Who makes the best Z77 board for around $200?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
T

TheInternal

Senior member
Jul 7, 2006
447
0
76
Howdy. I'm waaaay out of the loop on the state of manufacturers for motherboards in terms of likelihood to run into trouble and reliability record.

I'm curious what brands are currently more popular right now. I think I'm going to pick up the ASUS P8Z77-V Pro (it's apparently got great fan controls, a clean UEFI, and is easy to do a moderate overclock on), but the MSI Z77A-GD65 caught my interest, and someone else suggested the Gigabyte Z77X-D3H... which I'd probably go with the UD3H over the plain D3H... any other thoughts or suggestions for a reliable motherboard with good integrated audio, crossfire / sli support, good reliability, good fan control, clean power, and easy to run a core i5 overclocked at 4.5 GHz air cooled?
 
2

2is

Diamond Member
Apr 8, 2012
4,281
131
106
ASUS P8Z77-V Pro is a great choice. Very pleased with mine.
 
D

dma0991

Platinum Member
Mar 17, 2011
2,723
1
0
The Z77A-GD65 is hard to beat based on looks. Feature wise, almost any Z77 board at that price range is similar. I would like to point out that the onboard sound is lacklustre and it is hardly loud even with a pair of headphones with low impedence. It didn't bother me much as I've always wanted a sound card or a DAC which I am currently using, for better sound quality and volume.
 
Meghan54

Meghan54

Lifer
Oct 18, 2009
11,684
5,225
136
Asus Maximus V Gene....if you can live with the mATX form factor, probably one of the best OC'ing Z77 motherboards out there at a "reasonable" price with a host of upscale features....like an Intel NIC, better than decent sound, etc.
 
A

aaksheytalwar

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2012
3,389
0
76
Overall, Maximum V. Period.

For full ATX, Asrock Extreme 6. Period.

If you can go around $250-300 then Asus Z77 Deluxe is good too as well. But nothing much over an Asrock except for perhaps onboard wifi, but not better performance wise.
 
cmdrdredd

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
Gigabyte's Z77 offerings are very solid. Nothing wrong with them whatsoever. They have fixed everything that went wrong with the p67 and z68.
 
scope4live

scope4live

Junior Member
Jul 24, 2006
20
0
0
Well all manufacturers have great boards after 6 months of their release.
QC is applied at a later date.
I swore to never leave Intel boards since I like RAM more than CPU,
So I went with the UD5 X58 and found that their PCI-e 1X was flawed.
I immediately RMA'd it for another, same problem.
So I stayed with my E8600/P35 and a year later got the X58A-GD65 and was pleased.
My buddies all went for the UD5 since it took Gigabyte 4 months to adresss the PCI-e 1X issue.
All I can say is if you are into audio, it's always better to wait with any manufacturer
since sell and fix later is from fierce Tier 1 competition.
I never once had a single issue with Intel motherboards, or Supermicro boards from the Celeron 200A days. Even up until the X58s.

I like the feature laiden boards now better, but I wait for other audio buddies to check their purchases first.
For example remember 32bit PCI slots...?
My bros use 32bit full length DSP accelerators and were excited to see 3 x PCI slots released again with new CPUs/Chipsets......
Seems that PCI compatability on the 1155s was overlooked, as if they weren't even tested when they came form the manufacturer.

But nobody benches on the PCI-e 1X Slot so I am going to take a chance and see if I can bypass the SM Bus, and put my PCI-e 1X connector on a PCI 3.0 slot direct connection to the CPU............Z77 Asus Sabertooth for me.

Fingers Crossed...
 
cmdrdredd

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
I have a Maximus V Gene in my hands right now so that would probably be my choice. I looked hard at all the options out there and my top 3 would have to be the following based on everything I've read and researched.

Asus Maximus V Gene
Asus P8Z77-V Pro
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H
 
Madmick

Madmick

Member
Apr 7, 2012
144
0
76
Does the Maximus Gene V have the space to SLI a pair of 670's? I just worry that I'd end up having spacing problems with liquid cooling, sundry PCI/PCIe cards, and then two major GPU's like this.
 
DigDog

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
14,478
2,890
126
all i know is that forums everywhere are filled with people having mobo problems, and gigabyte seems to be the least mentioned. and yeah, they sell a lot. even the extreme 4 (possibly the best mobo for $$) is a hit n miss affair, lots of happy folks but also lots of people with minor bugs.
 
Don Karnage

Don Karnage

Platinum Member
Oct 11, 2011
2,865
0
0
Madmick said:
Does the Maximus Gene V have the space to SLI a pair of 670's? I just worry that I'd end up having spacing problems with liquid cooling, sundry PCI/PCIe cards, and then two major GPU's like this.
Click to expand...

You'll have tons of space if going with 670's on water
 
cmdrdredd

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
Madmick said:
Does the Maximus Gene V have the space to SLI a pair of 670's? I just worry that I'd end up having spacing problems with liquid cooling, sundry PCI/PCIe cards, and then two major GPU's like this.
Click to expand...

Yes it does, but I don't know how it'll space out for a water setup. Might want to ask around for measurements of people who SLI with it and see.

DigDog said:
all i know is that forums everywhere are filled with people having mobo problems, and gigabyte seems to be the least mentioned. and yeah, they sell a lot. even the extreme 4 (possibly the best mobo for $$) is a hit n miss affair, lots of happy folks but also lots of people with minor bugs.
Click to expand...

Probably because Gigabyte is the least purchased as well. They didn't have UEFI ready for the P67 and their x68 boards had tons of issues that only recently were resolved and some people still get boot loops. I think a lot of people just avoided them this go around.
 
I

imported_mystro

Member
May 6, 2004
157
0
76
Support,Support,Support..since there are very few choices nowadays what with Abit, DFI, Supermicro etc etc basically gone..whichever board your decide on, they damn sure better have quality support and frankly... I don't have a clue if any of the few mobo makers left care after the sale.
Make sure your not paying to be a beta tester.
 
cmdrdredd

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
imported_mystro said:
Support,Support,Support..since there are very few choices nowadays what with Abit, DFI, Supermicro etc etc basically gone..whichever board your decide on, they damn sure better have quality support and frankly... I don't have a clue if any of the few mobo makers left care after the sale.
Make sure your not paying to be a beta tester.
Click to expand...

xtremesystems.org and overclock.net forums have Asus, Asrock, and Gigabyte reps who respond to posts in the official threads.

So if there's something you need help with they will answer. Beyond that I don't know. People claim this company or that company has RMA issues.

I will say that on a forum there someone burnt the board out on a Asrock Z77 Professional. The rep sent a new board out and took the new one in to evaluate the issue. Turns out he plugged a USB header into the Firewire by accident. Anyway, that was pretty good service if you ask me.
 
vailr

vailr

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,365
54
91
What if you wanted to narrow the choices down to:
(a) a full size Z77 ATX board
(b) Price: about $200 or less, and
(c) an onboard Intel branded NIC?

The 3 best Z77 boards available within that criteria seem to be:
ASUS P8Z77-V Pro
MSI Z77A-GD65
Edit:
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H
 
Last edited:
2

2is

Diamond Member
Apr 8, 2012
4,281
131
106
I'd personally stay away from MSI. I like the Asus option best but the Gigabyte is good too.
 
DigDog

DigDog

Lifer
Jun 3, 2011
14,478
2,890
126
@ cmd
yes to the UEFI (i was disappointed too), but it's here now, and gigabyte sells quite a lot; they are still the second best mobo manufacturer yet, as i have had bad experiences with Asus support here in the UK, i'd rather recommend Gb.

me, i'd still go with the cheaper yet fully functional UD3H.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom