I feel the need to start this review with
an admission: I managed to break the P8Z77-V LX motherboard that Asus first
sent me for this group test. This was entirely my fault and occurred when I
removed the protective cap from the CPU socket. The cap flipped in the air,
spun a time or two and dropped on the bare socket. In the process it bent some
of the CPU contact pins and that right there was a dead motherboard.
I put in a call to Asus and discovered that
I had broken their only sample of that particular model, so the next day I
received an Asus P8H77-M SI which is a micro-ATX board that sells for $104,
rather than the $128 that is charged for P8Z77-V LX.
The
two boards bear a strong cosmetic resemblance to each other, apart from the
obvious point that the P8H77-M SI is shorter and has a limited selection of
expansion slots.
The two boards bear a strong cosmetic
resemblance to each other, apart from the obvious point that the P8H77-M SI is
shorter and has a limited selection of expansion slots. As you may have guessed
from the model code, this Asus is the only motherboard in the group to employ
the H77 chipset, rather than the full-on Z77. This is a simple way to reduce
costs on a micro-ATX design, since the H77 cannot split PCI Express lanes
between multiple graphics slots, but that isn't a problem when you only have a
single graphics slot on the board. The H77 also restricts your ability to
overclock an unlocked CPU, but frankly I'm happy to limit my overclocking to
raising the Turbo Boost limit.
There are, however, significant limitations
in the specification of the P8H77-M SI that are a clear result of cost cutting.
You won't be surprised to learn this micro-ATX model only has two DDR3 memory
slots, but the chipset heat-sink is a teeny, tiny piece of aluminum and the
power regulation hardware relies on passing airflow to keep it cool. Down in
one corner of the board we find the six native SATA connectors that all stand
vertically, but Asus has done something clever by locating the two SATA 6Gbps
connectors at the bottom edge of the motherboard with the four SATA 3Gbps
connectors arranged towards the graphics slot.
Turning
to the I/O panel, I struggle to feel a sense of joy and happiness.
This means that even if you use a chunky
great graphics card that covers a couple of connectors you're only losing two
slow connectors and still have access to the two fast ones.
Turning to the I/O panel, I struggle to
feel a sense of joy and happiness. Most of the hardware consists of HDMI, DVI-D
and VGA outputs for the integrated graphics. Apart from that, you get a single
PS/2, two USB 3.0, four USB 2.0, gigabit Ethernet and three analogue audio
jacks. Admittedly you will find one mid-board USB 3.0 header and three USB 2.0
headers, but this assumes you have some case mounted USB ports. Any decent case
should fit the bill, but the fact of the matter is that Asus has left a heap of
space on the I/O panel and could have easily added two or four more USB ports.
If you're looking for top- notch
performance, then you should probably avoid the P8H77-M SI. It only has two fan
headers and the UEFI setup screen doesn't offer much to over-clockers. For
example, there's an option labelled Al Overclock Tuner, but this only enables
XMP and does not adjust the CPU speed. That's not the end of the matter as the
two XMP profiles on offer are 2,000MHz and 2,200MHz rather than the 2,133MHz
and 2.400MHz I expected to see.
This
is clearly a motherboard that offers value for money, rather than performance
or features.
I also found there was no option to adjust
Turbo Boost limit so I tested the Asus with the CPU running at stock clock
speeds and it performed admirably. This is clearly a motherboard that offers
value for money, rather than performance or features.
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Details
·
Price: $104
·
Manufacturer: Asus
·
Website: www.asus.com
Ratings
·
Overall: 7
·
Quality: 6
·
Value: 7
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