| BIOS Frequency and Voltage settings (for overclocking) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ASRock Z77 OC Formula | Asus Sabertooth Z77 | ECS Z77H2-AX | |
| CPU Base Clock | 95-150 MHz (0.1 MHz) | 80-300 MHz (0.1 MHz) | 99-150 MHz (1 MHz) |
| CPU Multiplier | Up to 63x | Up to 63x | Up to 59x |
| DRAM Data Rates | 1066-3000 (200, 266.6 MHz) | 800-3200 (200, 266.6 MHz) | 1066-2800 (200, 266.6 MHz) |
| CPU Vcore | 0.60-1.70 V (5 mV) | 0.80-1.92 V (5 mV) | 1.00-1.50 V (25 mV) |
| VTT Voltage | 0.77-1.63 V (10 mV) | +0 to +0.63 V (10 mV) | |
| VCCSA Voltage | 0.93-1.57 V (5 mV) | 0.80-1.70 V (5 mV) | +0 to +0.63 V (10 mV) |
| PCH Voltage | 0.78-1.65 V (9.3 mV) | 0.80-1.70 V (10 mV) | +0 to +0.63 V (10 mV) |
| DRAM Voltage | 1.17-2.10 V (5 mV) | 1.20-1.92 V (5 mV) | +0 to +0.63 V (10 mV) |
| CAS Latency | 4-15 Cycles | 1-15 Cycles | 4-15 Cycles |
| tRCD | 3-15 Cycles | 1-15 Cycles | 3-15 Cycles |
| tRP | 3-15 Cycles | 1-15 Cycles | 3-15 Cycles |
| tRAS | 9-63 Cycles | 1-255 Cycles | 9-63 Cycles |
| BIOS Frequency and Voltage settings (for overclocking) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gigabyte Z77X-UP5 TH | Intel DZ77RE-75K | MSI Z77A-GD80 | |
| CPU Base Clock | 80-133.33 MHz (0.01 MHz) | 100-120 MHz (1 MHz) | 0-655 MHz (0.1 MHz) |
| CPU Multiplier | Up to 63x | Up to 255x | Up to 63x |
| DRAM Data Rates | 1066-3200 (200, 266.6 MHz) | 1066-2666 (266.6 MHz) | 800-3200 (200, 266.6 MHz) |
| CPU Vcore | 0.80-1.85 V (5 mV) | 1.00-1.80 V (5 mV) | 0.81-2.16 V (5 mV) |
| VTT Voltage | 0.80-1.70 V (5 mV) | 1.00-1.80 V (5 mV) | 0.95-1.55 V (10 mV) |
| VCCSA Voltage | 0.72-1.40 V (5 mV) | 0.85-1.80 V (12.5 mV) | 0.87-1.51 V (10mV) |
| PCH Voltage | Not Adjustable | 0.60-2.19 V (12.5 mV) | 0.78-1.73 V (5.5 mV) |
| DRAM Voltage | 1.10-2.10 V (5 mV) | 1.20-2.00 V (12.45 mV) | 1.11-2.47 V (7.5 mV) |
| CAS Latency | 5-15 Cycles | 5-16 Cycles | 5-15 Cycles |
| tRCD | 4-15 Cycles | 4-16 Cycles | 4-15 Cycles |
| tRP | 4-15 Cycles | 4-16 Cycles | 4-15 Cycles |
| tRAS | 5-63 Cycles | 15-75 Cycles | 10-40 Cycles |
Only two companies, MSI and ASRock, manage to break our CPU past 4.70 GHz at 1.25 V core. Gigabyte, ECS, and Asus are marginally behind in CPU overclocking, while Intel’s DZ77RE-75K trails noticeably.

Gigabyte’s Z77X-UP5 TH is the only board in this batch to reach a 111 MHz BCLK. This enhanced capability is usually only desired when overclocking locked processors.

Increasing the Z77H2-AX's base clock through the UEFI lead to what seemed like endless hours of POST failures, so we recommend users not even attempt that with ECS' board.

Asus has historically produced the best memory stability, and its Sabertooth Z77 tops the charts on average. MSI edges out Asus when only two modules are installed, while ASRock edges out MSI when four are needed.
- 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".