ASrock or Gigabyte? (Z77 Series)

[KANNIS]

Originally Posted by Evasive

100% hear ya on the ASRock quality issue.

I would be down Umart right now with the dosh for it if not for that... and quality has to be a major dealbreaker when you're buying anything. Sad really.

Have you seen this:

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1903688

Might help, having a read of it now, myself

Reading now. Thanks for this....

[.Radiant]

can vouch for asrock board quality. It's not as good as asus/gb obviously but its enough.

I've used 4 different asrock boards myself with and without big tower coolers with no issues at all. The only times i've run into problems with them is when i've had little spills when adjusting my wc loop which would effect any board.

[Kurosaki]

Originally Posted by NNNG

Also it was sin0822 who was rubbishing the ASRock, then again he seems to like Gigabyte a lot.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1260690/h...a-z77x-ud3h/10

He works for Gigabyte

[KANNIS]

Originally Posted by Evasive

100% hear ya on the ASRock quality issue.

I would be down Umart right now with the dosh for it if not for that... and quality has to be a major dealbreaker when you're buying anything. Sad really.

Have you seen this:

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1903688

Might help, having a read of it now, myself

After reading that the Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H basically came out on top, but this is worrying;

Edit note: I've noticed that the D3H only has a 4-pin cpu power connector. I am exploring whether or not this means there is something dodgy going on in the VRM on that board. So please keep with this in mind. Until I get to the bottom of it, I'm going to qualify my recommendation to say that you should probably get the AsRock Extreme4 and not the gigabyte -D3H if you plan on OCing an i5 above 4.3GHz (Sandy or Ivy).

But I won't be over clocking so should be fine.

The Asus is definitely off the list.

[hairy]

i have a extreme 4 gen 3 and have a thermalrite hr-02 macho haging off it and i take it to lans once a month.
im not sure about any issue with the vrm although i have inly had to put 1.45 volts for just over an hour for 5gig benching, seems ok to me 4.5ghz @1.325 for a few months so far.
my other 3 machines around the house all running asrock boards are running fine with my torrent box being left on for the last 8 months straight.

[Linkin]

Asrock Z77 Extreme 4 - $155

Go for this one.

Out of my three ASRock boards (soon to be four), all three have been superb in every area. That and they undercut the competition while providing equal or better value. It's a no brainer.

However, take note, I have not had a chance to use their tech support for an RMA (thankfully) - but their email support is quite slow and often in engrish

[NNNG]

If you cannot get the UD3H then get the Extreme4. D3H is still a good board but doesn't have the overclocking features of the UD3H or 2x copper PCB. Also, Ivy Bridge doesn't use much power, so a 4 pin CPU connector shouldn't be a huge issue, but def get 8 pin if you can.

[KANNIS]

Originally Posted by NNNG

If you cannot get the UD3H then get the Extreme4. D3H is still a good board but doesn't have the overclocking features of the UD3H or 2x copper PCB. Also, Ivy Bridge doesn't use much power, so a 4 pin CPU connector shouldn't be a huge issue, but def get 8 pin if you can.

I won't be overclocking will it still be fine? This pc will be used as a media centre, Playing heavy HD video, editing video, storage, backup, internet and general usage. No Games for me, don't have the time unfortunately.

[NNNG]

Originally Posted by KANNIS

I won't be overclocking will it still be fine? This pc will be used as a media centre, Playing heavy HD video, editing video, storage, backup, internet and general usage. No Games for me, don't have the time unfortunately.

Yes.

10 char

[Evasive]

I've done a bit more research in the last couple of days.

You're gonna hate me for this, but that ASUS P8Z77-V is the board I think I personally will be pulling the trigger on!

It came down to GB / Asus / ASrock as usual. While the ASRock has a bucket ton of goodies for the $$s, it just doesn't sit right on me with the quality and the hit & miss of the features on it. Plus there's a lot of talk about its power being analogue, in spite of its Digi claims.

GB... yeah they have an awesome rep, but when you look at the featureset, they do inexplicably dumb things like the 4 pin power connector and having 2 x eSATA ports in place of 2 x SATA6 ports, which would have been far more attractive. I don't want to limit myself to 2x SATA6 ports, however many SATA3 ports there are. Yes, I can add in more SATA6 via an add-in card, but that's more $$s. So GB, for its mystifyingly dumb design decision, can quite frankly gargle my winky.

That leaves ASUS.

When you look at the ASUS P8Z77-V, it does indeed tick all the boxes and the reviews are actually pretty damn good. The only downside appears to be a price premium > other similar boards.

Well, GB doesn't match the features on the ASUS P8Z77-V for the same price range, and ASRock... is just meh.

ASUS P8Z77-V gives me the 4 x SATA6 I'm wanting for future u/gs, far better quality, inbuilt decent fan controls, etc. It all comes down to money. I have seen it for $200 from a couple of places locally. That's $50 diff over the ASRock and GB doesn't offer anything suitable in that $ range. Is $50 really that much more to pay for a much better board? Personally, I don't think so, so I reckon it's the ASUS P8Z77-V for me.

Buuuut... with all that being said, this is your thread, and looking at what you want to do with your machine... have you considered a microATX board at all? They seem to offer a crap-ton of good features for a lot less. Grab a mATX board, a 212EVO and you're laughing.

Also, as you're not OCing, have you considered the H77 chipset as opposed to the Z77. They're cheaper, feature for feature, they just won't OC or SLI... as far as i know, all else is the same.

Just a thought

[KANNIS]

Originally Posted by Evasive

I've done a bit more research in the last couple of days.

You're gonna hate me for this, but that ASUS P8Z77-V is the board I think I personally will be pulling the trigger on!

It came down to GB / Asus / ASrock as usual. While the ASRock has a bucket ton of goodies for the $$s, it just doesn't sit right on me with the quality and the hit & miss of the features on it. Plus there's a lot of talk about its power being analogue, in spite of its Digi claims.

GB... yeah they have an awesome rep, but when you look at the featureset, they do inexplicably dumb things like the 4 pin power connector and having 2 x eSATA ports in place of 2 x SATA6 ports, which would have been far more attractive. I don't want to limit myself to 2x SATA6 ports, however many SATA3 ports there are. Yes, I can add in more SATA6 via an add-in card, but that's more $$s. So GB, for its mystifyingly dumb design decision, can quite frankly gargle my winky.

That leaves ASUS.

When you look at the ASUS P8Z77-V, it does indeed tick all the boxes and the reviews are actually pretty damn good. The only downside appears to be a price premium > other similar boards.

Well, GB doesn't match the features on the ASUS P8Z77-V for the same price range, and ASRock... is just meh.

ASUS P8Z77-V gives me the 4 x SATA6 I'm wanting for future u/gs, far better quality, inbuilt decent fan controls, etc. It all comes down to money. I have seen it for $200 from a couple of places locally. That's $50 diff over the ASRock and GB doesn't offer anything suitable in that $ range. Is $50 really that much more to pay for a much better board? Personally, I don't think so, so I reckon it's the ASUS P8Z77-V for me.

Buuuut... with all that being said, this is your thread, and looking at what you want to do with your machine... have you considered a microATX board at all? They seem to offer a crap-ton of good features for a lot less. Grab a mATX board, a 212EVO and you're laughing.

Also, as you're not OCing, have you considered the H77 chipset as opposed to the Z77. They're cheaper, feature for feature, they just won't OC or SLI... as far as i know, all else is the same.

Just a thought

I've read so much on these boards now it becoming a joke. To be honest with you I just could not justify the extra money for the Asus. The Gigabyte Z77X-D3H and the Asus are just the same but reading through that link you provided the Gigabyte Z77X-D3H has won me over.

I was mad about the asus last week but the Wingepool link opened my eyes. At the end of the day both will do the job and both are practically the same. I do like the Dark Black and blue look of the Gigabyte though.

[Sin0822]

Originally Posted by Kurosaki

He works for Gigabyte

I actually do not. Do not spread lies and rumors.

What i said there was true. I also do recommend ASUS for many X79 and Z68 boards. I would easily take the UD3H over the Extreme4, just because of the VRM on the extreme4 is DPAK MOSFETs, i mean seriously not even the Z68 extreme4 had DPAks, i checked.

[Kurosaki]

Originally Posted by Sin0822

I actually do not. Do not spread lies and rumors.

My bad, but the way you go on about GA sure seems like it in my mind. No offense, but some of the stuff you write seems straight out of the GA marketing department.

[Jazper]

Seriously don't know what you're talking about regarding analogue vs digital power on asrock boards - further, who cares? Analogue actually has some real benefits over digital (noise and resolution, to name two) when you're talking powering stuff.

I reiterate, I've got two asrock boards here, a z68 (24x7 home server) and a z77 and both are perfectly rock solid and work well. Nuff said.

[bakasan]

Originally Posted by Jazper

I reiterate, I've got two asrock boards here, a z68 (24x7 home server) and a z77 and both are perfectly rock solid and work well. Nuff said.

The z68 is a piece of shit. I own one. Why does yours work. Simple answer is that you are not running on board graphics ie hd3000. Mine would freeze for months while acting as a media centre. I blamed the codecs until I stumbled on a shitload of other users with the same thing. Asrock has not rectified the problem at all nor did they provide a solution.

Here you go for any that doubt.
http://forums.tweaktown.com/asrock/4...-received.html



I will not buy an asrock in the foreseeable future. I've owned tonnes of gigabytes over my life and never have they let me down no matter in what config I run them in. I unfortunately chose the asrock because it had the right types of outputs for a media centre (plenty of options) but realistically if I had my choice again I wouldn't buy it. All I really needed was HDMI but it was hard to let go at the time the other options if I thought I could still have them open.

Now that I have upped the voltage (and I should never had to in a properly designed motherboard running stock. It's behaving but for months it was a pita.

Why take the risk on an asrock.