Asrock Extreme 4 best z77 board?

[Shephard]

Is the Asrock Extreme 4 the best z77 board? All forum posts I read from different sites say it is the best board for the price.

However I read 2 negative things.

- the board is flimsy and can snap.
- asrock has only 1 year warranty and the worst customer service ever.

so if you get a dead board or it snaps you could be in trouble.

otherwise it is the best, would you agree or disagree?

I don't know any of the other z77 boards.

[blastingcap]

Many boards aren't full ATX so they don't reach all the way to the third set of offsets. So just be careful and hold the board as you insert things like the power connectors and RAM.

3 year warranty is baseline for AsRock Extreme4 Z77 IIRC

If you wanna be cheap but still get a decent board there are many options. But for the price it's not a bad board at all....

[Shephard]

Originally Posted by blastingcap

Many boards aren't full ATX so they don't reach all the way to the third set of offsets. So just be careful and hold the board as you insert things like the power connectors and RAM.

3 year warranty is baseline for AsRock Extreme4 Z77 IIRC

If you wanna be cheap but still get a decent board there are many options. But for the price it's not a bad board at all....

what exactly would I get from going with another company and spending more money?

from chipset chart I was linked in my other thread, all z77 have same features...

So other than better warranty, what do I get?

[blastingcap]

better power phases, SLI support, eSATA, etc., but I don't want to encourage you to continue asking so many basic questions like you've been doing this on the forum, so I will simply say: use google and the comparison tools at sites like newegg. Also, if you have to ask--you probably don't need it. Just get a cheaper no-frills board and you'll be fine.

[Shephard]

whats wrong with asking questions... it's a computer forum and I want to learn from the best. google might have a lot of answers but a lot of crap as well.

I already know about esata and sli/xfire. I don't know what you mean by power phases.

if that's the only differences than it is no wonder Asrock is the best selling z77 board. unless someone has tons of money and wants the color scheme of their build to match. asus red, gigabyte blue, etc.

[lehtv]

Originally Posted by blastingcap

better power phases, SLI support, eSATA, etc.

Err, he asked what he would get from buying a more expensive board than Extreme4 from a different brand, not what he would get from buying Extreme4 over a cheaper board. Extreme4 has 8+4 phase power, better than most its competitors at that price range. Extreme4 also supports SLI, and it has an eSATA 6gb/s port.

Shephard: A board from a different brand would be full width ATX which is worth something as it can make cable management holes and RAM slots more accessible, and as pointed out it can also better secure the motherboard on the standoffs.

A more expensive board from Asus or Gigabyte, for instance, could have better BIOS options. Asus has the best fan control settings. Some premium boards closer to $200 have Wi-Fi support, more SATA 6gb/s ports, and more troubleshooting options. So for the most part, Z77 boards beyond the cost of Z77 Extreme4 aren't worth it. But there are similarly priced SLI boards that you should also take a look at: Asus P8Z77-V LK and Gigabyte Z77X-D3H.

Are you even sure the Z77 chipset is the right for you? Are you going to be overclocking an unlocked processor? And do you really need SLI/Crossfire support - why not just go with a Z77 Pro3 or Pro4?

I don't know what you mean by power phases.

It refers to the motherboard's power delivery to the CPU, RAM and the iGPU. It's expressed in a+b+c, where a is the number of phases to the CPU, b is to the RAM and c is to the iGPU. The iGPU phases are often left out so it's just expressed in a+b, e.g. 8+4 for Z77 Extreme4.

Phases are all part of the motherboard's voltage regulator circuit. Let's look at CPU phases, for instance. All the phases supply the same voltage to the CPU, but they don't do it at the same time, they do it one at a time. I.e. the voltage goes through the number of phases on the motherboard and then starts over. This means that the more phases you have, the less load there is on each phase, which results in more stable voltages and better longevity per phase.

This is a good thing for overclocking, but it doesn't necessarily mean you should spend a lot of money just to get a few more phases. The power requirements of Ivy Bridge processors are relatively low, so I would say that a mainstream overclocker will be fine with just 4-6 phases on the CPU. 8-phase and above is really only useful for more extreme overclocks.

[WiseUp216]

Originally Posted by Shephard

- the board is flimsy and can snap.

It isn't the stiffest board in the world, but are there really people out there breaking them?

I've been swapping components in and out of this board since May and I never felt like this was an issue.

And LOL at "flimsy".

[kleinkinstein]

Flimsy indeed!

[phatTweaker]

As lehtv said if u don't need xfire/sli the pro3 or pro4 is a decent budget board.
When the egg was giving away a free 60GB SSD with the pro4 I bought one to build a budget PC for my sister and so far it has been rock stable.

[skipsneeky2]

Looking forward to purchasing the Extreme 4 myself soon.

Got a locked down i5 2500 in a h61 mobo and for the most part i am dying to overclock something so a 3770k would be awesome.

Overclock it to like 4.4ghz and it should aid my gtx670 real nice.

No other boards under $150 that i see that offer as many power phases if anything extra for the price.

[Shephard]

nice information lehtv.

yes I will be overclocking. I am getting i5 3570k everyone reccomends it. good enough for all games and good for some rendering too!

I think Mfenn recommended Pro 3 to me.

and yes I z77 extreme 4 is flimsy. ok so it's not a full atx board but not micro either so it's a weird in between.

I don't know about crossfire and sli. I will be getting the 7950 I decided. that seems to be good enough to run all the new games on the highest settings and even do triple monitor as I read.

I think crossfire and sli not so much worth. better to just get 1 better card. i read that there are still games that dont like using 2 cards.

I got a micro board right now so that's why I wanted a full board.

- I want to be able to upgrade to more ram if I ever need to. I am starting with 8gb.
- I want 5.1 audio because I can't get soundcard right now. my current board only has 2.1 so my old speakers didn't work I had to sell them.
- I want usb 3.0 for my external hard drive.
- hdmi is good too.
- I want z77 so it has all the features to work with my CPU.
- must overclock so z77 of course.

I think that's it???

[Mfusick]

Asus is best and AsRock is pretty close second for cheaper price

[OmegaSupreme]

I think having the ability to SLI or CF is worthwhile. Sure there are a few games that don't support it, however, the vast majority do. Although, I do change my hardware around more than most people.

I had a pro-4 and it too was a weird in between size. I didn't like it though. I thought the layout sucked and it only had CF support (I've run dual cards since 2005).

I opted for the extreme 6 instead. Better layout, SLI/CF support, and it was a real full size atx board.

For what it's worth, the pro4 didn't "feel" any flimsier than any other board.

[Shephard]

why do you say Asus is best?

Asrock Pro 4 looks good too, just less stuff.

I think for me it will between Extreme 4 and Pro 4 whichever is better price on the Black Friday. Pro 3 doesn't have a lot of USB 3.0 so maybe I don't want that one.

Extreme 6 to expensive for me.

[blastingcap]

A lot of ATX boards aren't full ATX anymore. A lot of shrinks and merging of things like memory controller onto CPU die has meant motherboards don't need to be as complex or physically big as they used to be. I approve.

Originally Posted by Shephard

nice information lehtv.

yes I will be overclocking. I am getting i5 3570k everyone reccomends it. good enough for all games and good for some rendering too!

I think Mfenn recommended Pro 3 to me.

and yes I z77 extreme 4 is flimsy. ok so it's not a full atx board but not micro either so it's a weird in between.

I don't know about crossfire and sli. I will be getting the 7950 I decided. that seems to be good enough to run all the new games on the highest settings and even do triple monitor as I read.

I think crossfire and sli not so much worth. better to just get 1 better card. i read that there are still games that dont like using 2 cards.

I got a micro board right now so that's why I wanted a full board.

- I want to be able to upgrade to more ram if I ever need to. I am starting with 8gb.
- I want 5.1 audio because I can't get soundcard right now. my current board only has 2.1 so my old speakers didn't work I had to sell them.
- I want usb 3.0 for my external hard drive.
- hdmi is good too.
- I want z77 so it has all the features to work with my CPU.
- must overclock so z77 of course.

I think that's it???

[Shephard]

what mobo do you have blastingcap I forgot to ask.

[birthdaymonkey]

I tried two Extreme4 and sent em both back because they exhibited coil whine. I'm much happier with the Asus P8Z77-V Pro I got instead (which did set me back an extra $40).

[Shephard]

well that ASUS board above got really bad reviews. Many complaints I see. I already know ASUS has the worst RMA in the biz! Wouldn't want to get a bad board and then deal with that pain.

The Gigabyte one looks ok though.

[Rvenger]

The gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H is a good board. Also, I had absolutely no issues with the 2 Asrock Z77 Extreme 4s that I have owned. They were very quiet. I also owned the Extreme 6.

[birthdaymonkey]

Originally Posted by Shephard

well that ASUS board above got really bad reviews. Many complaints I see. I already know ASUS has the worst RMA in the biz! Wouldn't want to get a bad board and then deal with that pain.

Really bad reviews?? 4 egg average is outstanding for a motherboard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131819

In addition to good newegg reviews, it (and all of the Asus P8Z77 series) received raves from hardware sites, which contributed to my own decision to purchase.

[Shephard]

Originally Posted by birthdaymonkey

Really bad reviews?? 4 egg average is outstanding for a motherboard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131819

In addition to good newegg reviews, it (and all of the Asus P8Z77 series) received raves from hardware sites, which contributed to my own decision to purchase.

well I look at the 1-3 egg reviews first. Those reviews on the ASUS board have much worse things to say than the Asrock board.

[birthdaymonkey]

Originally Posted by Shephard

well I look at the 1-3 egg reviews first. Those reviews on the ASUS board have much worse things to say than the Asrock board.

Looks to me like they both have 25% 1-3 egg reviews, but the Extreme4 has a higher percentage of 1-egg reviews and DOAs.

Of course, I'm biased because of my own experience with an Extreme4, where I ended up doing two RMAs to get a board (the P8Z77-V Pro) that met my expectations.

[Shephard]

well I appreciate your responses it does help me.

I think it will come down to which is board has the best deal on the Black Friday. If there is a good combo deal with the 3570k then I will grab that.

Would you say these are the top 3 z77 boards then for price? Asrock Extreme 4, ASUS P8Z77-V LK and Gigabyte Z77X-D3H?

[BonzaiDuck]

Originally Posted by birthdaymonkey

Looks to me like they both have 25% 1-3 egg reviews, but the Extreme4 has a higher percentage of 1-egg reviews and DOAs.

Of course, I'm biased because of my own experience with an Extreme4, where I ended up doing two RMAs to get a board (the P8Z77-V Pro) that met my expectations.

I'll bet there are quite a few folks who would promote the -V Pro board. I've recommended it, and I don't even have one: I have the Z68-V-Pro.

But I'm guessing that birthdaymonkey is like me. He wants the over-clockability, the phase-power design, the "dual intelligent processors" and switches, and the UEFI-BIOS options.

If I were to build a system for anyone in my family, I might consider several low-end to mid-range boards. What they need are reliable computers that are fast enough but set on default processor and memory options. Sometimes, they get better, because of hand-me-downs.

And I would consider among the several other boards already mentioned, but look first at the Asus and AsRock boards. Maybe the reviews this year for Gigabyte have turned around, and I'm sure they offer several good boards.

But like I said: depends on what you want, and even on what others want . . . .

[Shephard]

Don't all modern motherboards have UEFI bios??? That is the modern bios that works with mouse and has colors right?