ASUS would like to clear the air on just who is the fastest of them all

Subject: General Tech, Motherboards | June 1, 2012 - 01:17 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: asus, maximus v gene, p8z77-V deluxe, overclocking, smackdown

Earlier this week, we and several other sites reported that a Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H motherboard managed to take the Ivy Bridge i7-3770 with a single core enabled all the way to 7.03GHz and ASUS would like to know what all the fuss is about.  It seems that on January the 5th, ASUS took the i7-3770 to 7.06GHz on a P8Z77-V Deluxe which not only beats Gigabyte's overclock but did so long enough ago we needed to be reminded of it.

That was not even the best overclock that ASUS managed, the tiny Maximus V Gene could support a speed of 7.07GHz.  That speed was hit yesterday by Andre Yang and seems to demonstrate that for extreme overclockers it is ASUS' Z77 boards which you should be counting on. 

Hopefully this little correction will start an overclocking war between the two manufacturers, as both host events for overclockers as does MSI who have not chimed in to this contest yet.  LN cooling is not for the faint of heart but it is what you need to practice in order to compete at this level.  Gigabyte does seem to have one record which does still stand, DDR3-3280 MHz is quite spectacular.

ASUS master overclocker Andre Yang has managed another benchmarking world record, once more using the Intel Z77-based ROG Maximus V GENE mATX. Utilizing a quad-core/eight threaded Intel i7-3770 Ivy Bridge processor, Andre was able to overclock the CPU to an impressive milestone frequency of 7074.7MHz, again breaking the fabled 7GHz processor threshold and overtaking the previous record of 7.06GHz ( which was previously set and held by ASUS with the P8Z77-V Deluxe ). The CPU multiplier and BCLK were set to 112.69 x 63. The Maximus V GENE had 4GB of G.Skill DDR3 RAM, clocked to 1197.8MHz. The graphics card used was an ASUS GeForce GTX 680, set to 705MHz/3004MHz. Keep in mind quad-core and eight-threaded overclocking presents a much tougher challenge than more traditional single-core and double-threaded tuning in terms of stability and consistency, making the feat even more impressive.

 

Gigabyte Breaks Ivy Bridge and DDR3 Overclocking World Records

Subject: Motherboards | May 30, 2012 - 04:12 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: motherboard, gigabyte, Ivy Bridge, Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H

Who doesn’t love some good ‘ole fashioned overclocking? Professional overclocker HiCookie employed liquid nitrogen cooling to push an Intel Ivy Bridge Core i7 3770K processor to 7.03 GHz, breaking the previous world record. In addition, he managed to push four DIMMs of G.Skill Trident X DDR3 memory to an amazing 3.28 GHz!

Popular motherboard manufacturer Gigabyte announced today that its motherboards have been used to shatter the previous Ivy Bridge CPU and DDR3 RAM world records. Using liquid nitrogen and a Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H motherboard, the overclocker pushed the i7 3770K to 7.03 GHz. The overclock is only running on a single core (two threads), but it does show that at least some Ivy Bridge processors are capable of high overclocks despite the issues some CPUs are having. The CPUz validation and HWBot submission are available here: CPUz, HWBot.

The Z77-UD3H motherboard used to take Ivy Bridge to 7.03 GHz.

As far as memory overclocking, the company used it’s GA-Z77X-UD5H motherboard and four G.Skill Trident X DDR3 DIMMs rated for 2800 MHz to achieve 3,280 MHz speeds under heavy overclocking. Gigabyte claims that the feat was due in part to their memory tuning capabilities and motherboard engineering. It seems crazy to think that only a few years ago, people were running 800 MHz memory–and this overclocked RAM is currently running faster than my i7 860 processor!

Deputy Director of Motherboard Marketing Tim Handley stated in the press release that "these new world records highlight our belief that top notch quality and design deliver truly world-class, record breaking performance.” They also hinted that a new series of motherboards that will be released at Computex 2012 are showing even better overclocking abilities.

It will be interesting to see how long it takes for Gigabyte’s new world record to be broken. I hope that whoever does break it manages to do it with more than one core as well. The full press release is available here.

The best valued model of the ASUS P8Z77 family of motherboards

Subject: Motherboards | May 28, 2012 - 02:58 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: P8Z77-V, lga1155, Ivy Bridge, asus

At $185, the ASUS P8Z77-V is technically a value board for Ivy Bridge as motherboards with this chipset tend to carry a high price. There are lower priced boards but they are missing some of the features which make this board stand out among its competition.  While it does support CrossFire and SLI, with only three PCIe slots in total you will only get 8x speeds when you are using two graphics cards, although testing has shown there is little difference between that and a full 16x.  ASUS also included legacy PCI slots for those of you with old cards that you simply cannot live without.  [H]ard|OCP gave this board a Gold Award thanks to the decent feature set included in a sub-$200 board as well as the rock solid performance it displayed during their testing.

"The ASUS P8Z77-V is among the latest entries into the ASUS motherboard Intel Z77 Express Chipset series. The P8Z77-V is poised as a more value oriented solution, potentially representing a great bang for your buck option if a Z77 chipset motherboard and Ivy Bridge processor get you excited."

Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:

Motherboards

• ASRock Z77E-ITX Motherboard @ Hardware Secrets
• Gigabyte GA-Z77MX-D3H Review – Z77 and MicroATX @ AnandTech
• ASUS Maximus V Gene @ Bjorn3D
• Asus Z77 Roundup @ LanOC Reviews
• Gigabyte G1.Sniper M3 @ eTeknix
• Gigabyte G1.Sniper M3 Motherboard @ Hardware Secrets
• ASRock Fatal1ty Z77 Professional Review - IDE and Floppy on Z77 @ AnandTech
• ECS Elitegroup Z77H2-AX Golden Board (Z77) Motherboard Review @ eTeknix
• ASUS P8 Z68-V/GEN3 @ LanOC Reviews
• GIGABYTE G1.Assassin 2 Motherboard Review @ Techgage
• Sapphire Pure Platinum Z77K Review @ OCC
• ASUS Maximus V GENE @ Tweaktown
• 16 Intel X79 Socket 2011 motherboards round-up @ Hardware.Info
• BIOS Option Of The Week - Asynclat @ TechARP
• Motherboard Sizing @ LanOC Reviews

MSI Launches Z77A-GD80 Motherboard With Thunderbolt

Subject: Motherboards | May 23, 2012 - 05:15 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: Z77, thunderbolt, msi, motherboard

The MSI Z77A-GD80 motherboard that was first shown off at CES 2012 has officially launched today. The new motherboard is based on the Z77 chipset and supports Intel’s latest 22nm Ivy Bridge processors as well as the new Thunderbolt interface (a demo of Thunderbolt can be found here).

The MSI board further utilizes their “Military Class III” components, UEFI / Windows GUI ClickBIOS II firmware, and their automatic overclocking OC Genie II software. The board also features four DIMM slots for up to 32GB of DDR3 2800MHz memory, three PCI-E 3.0 x16 slots, four PCI-E 3.0 x1 slots, four SATA II and four SATA III. It also supports two-way SLI or three-way Crossfire for multi-GPU setups and has an additional USB 3.0 header for expansion cards or front panel ports.

Rear IO includes 4 USB 2.0 ports, a combination PS/2 mouse/keyboard port, digital and optical audio outputs, HDMI, Gigabit LAN, two USB 3.0 ports, VGA output, and 6 port analog audio output.Last but not least the Thunderbolt port, resting under the VGA output. MSI is pushing the new transfer technology hard in the press release because of the super fast transfer rates (theoretically up to 10Gbps).

Unfortunately, there is no word on pricing or availability for this motherboard (yet). Stay tuned to future updates as more information is released. More photos of and specification details for the new Thunderbolt equipped motherboard can be found here.

Thunderbolt for Windows Performance Preview - ASUS P8Z77-V Premium

Subject: General Tech, Motherboards, Storage | May 21, 2012 - 06:57 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: Z77, thunderbolt, p8z77-v premium, msi, asus

We have really been waiting for this since we first saw the release of Thunderbolt on the Apple MacBooks last year, but we finally have it: Thunderbolt support for PC users!  Both MSI and ASUS today announced availability of motherboards with integrated Thunderbolt connectivity: the ASUS P8Z77-V Premium and the MSI Z77A-GD80 will both get you a single integrated Thunderbolt port.

You can see MSI's full press release right here.  We can't find the ASUS press release anywhere Here is the ASUS press release as well, but here are a few selections:

"Intel and ASUS have worked closely on the implementation of Thunderbolt technology onto Asus motherboards”, said Jason Ziller, Intel’s Director of Thunderbolt Marketing. “The P8Z77-V PREMIUM is the first Thunderbolt certified motherboard in the industry, a testament to its solid design and compatibility."

...

With its long history of working with high tech vendors, ASUS is able to show its strength and commitment to innovation with a close relationship to three of the leading brands currently producing products with Thunderbolt technology, Elgato, LaCie, and PROMISE.

...

Thunderbolt is a new, high-speed I/O technology designed for performance, simplicity and flexibility, with lightning fast transfer speeds that are twice that of USB 3.0 and up to 20 times faster than USB 2.0. It offers simultaneous bi-directional 10Gbps transfer speeds over a single cable, with the flexibility to daisy-chain up to six Thunderbolt-ready devices with a single connection as well as offering full display port support for a 7th Thunderbolt or display port equipped monitor. This allows for a clutter-free computing experience while offering unprecedented levels of performance. Users can connect multiple Thunderbolt-enabled external storage drives to a Thunderbolt-enabled display and transfer files while watching HD movies, all without experiencing any lag. In addition for content professional this connection has been designed form the ground up for multimedia offering low latency with highly accurate time synchronization for professional audio and video applications. PC enthusiast and gamers can take immediate advantage combining Thunderbolt and on-board Lucid Virtu MVP to enjoy top-notch graphics performance.

Even better, we have some in-action video of the new ASUS Thunderbolt-implementation including performance!

This video was recorded well before today's launch during our Z77 Live Review and clearly shows some of the benefits of Thunderbolt, as well as some of the limitations, you'll find if you pick up the ASUS P8ZZ77-V Premium motherboard!

The new MSI GD65, this time in Z77 flavour

Subject: Motherboards | May 16, 2012 - 01:36 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: msi, z77a-gd65, lga1155

MSI's Z77A-GD65 comes with a nice set features including THX TruStudio PRO, Lucid’s VirtuMVP, active phase switching, and HDMI 1.4 along with support for both SLI and CrossFireX.  It supports PCIe 3.0 on its three 16x slots, running 8x, 4x, 4x or 8x, 8x, 0x which should still offer enough bandwidth for multiple GPU based systems.   Overclocking Ivy Bridge on this board was not difficult, ignoring the voltage and heat issues common to all Ivy Bridge processors and overall [H]ard|OCP has found the Z77 to be one of the better designed chipsets recently released and like that it doesn't exhibit the growing pains many others  have felt on initial release.  MSI took that solid design and pushed it further, something we've come to expect from their GD65 series motherboards.

"MSI has been on a roll with its motherboards as of late. It’s because of this that our expectations for MSI’s foray into the world of Z77 chipset based motherboards are so high. MSI’s "GD65" series of motherboards have been an especially solid value and the Z77A-GD65 looks to be no different."

Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:

Motherboards

• Gigabyte address Z77X-UD5H @ Kitguru
• ASRock Z77 Professional Motherboard @ Hardware Secrets
• MSI Z77A-GD65 (Z77) Motherboard Review @ eTeknix
• ECS Z77H2-AX Black Extreme Motherboard Review @ Madshrimps
• Intel DZ77GA-70K Motherboard Components @ Benchmark Reviews
• Gigabyte Z77-D3H (Z77) Motherboard Review @ eTeknix
• Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H @ Funkykit
• A First Look at Thunderbolt on Windows with MSI's Z77A-GD80 @ AnandTech
• ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe @ AnandTech
• ECS Z77H2-AX Golden Edition Review @ OCC
• Intel Z77 Motherboard Review with Ivy Bridge - ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte, and MSI @ AnandTech
• ECS X79R-AX Deluxe Review @ Neoseeker
• BIOS Option Of The Week - CPU Direct Access FB @ TechARP
• Gigabyte Sniper M3 Review @ Bjorn3D
• Gigabyte A75M-D2H and A75-UD4H Motherboard Review @ OCC

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.