Take a break from Ivy Bridge with the Gigabyte 990FXA-UD5

Subject: Motherboards | May 7, 2012 - 04:07 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: gigabyte, 990FXA-UD5, amd, am3, 990fx

If you need your Intel fix then scroll to the reviews below the fold where you will find a plethora of Z77 and X79 boards, but to provide a little variety check out the Gigabyte 990FXA-UD5 which is available for $180.  As you can tell from the pricing this is from the higher of end AMD motherboards, with four PCIe 16x slots of which two can manage a full 16x, a total of ten SATA6Gb/s ports, two of which are eSATA, fourteen USB 2.0, four USB 3.0 and even a pair of Firewire ports are available.  The variety and number of I/O ports is this boards strongest feature, Neoseeker would not recommend it for heavy overclockers but for someone who needs a workhorse that will handle a huge amount of drives and peripherals it is a very strong choice.

"The Gigabyte 990FXA-UD5 is a solid motherboard with a nice feature set for the AM3 and AM3+ processors. We pit it against the ASUS Crosshair V Formula, provided with the AMD FX-8150 review kits back at launch, to see how it compares with the incumbent AM3 champ."

Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:

Motherboards

• ASUS Maximus V GENE Z77 mATX Motherboard Review @ Hardware Canucks
• Intel DZ77GA-70K Motherboard Benchmark Tests @ Benchmark Reviews
• ASUS P8Z77-V LGA1155 Motherboard Review @ Hi Tech Legion
• ECS Z77H2-A2X Black Edition @ PCStats
• Gigabyte G1.Sniper M3 Intel Z77 Express LGA 1155 Preview @ techPowerUp
• Intel DZ77GA-70K Motherboard Features @ Benchmark Reviews
• Asus Maximus V Gene @ eTeknix
• Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H @ Kitguru
• Biostar TZ77XE4 @ Kitguru
• MSI Z77A-GD65 @ Tweaktown
• Gigabyte Z77MX-D3H @ OC3D
• ECS Z77H2-AX @ Guru of 3D
• ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe Benchmark Performance @ Benchmark Reviews
• Sapphire Pure Platinum Z77K @ Kitguru
• GIGABYTE Z77X-UD5H @ Tweaktown
• ASUS Maximus V GENE Z77 @ Guru of 3D
• MSI Z77A-GD65 Motherboard @ Hardware Secrets
• Asus P8Z77-V Deluxe @ Kitguru
• MSI Z77A-GD65 @ Guru of 3D
• ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe LGA1155 Motherboard @ Benchmark Reviews
• BIOS Option Of The Week - Internal Graphics Mode Select @ TechARP
• MSI X79A-GD65 (8D) @ X-bit Labs
• ASRock X79 Extreme9 Motherboard Review @ HardwareHeaven
• Gigabyte X79-UD3 Motherboard Review @ Madshrimps
• Six SSDs in RAID 0: Intel vs AMD - which chipset scales the best? @ Hardware.Info

ASUS P8Z77-V Premium motherboard announced.

Subject: General Tech, Motherboards | April 27, 2012 - 02:48 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: Z77, msata, Ivy Bridge, asus

ASUS announces their upcoming P8Z77-V Premium flagship motherboard for Intel processors. Many features have been included such as 4-way SLi and onboard MSATA support with a 32GB MSATA SSD.

Does anyone know where I can get 4 GTX 680s?

In case you missed it, JJ from ASUS was recently at the PC Perspective offices to announce their Z77 lineup of motherboards. Lots of stuff was given away to live viewers. JJ stuck around after the live stream to record a couple of videos about overclocking Ivy Bridge and WiDi support which were released publicly earlier this week.

Now they reached out to us to announce their flagship P8Z77-V Premium Z77-based motherboard.

Two antennas, why-fi not?

The main features of the motherboard are as follows:

• USB3 Boost support
• USB Bios Flashback
• Dual Intel Gigabit Nics featuring iNetwork Control Packet Priority
• 4 way SLI and 4 way Crossfire support via a new PLX Gen 3 switch
• Dual Band Wifi with BT 4.0 featuring WiFi Go! Software Suite ( for DLNA Streaming/Serving, Easy file transfer to android/iOS devices and remote desktop functionality )
• Onboard MSATA support with 32GB MSATA SSD
• Digi+ VRM with 3 way Digital power design ( CPU/VRM – DRAM – iGPU )
• 9 SATA Ports
• 6 4 Pin PWM Fan Headers featuring Fan Xpert 2 Fan Technology ( for advanced control in UEFI and OS as well as automatic fan calibration )

The feature which sticks out to me the most is the 32 GB mSATA SSD allegedly packaged with the motherboard. That would certainly be nothing to sneer at. Judging by the photos provided by Asus the flash cells appear to be produced by Toshiba.

Want to see half of a pegasus flashing?

Also visible on the MSATA drive is a chip produced by Nanya which is commonly known for producing RAM. I am, however, not Al and as such will not speculate further about the SSD -- except that my guess is the chip is probably cache. So unfortunately, I do not know which controller it will utilize.

The other feature which catches my eye is the support for 4-way SLi or Crossfire. Not much else to say about that except that knowing somewhere out there someone will be gaming with four GTX 680s and there better be more than a single 60hz 1080p monitor.

Some day.

ASUS Overclocks Ivy Bridge To 7 GHz, Breaks World Records

Subject: Motherboards | April 24, 2012 - 11:17 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged:

ASUS recently unveiled a slew of Z77 motherboards for Intel’s latest 22nm Ivy Bridge processors (Check out our coverage of ASUS’ new lineup and new features in video form). Included in the new Z77 lineup is the P8Z77-V DELUXE and Maximus V GENE motherboards which ASUS has managed to push to the extreme.

Specifically, they used their P8Z77-V DELUXE motherboard and a little LN2 to push an Intel Core i7 3770K to a 7 GHz clock frequency. Further, they pushed 16 GB of 2800 MHz DDR3 to 3 GHz+ frequencies. ASUS has stated that the massive overclock is due to their VRM technology and UEFI tuning options.

The company also used a micro ATX Maximus V GENE motherboard to break five world overclocking records. The new records include:

• AquaMark 3: 536638 marks using a Radeon™ HD 7970 graphics card clocked at 1600MHz core and 1900MHz GDDR5
• PiFast: 10.3 seconds with Intel® Core™ i7-3770K set to 6930MHz
• 3DMark®2001 SE: 164589 marks using a GeForce® GTX 580 clocked at 1553MHz core and 1250MHz GDDR5
• 3DMark®2001 SE: 164589 marks using a GeForce® GTX 580 clocked at 1553MHz core and 1250MHz GDDR5
• SuperPi 32M: 4 minutes 52 seconds and 953ms with Intel® Core™ i7 set to 6735MHz (awaiting independent verification)

ASUS claims the records on this board were also the result of their “Extreme Engine Digi+ II” VRM technology and UEFI BIOS.

ASUS further states in the press release that they offer the best performing Z77 motherboards for enthusiasts.

“These accomplishments all point to the investment by ASUS in enabling better and more readily accessible performance tuning. ASUS remains fully committed to the power user and enthusiast markets, offering a range of Intel® Z77-based motherboards designed for overclocking. This includes better materials, smarter layout, and tougher components, but also covers user-friendly features that make tapping computing potential easier. ”

To get a look at some of the other Z77 motherboards available, check out the archived version of this PC Perspective Live stream! Also, please check out our Ivy Bridge processor review to learn about the latest Intel CPUs.

Panthers do travel in groups, just look at all these Z77 boards

Subject: Motherboards | April 24, 2012 - 02:43 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: asus, Sabertooth Z77, panther point, tuf

Now that so much of the functionality that used to be on the motherboard is now handled by the CPU, for instance the memory controller, motherboard releases are not what they used to be.  Motherboard manufacturers have come to terms with this and now it is extra features such as distinctive heatsinks, large amounts of extra ports and other addons that distinguish one board from another.  For instance the ASUS Sabertooth Z77 is a member of their TUF series which means that solid electrolytic capacitors and alloy chokes are used on the board and that it has gone through rigorous testing that goes far beyond electrical verification and includes physical abuse.  As you can see below it also sports a protective shroud over the majority of the components.  See how well it performs and what extras ASUS included on this board at [H]ard|OCP.

"ASUS brings us another gem in the form of the Sabertooth Z77. It is one of the first in a new generation of Z77 Express chipset based motherboards which many will no doubt consider when Intel’s next generation Ivy Bridge processors drop soon. The beauty of it is, being LGA 1155, Sandy Bridge will work just fine, if not downright well."

Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:

Motherboards

• Gigabyte Z77X-D3H @ Guru of 3D
• Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H @ LanOC Reviews
• ASUS Z77 Motherboard Reviews @Hi Tech Legion
• Intel DZ77GA-70K Motherboard Review @ Hi Tech Legion
• MSI Z77A-GD55 Motherboard Review @Hi Tech Legion
• Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H Motherboard Review @Hi Tech Legion
• ASUS, BIOSTAR, GIGABYTE, and MSI Intel Z77 Motherboard Round Up @ Legit Reviews
• Gigabyte Z77ZX-UD3H Preview @ LanOC Reviews
• ASRock Z77 Extreme6 Motherboard w/ Intel i7-3770K @ Kitguru
• Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H @ OC3D
• ASRock Z77 Extreme6 @ Funky Kit
• Intel DZ77GA-70K @ LanOC Reviews
• Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H (Z77) Motherboard Ivy Bridge Review @ eTeknix
• Asus Maximus Gene V preview @ LanOC Reviews
• Gigabyte Z77M-D3H Motherboard Sandy Bridge Review @ eTeknix
• Intel DZ77GA-70K Motherboard Photo Gallery @ Kitguru
• Intel Z77 Motherboard Round-up: Asrock, ECS, Gigabyte & Intel @ Techspot
• Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H Intel Z77 Motherboard Review @ PCSTATS
• BIOS Option Of The Week - Bank Swizzle Mode @ TechARP
• Asus Rampage IV Extreme Motherboard Review @ Ninjalane

ASUS Demonstrates Z77 Motherboard Features at PC Perspective

Subject: Motherboards, Processors, Chipsets | April 23, 2012 - 12:05 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: Z77, Ivy Bridge, Intel, asus, 3770k

Last week our good friends at ASUS stopped by the PC Perspective offices to bring along their entire new lineup of Z77 motherboards and show off the changes and new features being offered.  At the time, there we were something we couldn't show you including our overclocking demonstration as it was using the brand new Intel Ivy Bridge processor.  Not only can we now show you that but we have broken up the demo portion of the video in quicker, bite-sized segments. 

Overclocking

JJ Guerrero shows us the basics of overclocking Ivy Bridge both from the updated UEFI and the AI Suite II software.

WiDi on the Desktop

Did you know that desktop PCs using the correct Intel wireless controllers will be able to support Wireless Display technology?  

More videos after the break!!

An Intel branded board aimed at the enthusiast - the DZ77GA-70K

Subject: Motherboards | April 19, 2012 - 02:55 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: DZ77GA-70K, Intel, Ivy Bridge, panther point, Z77

If you have run into motherboards branded with the Intel logo, you most likely did so in a server room as that is the market they have focused on.  With the arrival of Ivy Bridge and Panther Point this has changed, the DZ77GA-70K motherboard even sports a skull on its heatsink to prove it.  The board comes with a fair number of extras, The Tech Report found a mouse pad, a 3.5" drive bay insert with two USB 3.0 ports, a Bluetooth dongle, and PCIe 1x 802.11n WiFi card.  Intel has also included their implementation of UEFI, called the Intel Visual BIOS, though you don't get to see all the screens in this preview as that would spoil a few surprises.  It is still worth checking out; as we impatiently await the release of Ivy Bridge.

"While preparing for a certain upcoming processor launch, we've been spending some quality time with Intel's DZ77GA-70K motherboard. Read on for a quick look at Intel's latest enthusiast-oriented desktop board."

Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:

Motherboards

• Intel DZ77GA-70K & Panther Point Chipset Preview @ LanOC Reviews
• Intel Z77 'Panther Point' Chipset Overview @ TechSpot
• Intel Preview: Z77 Motherboards Run Well With Linux @ Phoronix
• Asrock Z77 Extreme6 Socket 1155 Motherboard @ Pro-Clockers
• ASUS P8Z77-V PRO Motherboard @ Hardware Secrets
• ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE Motherboard @ Hardware Secrets
• ASRock Z77 Extreme6 @ Tweaktown
• Intel DZ77GA-70K Z77 @ The Inquirer
• Intel Z77 Express Chipset @ X-bit Labs
• Intel DZ77GA-70K Z77 Motherboard: Waiting for Ivy Bridge @ SPCR
• Gigabyte B75M-D3H Motherboard Sandy Bridge Review @ eTeknix
• ASUS P9X79 Deluxe Review @ OCC
• Biostar TPower X79 @ LanOC Reviews
• Sapphire Pure Black X79N Review @ Neoseeker
• ASUS Rampage IV Extreme X79 Motherboard Review @ Hi Tech Legion
• ASRock X79 Extreme6/GB = LGA 2011 Mainboard + PCI-E x1 Card @ X-bit Labs

PC Perspective Live Review Recap: ASUS Z77 Motherboards

Subject: Motherboards, Chipsets | April 16, 2012 - 10:38 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: asus, Z77, p8z77, video, live review, jj guerrero

A PC Perspective Live Review Recap is a recorded version of a previously live streamed event from http://pcper.com/live.  If you couldn't make the original air time, or simply want to re-watch, the on-demand version is provided below!

Over the weekend we had the pleasure of hosting ASUS' own JJ Guerrero, Senior Technical Marketing Specialist, at the PC Perspective offices.  He stopped by to talk to us, and to our readers, about the new Intel Z77 chipset built for the Ivy Bridge processor.  In the videos below you'll see a replay of JJ's visit where he details all of the launch Z77 motherboards including the P8Z77-V series, Sabertooth Z77, Maximus V Gene and Formula and even a mini-ITX version.

The second video includes some demonstrations of ASUS-exclusive features incluing USB 3 Boost, Fan Xpert 2, iNetwork Control, Wi-Fi GO! and more!

I would like to thank JJ and ASUS for stopping by to share so much information with our fans and we are looking forward to the Ivy Bridge launch coming up very soon!  We'll have a few more videos when that NDA is up detailing topics we couldn't discuss live, so stay tuned!

ASUS and Z77 Platform Live Review: We Want Your Questions!

Subject: Motherboards, Processors | April 14, 2012 - 01:26 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: Z77, video, live review, Ivy Bridge, asus

In case you haven't noticed, there are Z77 motherboards for sale ahead of the launch of Intel's 3rd generation Core processor.  In line with the release of this new CPU, our friends at ASUS are stopping by the PC Perspective offices to give our readers a chance to see the company's entire Z77 lineup and their impressive new feature set demonstrated and explained on camera.

You will hear about features like Wi-Fi GO!, Digi+ Power Control, SupremeFX III audio technology, GameFirst networking technology, the mPCIe Combo Card, Fan Xpert 2 software and a whole lot more!  Stay tuned for our full Ivy Bridge processor and launch review!!

We also want to use this opportunity to solicit questions from our readers and fans that they might have about the Intel Z77 chipset, the Ivy Bridge processor and the new line of ASUS Z77 motherboards.  You submit these questions in one of several ways:

1. Leave a comment on this news post.
    
2. Send me a questions via Twitter, to @ryanshrout.
    
3. Leave a question on our Facebook page, http://facebook.com/pcper

To make things better, on launch day, we'll be giving away a few ASUS Z77 motherboards as well so be sure you submit your questions SOON!  We are recording the content for this on Sunday, April 15th, so hurry!!