ASUS P8Z77-V Pro vs Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H

[Salamander]

I'm collecting parts for a new build, and have narrowed my motherboard choices to the ASUS P8Z77-V Pro and the Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H. I'm interested in feedback regarding how they compare in terms of quality, reliability, and stability.

 

[utahraptor]

Here are some differences I am seeing:

Audio:
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H - Realtek ALC898 codec
Asus P8Z77-V PRO - Realtek ALC892 codec

Winner: Gigabyte (Superior Audio Quality)

Memory Support:

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H - Support for DDR3 2400(OC)/1600/1333/1066 MHz memory modules

Asus P8Z77-V PRO - 4 x DIMM, Max. 32GB, DDR3 2600(O.C.)/2400(O.C.)/2200(O.C.)/2133(O.C.)/2000(O.C.)/1866(O.C.)/1800(O.C.)/1600/1333 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory

Winner: Asus (If you need/want to run 2600 modules)

Ethernet Support:

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H -
1 x Atheros GbE LAN chip (10/100/1000 Mbit) (LAN1)
1 x Intel GbE LAN chip (10/100/1000 Mbit) (LAN2)

Asus P8Z77-V PRO -
Intel® 82579V, 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller(s)

Winner: Gigabyte (The Gigabyte has two Ethernet ports opposed to one for Asus)

Expansion Slots:

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H -

1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16)
* For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16 slot.

1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x8 (PCIEX8)
* The PCIEX8 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX16 slot. When the PCIEX8 slot is populated, the PCIEX16 slot will operate at up to x8 mode.

1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4)
* The PCIEX4 slot is available only when an Intel 22nm (Ivy Bridge) CPU is installed.
* The PCIEX4 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX8 and PCIEX16 slots. When the PCIEX4 slot is populated, the PCIEX16 slot will operate at up to x8 mode and the PCIEX8 will operate at up to x4 mode.
(The PCIEX16, PCIEX8 and PCIEX4 slots conform to PCI Express 3.0 standard.)
* PCIE Gen.3 is dependent on CPU and expansion card compatibility.

3 x PCI Express x1 slots
(All PCI Express x1 slots conform to PCI Express 2.0 standard.)

1 x PCI slot

Asus P8Z77-V PRO -

2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8) *3
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4 mode, black)
2 x PCIe 2.0 x1 *4
2 x PCI

Winner: Gigabyte (When using 3 GPUs, the last card will get a 4x 3.0 slot opposed to the Asus board only providing 4x at 2.0 speeds)

Storage:

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H -

Chipset:

2 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (SATA3 0/SATA3 1) supporting up to 2 SATA 6Gb/s devices
4 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (SATA2 2~5) supporting up to 4 SATA 3Gb/s devices
1 x mSATA connector
* The SATA2 5 connector will become unavailable when the mSATA connector is installed with a solid state drive.
Support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10
* When a RAID set is built across the SATA 6Gb/s and SATA 3Gb/s channels, the system performance of the RAID set may vary depending on the devices being connected.

2 x Marvell 88SE9172 chips:

3 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (GSATA3 6/7/8) supporting up to 3 SATA 6Gb/s devices
1 x eSATA 6Gb/s connector on the back panel supporting up to 1 SATA 6Gb/s device
Support for RAID 0 and RAID 1

Asus P8Z77-V PRO -

Intel® Z77 chipset :
2 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), gray
4 x SATA 3Gb/s port(s), blue
Support Raid 0, 1, 5, 10
Supports Intel® Smart Response Technology, Intel® Rapid Start Technology, Intel® Smart Connect Technology *5
ASMedia® PCIe SATA controller : *6
2 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), navy blue

Winner: Gigabyte (Gigabyte has 10 total sata ports, 5 of which are 6Gb/s vs Asus at 8 total with only 4 6Gb/s)

Wireless:

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H - None
Asus P8Z77-V PRO - Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Supports single band frequency 2.4GHz

Winner: Asus

Other than that, the mobos are about the same.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

I would take the asus even if it costs more

 

[Salamander]

I would take the asus even if it costs more

Can you elaborate as to why?

 

[rickon66]

Can you elaborate as to why?

Same reason I would say Gigabyte, I got one.

 

[supremor]

One thing nobody mentioned is that the ASUS has 16 phase power (12 for CPU, 4 for iGPU) while the Gigabyte has 12 phase power (presumably 8 CPU, 4 GPU).
The UD5H also has power/reset/cmos buttons on the board itself if that sort of thing is of any use to you.

Honestly while I prefer ASUS boards myself I really don't think you can go wrong with either of them.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Gigabyte have too many issues with boot cycles and other bugs in last few gens. They used to be good before core I series was released. Besides asus OCs better.

 

[Dkcode]

ASUS without a doubt.

Some people are happy with their UD5's and the boards look great especially with the thick 2x copper PCB. Problem is there has been a lot of people having problems with random freezing and lockups with this board.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

One thing nobody mentioned is that the ASUS has 16 phase power (12 for CPU, 4 for iGPU) while the Gigabyte has 12 phase power (presumably 8 CPU, 4 GPU).
The UD5H also has power/reset/cmos buttons on the board itself if that sort of thing is of any use to you.

Honestly while I prefer ASUS boards myself I really don't think you can go wrong with either of them.

I was going to mention the phase-power design. Last year's Z68 offering had some midrange to "deluxe" P8Z68 boards with the same (or nearly) phase-power design as the flagship Maximus. The Maximus IV Extreme Z had little plastic cups on it and voltage leads, so you could test voltages easily with a multimeter without struggling to assure contact.

If I were building an Ivy Bridge (or Sandy) this year, I'd get a Z77 board. I've favored ASUS (mostly) for the last nine years, but the board-makers struggle every year to release winners, knowing whatever they know about the competition.

It is extremely likely I would pick an ASUS Z77 board under that scenario. I've browsed the P8Z77(. . ) offerings, the Sabertooth and the Maximus V's. What I usually do, though, is run a search for reviews of particular boards, especially from testing-lab sites like Tom's or X-bit or Tech-Report. Then I run a search for forum reviews from all over the world if they pop up. I start comparing their results and look for signs on forums that this or that isn't working properly or that BIOS revisions are sorely needed. And without a doubt, I start comparing "feature descriptions and specifications" between boards in the same price ranges. I even study the customer-reviews: If a board has ten or twenty reviews at the Egg just after initial release, I look at the 1, 2, and 3-star ratings to see if if the "Cons" are based on some real short-coming, or if there's some peculiar situation that caused problems, or the reviewers were just eggplant newbies who just didn't know what they were doing or talking about. I look at the frequency-counts of reviews-- which tells me what's popular even for a trade-off between price and features.

With last year's Z68 releases, Gigabyte just didn't fare too well among per some exchanges I had here at Anandtech. AsRock boards were touted as outstanding and quickly garnered advocates, but as I understand, AsRock is an ASUS susidiary.

There's always a chance some outfit like eVGA or Gigabyte will score some kudos in every successive annual round of board releases. I've hardly even looked at eVGA boards recently, but I had a 780i board and it is still running tip-top. They had a "Classified" line they released for socket 1366.

A lot of Senior Maestro Guru Masters here at Anandtech forums are using ASUS boards this last couple years. I may not be one of the Anandtech Illuminati or I'm exaggerating this assertion, but I did my homework on the last go-around. I'm absolutely sure of it.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

I just got an Asus P8Z77-V Pro to replace an ASRock board that had coil whine. I really like the Asus board. It's quite robust and exudes build quality compared to the ASRock. I also read in a review that the Gigabyte board currently has issues with DPC Latency. Perhaps this has been resolved in a BIOS update, but it's definitely something to keep in mind if you play much music.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I just got an Asus P8Z77-V Pro to replace an ASRock board that had coil whine. I really like the Asus board. It's quite robust and exudes build quality compared to the ASRock. I also read in a review that the Gigabyte board currently has issues with DPC Latency. Perhaps this has been resolved in a BIOS update, but it's definitely something to keep in mind if you play much music.

so I guess they found the right combination with the Z68 board, and the Z77s are continuing the trend . . . I really like my P8Z68-V Pro . . .