Recommend a Z77 motherboard

Discussion in 'Processors and motherboards Intel' started by Ghosty, Sep 12, 2013.

  1. Ghosty

    Ghosty Ancient Guru

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    Finally got round to replacing this Maximus V gene, which I bought in error. Looking at the Asus Sabertooth as a replacement, but the ASRock Extreme 4 is also highly recommended. Or the P8Z77-V.

    Can anyone recommend anything which is less than £200.
     
  2. thatguy91

    thatguy91 Guest

    Both the Asrock Extreme4 and Extreme6 are excellent boards, so choose them depending on the price difference. If it isn't much, go for the Extreme6. Also don't confuse the Asrock Extreme4 with the Extreme4-M, the latter isn't as good (but serves a different purpose).

    Of course there are better Z77 boards from Asrock and other Manufacturers, but it all depends on intended purpose and cost. No point comparing a $350 board with a $150 board and saying the $350 one is better. Really? for only 2.3 times the cost you can get a better board? :)
     
  3. CPC_RedDawn

    CPC_RedDawn Ancient Guru

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    I second the Asus Sabertooth, that is an excellent board and pretty decently priced as well. I would choose that one over any of the Asrock boards any day.
     
  4. Ghosty

    Ghosty Ancient Guru

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    I like the look of the Sabertooth, but wasn't sure if it was a little bit expensive compared to something like the ASRock Extreme 4. Personally I've always bought Asus, so maybe it's a no brainier for me.
     

  5. Loophole35

    Loophole35 Guest

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    Got the P8Z77-V in my backup rig its a really nice board and cost a lot less than the sabertooth. Only thing I have against all the ASUS Z77 boards is the lack of USB ports on the rear I/O panel my Z68 has 4 more available back there.
     
    Last edited: Sep 12, 2013
  6. Ghosty

    Ghosty Ancient Guru

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    The P8Z77-V is like gold dust it seems. Plus there are a few variations of it. LE, LX, LX2 and pro versions.
     
  7. Loophole35

    Loophole35 Guest

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    I have just the plain V the LE and LX are stripped down and I believe neither have VRM heatsinks.
     
  8. Ghosty

    Ghosty Ancient Guru

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    The P8Z77 is a stripped down version of the Sabertooth, so it might be worth loooking at, cheers. The only downside is the board only has 2 x USB 2.0 ports.
     
    Last edited: Sep 12, 2013
  9. IcE

    IcE Don Snow

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    Pick between the P8Z77-PRO, the MSI Z77 M-Power, the Sabertooth Z77, or the AsRock OC Formula.

    If you want something a bit more value oriented, the Extreme4 is a good choice as well. Although keep in mind its using D-PAK mosfets which limits top end overclocking as they tend to get real hot.
     
  10. thatguy91

    thatguy91 Guest

    The Z77 Extreme 6 allows my i5-3570K to go to 4.4Ghz no worries. I can overclock higher than that, but the limiting factor isn't the board, it's the CPU thermal paste IHS issue. In that sense, unless you intend to delid and push it up to say, 4.7Ghz (which isn't guaranteed, chips vary a lot), then that little extra overclocking really isn't an issue. The Extreme4 may have different mosfets though, the chipset etc cooling system is better.

    If you want to make those more expensive boards worth while, especially considering socket 1155 platform has been superseded, you would have to consider delidding, and upgrading your RAM to DDR3-2133 or higher. Hey, if you really want that extra 100Mhz on the CPU, which between 4600 MHz and 4700 MHz would be a 2 percent performance increase (if that translates into actual performance, but more likely around 1.8 percent), faster RAM would definitely be worthwhile.
    http://www.behardware.com/articles/...-review-intel-core-i7-3770k-and-i5-3570k.html

    That shows an overall increase of 3.7 percent (in realistic terms, around 200Mhz CPU increase).

    There are other comparisons out there, but they really only count if on an Ivy-Bridge CPU, Z77 board, and between DDR3-1600 and DDR3-2133 (or higher). Sandy-Bridge didn't show quite the same benefit as Ivy-Bridge does with the faster RAM.

    Now, I'm not saying that you should upgrade your RAM, just that any perceived benefit of going to an enthusiast board for overclocking only makes sense if you also have fast RAM; something an proper enthusiast would be doing.

    It is why I suggested keeping your board to a good standard board, and put those few extra dollars into your (for example) Skylake or Cannonlake upgrade later on.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 13, 2013

  11. Ghosty

    Ghosty Ancient Guru

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    I was looking at upgrading my RAM a few months back. It seemed like a logical thing to do if I bought a new motherboard. As for overclocking, not sure on how far I would want to push it. 4.2 is pretty good for me right now, but I might increase it at some point if I need to. It all depends on the life span of the 3770k. Not really seeing any massive speed increases with the next gen CPU's, so the Z77 upgrade might last a year or so yet, and still be very competitive in the speed tests.
     
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2013
  12. sykozis

    sykozis Ancient Guru

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    My vote is for the Sabertooth....and as IcE said..
     
  13. harkinsteven

    harkinsteven Guest

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    Recently got a MSI Z77 Mpower. Not only does this thing look amazing it performs and overclocks excellently.

    Just look at this thing. It's beautiful.

    [​IMG]
     
  14. thatguy91

    thatguy91 Guest

    An i5-3570K at 4.8Ghz? Wouldn't that get a bit hot under load, or have you delidded?
     
  15. harkinsteven

    harkinsteven Guest

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    It's delidded. Hits about 70max.
     

  16. thatguy91

    thatguy91 Guest

    That makes it worthwhile then! The 2400 MHz RAM would give the performance of a little over 5.0 GHz with DDR3-1600 RAM (sometimes much more, sometimes a little less), so good combo.
     
  17. War child

    War child Master Guru

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    I use the Sabertooth Z77.

    With Watercooling I'm hitting 4.8ghz on the 3570k with very little tweaking in the bios. Temp is around 65C.

    I have always used sabertooth series boards as I just love them and the shield allows me to hide cables away like temp sensors. The additional fans however were an annoyance for me since I crave silence and those little fans will make a small sound that is fine for some.

    If you use a downward blowing CPU cooler though you can remove the assistance fans completely as airflow beneath the shield is great with a cooler like Noctua NH C14.
     
  18. Vector

    Vector Ancient Guru

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    I purchased an Asus Sabertooth Z77 and it is really nice. The BIOS is the best I have ever seen, and its easy to use. My i7-3770k idles at about 30c with a Phanteks PH-TC12DX_BL cooler.
     
  19. Ghosty

    Ghosty Ancient Guru

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    Ended up buying the Sabertooth Z77 board. Thanks for all the suggestions. :)

    Quick question. The two mini fans you get with the Sabertooth, do any of you guys use these? You would have thought it would trap dust under the thermal armour.
     
  20. IcE

    IcE Don Snow

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    To mount them you have to take the armor off that's covering the VRM heatsinks.
     

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