In essence the EVGA Z77 Stinger looks like
a slice from a regular gaming motherboard that stops at the PCI Express 3.0
graphics slot. Because a Mini-ITX board is only 170mm wide, EVGA has limited
itself to two DDR3-2133MHZ memory slots, and once you allocate the necessary
space for the LGA1155 processor socket, there isn't much room left for extras.
Despite that limitation, EVGA has managed
to accommodate a handful of components, and on the whole it's very neat and
tidy. The matt-black aluminum heat-sink on the power regulation hardware has a
machined profile that curves around the CMOS battery and the mid-board USB
headers {one USB 3.0, two USB 2.0) have labeled protective plastic caps that
keep the connectors from coming to any harm.
Despite
that limitation, EVGA has managed to accommodate a handful of components, and
on the whole it's very neat and tidy.
Next to the chipset heat-sink there's a
metal plate with an engraved EVGA logo that looks rather smart. It took me a
moment to spot the mini PCI Express slot that sits under the EVGA logo, as
there doesn't appear to be enough space to install an expansion card. The
reason is that the card is half-height (i.e. 30mm long instead of 50mm), so it
would only be useful if you want to add Wi-Fi, rather than the more usual cache
SSD. I'm stretching a point there, since SSD cache drives aren't the sort of
thing that you find in many PCs, but mini PCI Express Wi-Fi cards are as rare
as hen's teeth.
This is curious, because EVGA has included
a fixed Bluetooth dongle on the I/O panel along with an Intel gigabit Ethernet
network adapter, but there's no Wi-Fi, such as you get on a $203 Zotac Z77-ITZ
Wi-Fi motherboard.
Why might you want Wi-Fi on a PC
motherboard? The reason is that mini-ITX is ideally suited to a
small-form-factor PC that uses VESA mounts to hide behind a screen, where wired
Ethernet is less convenient than wireless.
I'm
stretching a point there, since SSD cache drives aren't the sort of thing that
you find in many PCs, but mini PCI Express Wi-Fi cards are as rare as hen's
teeth.
There is another curious feature on the I/O
panel, where you'll find HDMI and mini Display Port outputs for the integrated
graphics. These take up very little space and leave plenty of room for the
surround sound audio, four USB 3.0, two USB 2.0 and two eSATA ports, but EVGA
has missed a trick, because it doesn't include a mini Display Port adapter in
the package. On the plus side, EVGA does supply a handful of SATA and power
cables.
Installing the Z77 Stinger in the PC case
is easy enough, although the SATA connectors are a bit fiddly Things get less
satisfactory after that and, for starters, updating the BIOS is a clunky
process. The downloaded file unzips to produce a number of files and the user
then picks the appropriate batch file for your OS {32-bit or 54-bit) before the
software works its magic.
Generally speaking, I would have no
expectation that a mini- ITX system would overclock, but the Z77 Stinger looks
like a proper motherboard and uses a high-end chipset that supports Core i7
with fast memory.
In practice, the overclocking was something
of a disappointment, because the BIOS doesn't include an XMP option for the
memory. This is aggravating, because the default memory speed is 1,333MHz so
you're pretty much obliged to overclock if you want to get default performance
from your memory. You may well need to increase the memory voltage (say, to
1.65V), which involves keying in your chosen value. This is a little confusing,
since the current voltage is reported as 1.504V (with V as the unit), but you
key in a four-digit mV figure such a 1650. Once I'd jumped through that
particular hoop, I found the 2,133MHz setting didn't work with my 2,400MHz
Kingston memory and ended up using a mere 1,600MHz. This took a degree of trial
and error, and each time the settings failed the PC would reboot endlessly,
forcing me to use the reset button on the I/O panel and start the process again
from scratch.
In
practice, the overclocking was something of a disappointment, because the BIOS
doesn't include an XMP option for the memory.
EVGA allows you to adjust the base clock
setting in the BIOS, but you cannot alter the Turbo Boost limit.
Head to the EVGA website and you can
download the E-Leet utility, once you've registered your details. It's a neat
piece of software that based on CPUID, but the slider controls only allow you
to reduce Turbo Boost but not to increase it
On the other hand, if you have no intention
of overclocking you SFF PC, you won't be troubled by this aspect of the
hardware. You will, however, have to swallow hard as you cough up the steep
price of $225.
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Details
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Price: $225
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Manufacturer: EVGA
·
Website: www.evga.com
Ratings
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Overall: 6
·
Quality: 8
·
Value: 5
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