REVIEWS / MOTHERBOARDS / GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY INDIA PVT. LTD

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP7 Review

16 Nov, 2012, 12:05 pm IST | by Roydon Cerejo | Motherboards

Motherboards

Gigbayte GA-Z77X-UP7

Gigbayte GA-Z77X-UP7
Well spaced out components
The 32-phase power for the CPU
OC controls on the board
Rear ports
Probes for quickly monitoring the voltages
Plenty of SATA ports
The front USB 3.0 bracket
Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0

PRICE IN INDIA

27,550

TECH2 RATING

7.0

AVERAGE USER RATING

8.0

How we test

CONTACT

GIGABYTE Technology India Pvt. Ltd

 sales@gigabyte.in

 +91 22 4063 3222

 www.gigabyte.in

A couple of months ago, we had reviewed the Asus Maximus V Extreme, a super high-end motherboard designed specifically for enthusiasts in mind who love pushing their hardware to the absolute limit. Gigabyte hasn’t really managed to tap into the enthusiast market so far. It has had some amount of success with its Sniper series, but some how, Asus’s R.O.G series has always been the weapon of choice for most DIY builders. All that could change with Gigabyte’s new uber high-end board called the GA-Z77Z-UP7. Before we dive into the bucket load of features, let’s have a look at the design and layout of its flagship board.   

Design and build
The GA-Z77X-UP7 comes in a striking black and orange PCB design with good amount of spacing between components. The PCB does not have a lot of flex even after installing a large heatsink, which we liked. Gigabyte has left plenty of room around the CPU area as well, so installing a water cooling solution should not be a problem. The CPU bracket as well as all the heatpipes for the heatsinks feature an anodised plating, making it more resistant to the elements.

Gigbayte GA-Z77X-UP7

Gigbayte GA-Z77X-UP7

 


The rear panel ports include a total of six USB 3.0 ports, a PS2 keyboard and mouse combo port, VGA, DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, Optical SPDIF out, dual-Gigabit LAN jacks and finally, Realtek’s ALC898 audio codec for 7.1 channel audio. The flagship board also supports 4-way SLI and CrossFireX. Gigabyte has conveniently added a separate PCIe slot for single GPU usage as well. This connects directly to the CPU and bypasses the PLX chip so that there’s no latency issue whatsoever.

The 32-phase power for the CPU

The 32-phase power for the CPU

 


As part of the bundle, the GA-Z77X-UP7 comes with a Bluetooth 4.0 and a dual-band Wi-Fi PCIe x1 card. The board also features dual UEFI BIOS as well as an onboard switcher for switching between them. This comes in handy when overclocking on an open testbench as you can quickly switch between the two BIOS chips in case one gets corrupted. Another new feature of the UP7 is the OC-Touch controls on the motherboard. These are physical switches for increasing or decreasing the CPU Ratio and BCLK as well as a dedicated switch in case you plan on using LN2 cooling. Like the Asus board, you can measure the voltages directly by using a power meter.

Features
One of the highlights of this motherboard is the 32 phase power distribution along with 3 phases for the onboard graphics and 2 phases for the memory. The board also comes with Gigabyte’s Ultra Durable 5 technology for more stable operation under heavy load. You now have UEFI BIOS as standard in the high-end series, but we didn’t find it as refined as Asus’s offering. While it is functional, the mouse movement is quite laggy, so you’re better off using the keyboard.

Probes for quickly monitoring the voltages

Probes for quickly monitoring the voltages

 


The board also features an mSATA connector onboard letting you connect an mSATA-based SSD for Intel ISRT and Rapid Start. Finally, we also have debug LEDs for quickly checking the status of the system or diagnosing problems. This being a fully blown Z77 chipset, you have full support for Ivy Bridge as well as Sandy Bridge CPUs, up to 32GB of RAM with a maximum supported frequency of 2400MHz, a total of 10 SATA ports and 6 fan headers onboard. Overall, it’s a pretty feature packed board and comes with all the accessories you would ever need, including a front panel USB 3.0 bracket. 

Testbench

 

  • Processor: Intel Core i7-2600K
  • Memory: G.Skill RipjawsX 8GB (4GB x 2 @1866MHz)
  • Graphic card: AMD Radeon HD 6870
  • SSD: Plextor PX-256M2S
  • Power supply:  Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W
  • OS: Windows 7 Ultimate, 64-bit


Performance
The motherboard was quite stable out of the box except for a slight glitch with the CPU multiplier, which refused to scale up in Windows. Flashing it with the latest version sorted that out. The performance of the board is otherwise solid and this reflects very well in the benchmarks. In PCMark 7, we got an overall score of 5670, whereas 3DMark 11 gave us an overall score of 4678. The performance numbers were on par with the other boards we tested. In our real world tests, video encoding was done in under 21sec while POV-Ray completed in 13.8sec, which is really quick. 

OC controls on the board

OC controls on the board

 


Verdict and Price in India
At Rs. 27,550, this is one expensive board and is right up there with Asus’s Maximus V Extreme offering. While both have a very similar feature set, we do feel Asus offers you a lot more in terms of enthusiast-grade features like the OC Key, for instance. However, this comes at a high price as well. Still, this is by far one of the best offerings from Gigabyte. And if you’re looking for an alternative to the Asus Maximus V, then this fits the bill very well.


Tags:

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP7 , Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP7 review , Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP7 price , Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP7 price in india , Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP7 vs asus maximus V extreme , gigabyte , Gigabyte z77 motherboard , ga-z77x-up7 review , ga-z77x-up7 , z77 motherboard , motherboard review

Would you buy it?




 


How We Test

The Tech2 Labs receives many products every single week and each of them is tested with the utmost care and highest level of objectivity. There’s a constant effort to reduce and totally eliminate subjectivity. Each product is tested according to set test processes so the same test scenario is used.

Verdict
The ratings awarded to a product are derived from a number of tests and calculations, keeping certain important factors in mind. These factors consist of features, performance, quality and value for money. In case of software and some other categories, build quality might be replaced with ease of use or ease of installation. Products are compared with other products in a similar price range or product category.


Features
The features component of the score is rated based on the kind of features present on a particular product. Features are a big part of what people look for when they’re buying a new product such as a phone or a camera.

Performance
The performance score is derived from the benchmarks and tests run on the product. In case of the subjective scores, an average of the scores given by the group of reviewers is considered.

Build Quality
The build quality of a product is important so that it doesn’t fall apart after some use. The build quality scores from the way the product is designed and the kind of materials used in the product.

Value
Value for money comes from the fact that a cheap product is able to provide most of the performance of a higher priced product. Once again, value for money is judged by comparing pricing and performance of products in a particular price range or category. 

There are many other aspects of the product that are looked at such as the bundled software and accessories. All of these scores are aggregated together to form the final score.

What do the ratings mean?

Ratings are simple - higher the score, the better the product. A brief listing of the features and what they mean are given below.

1 - 3

The product is bad in almost every aspect. We strongly advise against purchasing this product.

4 - 6

An average product that isn't the best you can buy, but isn't the worst either.

7 - 8

Product with this rating is highly recommended because it's priced sensibly, has a good set of features and performs well.

9 - 10

Exceptionally excellent product with features and performance unlike any we've seen in the past. A must-have for everyone!

What is the Average User Rating?

We at Tech2 take product reviewing very seriously and every product is tested with the utmost care and level of objectivity. The end user who buys a particular product and uses it over an extended period of time has his own take on a product and there might be nuances that he or she can shed light on. The Average User Rating is present to help readers get the complete picture of how good or bad a product is. The Average User Rating is calculated by averaging the ratings by the thousands of readers visiting Tech2.com every single day. To record your own rating of a product, simply click on the user rating bar. If you disagree with our ratings or our community's product rating, please don't hesitate from voicing your opinion in the comments section below the review.

Leaked Images, Availability, Pricing,
Specs, Pre-order

LG X Boom CM9730 Video Review

LG X Boom CM9730 Video Review

21 May, 2013, 05:42 AM

2.8

Samsung Galaxy S4 Video Review

Samsung Galaxy S4 Video Review

14 May, 2013, 11:30 AM

4.1

HP ElitePad 900 Video Review

HP ElitePad 900 Video Review

14 May, 2013, 11:24 AM

2.5

MORE VIDEOS

Sandy Bridge-E Motherboard Roundup - 10 boards tested!

Sandy Bridge-E Motherboard Roundup - 10 boards tested!

The Intel Core i7 processors that came in the socket LGA 1366 package...

By Anand Tuliani , Francis D'sa

Asus X79 Motherboard Preview

Asus X79 Motherboard Preview

It will be three years in November since Intel launched their X58 chipset,

By Roydon Cerejo

Buying Guide: Motherboards

Buying Guide: Motherboards

If you're in the market for a motherboard, it's easy to lose...

By Rossi Fernandes

MORE FEATURES