serial, 2 x PCI | None | None |
| I/O Panel Connectors | |||
| P/S 2 | None | 1 | 1 |
| USB 3.0 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
| USB 2.0 | 4 | None | 4 |
| IEEE-1394 | None | None | None |
| Network | Single | Single | Single |
| eSATA | 1 | 2 | None |
| CLR_CMOS Button | No | No | Yes |
| Digital Audio Out | Optical Only | Optical Only | Optical+Coaxial |
| Digital Audio In | None | None | None |
| Analog Audio | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Video Out | VGA, DVI-D, HDMI | VGA, DVI-D, HDMI, DiplayPort | HDMI, VGA, DVI-D |
| Other Devices | Bluetooth, 802.11n Wi-Fi | None | None |
| Mass Storage Controllers | |||
| Chipset SATA | 2 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 4 x SATA 3Gb/s |
| Chipset RAID Modes | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 |
| Add-In SATA | ASM1061 PCIe 2 x SATA 6Gb/s | 88SE9128 PCIe 2 x eSATA 6Gb/s | ASM1061 PCIe 2 x SATA 6Gb/s |
| USB 3.0 | ASM1042 PCIe Intel Z77 Integrated | VL800-Q8 PCIe Intel Z77 Integrated | Z77 Integrated Only |
| IEEE-1394 | None | None | VT6315N PCIe 1 x 400 Mb/s |
| Gigabit Ethernet | |||
| Primary LAN | RTL8111E PCIe | AR8151 PCIe | WG82579V PHY |
| Secondary LAN | AR9271 USB Wi-Fi | None | None |
| Audio | |||
| HD Audio Codec | ALC892 | VT2021 | ALC898 |
| DDL/DTS Connect | Not Specified | Not Specified | Not Specified |
- Z77 Express: The Perfect Replacement For Older Machines
- ASRock Z77 Extreme6
- Z77 Extreme6 Firmware
- Asus P8Z77-V Pro
- P8Z77-V Pro Firmware
- Biostar TZ77XE4
- TZ77XE4 Firmware
- ECS Golden Z77H2-A2X
- Z77H2-A2X Firmware
- Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H
- Z77X-UD3H Firmware
- MSI Z77A-GD65
- Z77A-GD65 Firmware
- Test Settings And Benchmarks
- Benchmark Results: Battlefield 3
- Benchmark Results: DiRT 3
- Benchmark Results: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Benchmark Results: Audio And Video Encoding
- Benchmark Results: Productivity
- Power, Heat, And Efficiency
- Overclocking
- Which Mid-Range Z77 Board Should You Buy?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131820
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131820
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?!
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.
I have always loved ECS for cheap 'value' builds (in fact I am using a 6 year old ECS board in a little htpc I am throwing together, it doesn't do much, but it has never let me down either), it is wierd seeing them in the 'high end' market like this, and (unlike previous boards they have produced) it looks stunning!
The first time I saw the gold on black look was with my ex3 gen3 board, which looked odd in pictures, but great in real life, and this new ECS board looks absolutely gorgeous in pics, so I am sure it looks great in real life as well.
Still, at the end of the day I am not sure that I would go for ECS on a high end build, but it is good to see that they are getting somewhere.
Also, it is good to see that ASRock is still doing OK now that they are no longer under the ASUS umbrella.
As for the review: Why even do the program benchmarks? We all know that the mobo is merely for the feature set, parts cooling, and power management quality for OCing (and truth be told aesthetics as well), and has next to no bearing on how fast things get processed at any specific frequency. All that I personally care about is the feature set, OC ability, and subjective ease of use for the UEFI and keeping it updated, vs the overall cost of the board.