Intel sent two versions of its high-end Z77 Express-based motherboard, with and without Thunderbolt technology. Unfortunately, we were only giving each vendor one slot each in today's story. After looking at the features its competitors offered, we decided to go with the Thunderbolt-equipped version.
In addition to a single Thunderbolt port, the rear I/O panel offers four USB 3.0, four USB 2.0, and FireWire ports, along with HDMI output and two interfaces to gigabit Ethernet controllers. On the other hand, all three of this board's x1 slots, both of its PCI slots, and its FireWire controller fight for the bandwidth of a single PCIe lane through a single-lane to multi-lane switch.
If overclocking causes the system to stop booting, pressing the Back to BIOS button will force the board to start up with factory settings without losing your custom configuration. The motherboard simply ignores the custom settings until the button is disengaged, allowing users to make minor corrections before trying again.
The reason that so many devices share so little bandwidth is that Intel dedicates most of the Z77 PCH's connectivity to its Thunderbolt controller. And, like Gigabyte, it reserves the CPU's PCI Express lanes for discrete graphics. You don't get a triple-card option. Instead, the x16/x0 lane configuration changes to x8/x8 when an add-in board drops into the second PCIe x16 slot.
Because the bottom PCI Express slot doesn't support a graphics card, we're less bothered by Intel's placement of the USB 3.0 header. On the board's bottom edge, both headers are horribly located. But most PCIe x1 cards are thin enough to prevent spatial conflicts.
Intel moves the DZ77RE-75K's front-panel audio connector up the board’s rear edge by three slot spaces, making it easier for short cables to reach, while simultaneously making finished builds look more cluttered (there’s no way to get the cable to the header without running it over the motherboard’s top).
Two Marvell SATA 6Gb/s controllers add one external and two internal ports to the six controlled by the chipset. All eight of the board’s internal SATA ports face forward to avoid conflicts with long cards, though some older case designs block access to forward-facing ports. Reading chassis reviews help avoid those kinds of problems, though.
A Port 80 diagnostics display and internal power/reset buttons help overclockers bench-test the DZ77RE-75K, but those features are far less valuable once you get the board installed inside an enclosure.

The DZ77RE-75K includes a mouse pad, four SATA cables, a USB 3.0-to-3.5” external bay adapter, an SLI bridge, and a USB 2.0-based Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module. The module is designed to adhere to the back of a solid plastic 5.25” bay cover.
- Intel's Mainstream Z77 Express Goes High-End
- Panther Point's Thunderbolt Connection
- ASRock Z77 OC Formula
- Z77 OC Formula Software
- Z77 OC Formula Firmware
- Asus Sabertooth Z77
- Sabertooth Z77 Software
- Sabertooth Z77 Firmware
- ECS "Golden Board" Z77H2-AX
- Z77H2-AX Software
- Z77H2-AX Firmware
- Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP5 TH
- GA-Z77X-UP5 TH Software
- GA-Z77X-UP5 TH Firmware
- Intel DZ77RE-75K
- DZ77RE-75K Software And Firmware
- MSI Z77A-GD80
- Z77A-GD80 Software
- Z77A-GD80 Firmware
- Test Settings And Compatibility
- Benchmark Results: 3DMark 11
- Benchmark Results: PCMark And SiSoftware Sandra
- Power And Heat
- Overclocking
- Picking The Right High-End Z77 Board


"Six $220-280 Z77 Express-Based Motherboards, Reviewed"
Also, the time taken to show the windows loading screen/ BIOS page..
you really liked the black/grey dimms and PCI slots of the gigabyte better than the blue/black of the MSI!
Andrew Ku tests drive controllers. I'm trying to get him to "write the book" on controller performance, since dozens of boards use only a few different controllers. As for testing things like Z77 controller performance on board A vs Z77 controller performance on board B, it's a waste of time unless something is broken. So the article looked for "broken stuff". See the red bar on the first chart:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z77x-up5-th-z77a-gd80-z77-oc-formula,3305-22.html
With nothing broken, there's no excuse to test the Z77 controller six times. Back to me begging Andrew Ku for a comprehensive comparison of every SATA controller currently available on mainstream-brand enthusiast boards.
This allows ocer's to achieve higher overclocks while still retaining the power saving functions, instead of being forced to either reduce the overclock, or be forced to run high voltage 24/7.
MSI doesn't have this key feature.
Overclocking the BLCK is very unlikely to cause any damage, it's just likely to not give much of a stable overclock.
And as much as I like ASRock, I realy wish they'd put more PWM headers on their boards.
On a side note, in a future I would love to see a comparison including boards like the Z77X-UP7 from Gigabyte, haven't got a chance to see that one in action
The problem isn't the review, the problem is that only two people didn't realize that the performance is supposed to be identical. Those two people are you, and the person who gave you the "thumbs up".