Z77 mITX Round-Up: Five of the Best – MSI, Zotac, ASRock, EVGA and ASUS
by Ian Cutress on December 31, 2012 7:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- MSI
- ASRock
- EVGA
- ZOTAC
- Asus
- Ivy Bridge
- Z77
- mITX
Final Words
Despite being a motherboard reviewer for the past couple of years, my foray into the world of mini-ITX based products was initially into the realm of the unknown. I am by no means a HTPC specialist or enthusiast by virtue of circumstance (the small amount of color blindness and a large dollop of tone deafness does not help either), until I decided to fork over some money for a mITX gaming case and get to work. On posting some mITX news regarding a couple of the boards reviewed in this article, the responses I received from the readers of AnandTech pointed towards a request for large mITX review, and thankfully all the big players came to the table with their offerings.
Trying to fit everything on a 17cm x 17cm PCB is not easy. Some manufacturers (MSI, Zotac, ASRock) opt for placing the chipset above the socket for more space along the edges of the motherboard, although this compromises the position of the CPU 8-pin power connector and the size of the CPU heatsink that can be used. Others (ASUS, EVGA) place the socket on top like more typical ATX offerings, with ASUS going a step further and actually removing the VRM off the main motherboard altogether.
We also see a mixture of network, audio and video output offerings along the range. The Zotac offers a pair of Realtek NICs, whereas as all other offer either a single Realtek (MSI), a single Broadcom (ASRock), or a single Intel (EVGA, ASUS). The lower tier manufacturers (EVGA, Zotac) slump a little in the audio codec with an ALC889, MSI has the ALC892, and ASUS/ASRock get the ALC898. EVGA fail to offer a WiFi module, whereas all the others give a standard 802.11 b/g/n except ASUS, whom also enable 5 GHz compatibility. Readers wanting WiDi either have to look at the Gigabyte 7-series mITX or the ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe/WD model.
Manufacturers differ wildly in their package, BIOS and software offerings. Few packages arise above a few SATA cables and antenna – Zotac add in a mDP to DP connector, a USB 3.0 bracket and an 8-pin extension cable, whereas ASRock throw in a DVI-I to VGA converter and EVGA think best to supply molex to SATA power cables. Almost everyone has a graphical BIOS interface except EVGA, who are hoping for one with the 8-series and Haswell. Software also varies from near nil (Zotac, EVGA) to a myriad of programs (MSI, ASRock) to a complete all-in-one package (ASUS).
|
Gigabyte H77N-WiFi |
MSI Z77IA-E53 |
Zotac Z77-ITX WiFi |
ASRock Z77E-ITX |
EVGA Z77 Stinger |
ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe |
|
| Price | $120 | $145 | $161 | $150 | $200 | $185 |
| CPU OC | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PCIe 8-Pin | Middle-Left | Bottom-Left | Bottom-Left | Middle-Left | Top-Left | Top-Right |
| LAN |
2 x Realtek 8111E |
Realtek 8111E |
2 x Realtek 8111E |
Broadcom BCM57781 |
Intel 82574L |
Intel 82579V |
| WiFi | 802.11 b/g/n WiFi/WiDi | 802.11 b/g/n WiFi | 802.11 b/g/n WiFi | 802.11 b/g/n WiFi | - |
WiFi 2.5 GHz + 5 GHz |
| Audio |
Realtek ALC892 |
Realtek ALC892 |
Reaktek ALC889 |
Realtek ALC898 |
Realtek ALC889 |
Realtek ALC898 |
| SATA 6/3/m | 2 + 2 | 2 + 2 | 2 + 2 + 1 | 2 + 2 + 1 | 2 + 2 | 2 + 2 |
| USB 3/2 | 4 + 6 | 4 + 6 | 4 + 8 | 6 + 6 | 6 + 6 | 6 + 8 |
| Fan Headers | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Video Outputs |
HDMI x 2 DVI-I |
HDMI VGA |
2 x HDMI mDP |
HDMI DP DVI-I |
HDMI mDP |
DVI-I HDMI DP |
| PS/2 Port | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| In The Box |
2 x SATA Cables 2 x Antenna |
2 x SATA Cables 1 x Antenna |
4 x SATA Cables 2 x Antenna USB 3.0 Bracket mDP to DP Connector 8-pin CPU Extension |
2 x SATA Cables 2 x Antenna DVI-I to VGA |
4 x SATA Cables Molex to 2x SATA Power Molex to 3x SATA Power |
4 x SATA Cables 2 x Magnetic Antenna |
Performance does not show any clear winner, though there are some noticeable results. The ASRock draws more power than the rest under discrete GPU loading and is significantly slower on our WinRar testing. The MSI suffers in USB 2.0 speed quite dramatically, especially when compared to the USB boosting techniques used by ASRock for USB 2.0 – ASUS use different techniques to boost their USB 3.0 speed, which we have tested in the past to provide a better benefit under small transfer sizes. ASUS scored significant wins in WinRAR and FastStone, and the discrete GPU performance is also noteworthy.
As a result of all the testing, I have decided to give one recommendation and one bronze award to the following:
ASRock Z77E-ITX: Recommendation
The ASRock Z77E-ITX provides a solid package that hits the price/performance ratio square on the jaw. Their BIOS and software packages provide a better all around experience than most of the competition, and the ease of use ticks all the boxes. Placing the mSATA on the reverse of the motherboard is a great idea. Where some companies are trying to innovate on the hardware, ASRock are attacking both hardware and software, with perhaps some room for improvement. But at $150 (or in the sales) it is definitely worth a look.
ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe: Bronze Award
While the ASUS may not strike bang-for-buck, it does hit the target of being the best board in this roundup without hitting the prize for being the most expensive. With a daughterboard for the VRMs, the P8Z77-I Deluxe willfully expands the available PCB area without an ounce of regret, paving the way for future designs of a similar nature on other products. We get the best audio codec out of the bunch, the best Ethernet NIC, a (personally) preferred socket/chipset orientation, stellar performance in selected benchmarks, and one the best BIOS/Software combinations available. Also, USB ports and video outputs galore, with perpendicular ring antenna combined with a 5 GHz WiFi module. Minor defects are what separate the great from the supreme products, but the great ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe should be in the back of your mind no matter what Z77 mITX you decide to purchase.
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mike_b - Monday, December 31, 2012 - link
Interesting article, but I have to ask why would someone spend more for a Z77 chipset when using 'just' an i3? Surely a much cheaper H61 chipset could do the job admirably, and at much lower cost.Z77 makes sense if you're overclocking, which is excluded from this test...
IanCutress - Monday, December 31, 2012 - link
H61 has no chipset USB 3.0, no chipset SATA 6 Gbps, and you are limited to PCIe 2.0. H61 is also technically limited to one single sided DIMM per channel, and no SATA RAID. There's also SRT to consider, that would be advantageous with the ASRock and the mSATA on the rear.Ian
mike_b - Monday, December 31, 2012 - link
It might make an interesting comparison to see what net advantage is gained with the added features of the Z77 chipset compared with the H61. If budgets are limited the ~100 dollar cost difference between the Z77 and H61 mainboards makes a big difference; that money saved could be put into something which makes more of a performance difference (SSD rather than HDD for example).Anandtech is one of the best tech sites around, you guys do a great job. I do sometimes see though an emphasis on more expensive products when in terms of real-world performance you could get almost the same thing at a much cheaper price. Might be worth mentioning somewhere.
Not least because with yet another new socket coming with Haswell all these 1155 boards will be seen as out of date soon anyway.
IanCutress - Monday, December 31, 2012 - link
Once we get into the swing with Haswell, we will hopefully covering the whole spectrum. Though it is worth noting that motherboard manufacturers, want to put their best foot forward, and would prefer their halo/channel boards get covered before their OEM / low end offerings. Hence this is why you rarely see many mainstream reviews that are not from forums dedicated to the market segment and users testing their own equipment. We are hoping to rectify the balance in due course. If there are any specific products you might want us to test or examine, drop me an email and I'll see what I can put in my schedule (as full as it is[!]) :)Ian
StormyParis - Monday, December 31, 2012 - link
This is a major issue, not limited to motherboards: whenever I'm looking for something middle of the road or outright cheap, I can't find reviews.These Z77 MBs are a nice example: even though I'm recommending/building PCs regularly, most of them mini-ITX, I never came across a use case for Z77. Nobody apart from teens that still have something to prove overclocks anymore. People who want to do multi-GPU get a big case, and a big board. Are we supposed the extrapolate that the makers of good Z77 boards also make good H77 and H61 boards ?
I understand you've got to make do with what you're given by the OEMs. And that reviews was very good, as usual. Pity it is irrelevant ?
Tech-Curious - Monday, December 31, 2012 - link
That's an interesting observation. I have to say, I never noticed a significant lack of coverage for low-to-mid-range components (either in general or on Anandtech in particular), until this Fall, when I was in the market for a lower end motherboard.I guess I just always gravitated to higher end mobos before. Or maybe the coverage for such products was more comprehensive years ago. My memory's foggy, so it's hard to say.
In any case, motherboards appear to be the exception. If anything, I think the internet has generally grown more bullish on low-to-mid-range CPUs and GPUs in recent years (probably, in part, as a result of the stagnating console situation, which results in stagnating system requirements for games).
But all of that rambling aside, yeah. It'd be nice to see more diverse motherboard analysis. When I bought a b75 a couple of months ago, I literally couldn't find a review for that chipset. It wasn't a big deal; it's not like b75's features are any great mystery, after all -- but it is a little nettlesome to trip over sixty bajillion z77 reviews when there's nary peep about any other chipset.
In other news, Ian's review is a good one -- and given that I've been a faithful user of Asus motherboards for the last 15 years, it's nice to see them take home the prize. :)
Etern205 - Saturday, January 5, 2013 - link
My guess would be, why review a cheap board when majority of the readers here won't even bother buying it?And as for Asus boards, I've heard, they do something called based-line features. This means all boards from the bottom of the range to the top (Intel B75-Z77) will have the same base-line features, other features are just added like BT, WiFi, extra lan, etc.
Tech-Curious - Wednesday, January 9, 2013 - link
Yes, I think the issue is that (at least with respect to Intel chipsets) low-end motherboards don't support overclocking. So they're both less interesting to review (fewer measurable differences in performance among different models), and they're less appealing to the presumed audience of sites like Anandtech.Still, the B75 is a perfectly good chipset. If you aren't heavily invested in overclocking, z77's advantages are likely wasted on you. Personally, I'm well beyond my overclocking days; I just don't have the time or the patience to go through the almost endless tuning process anymore. (Even if you find a stable OC at the outset, it can become unstable later, and/or a given application might expose instability that stress testing didn't, weeks or even months down the road).
jonjonjonj - Friday, January 4, 2013 - link
just cause you don't overclock doesn't mean other people don't. why wouldn't you? because you want to get the fastest cpu that you can afford means you have something to prove? some people are just idiots.Zap - Monday, December 31, 2012 - link
But there isn't a $100 difference between H61 and Z77. There is a cheaper Gigabyte Z77 ITX board that's only around $60 more than the cheapest H61 ITX board, and it was even on sale recently for another $13 off making it less than $50 difference.Alternately one can go the H77 ITX route and get all the Z77 goodies except for overclocking, for around $30 less than the cheapest Z77 ITX. I think $30 more than H61 is reasonable for those extra features, plus guaranteed out-of-the-box BIOS support for Ivy Bridge.
I do agree with your (mike_b) first post regarding the choice of CPU used. Ian Cutress, didn't you have a spare K CPU laying around? There are so many people building overclocked ITX rigs these days. I did in a Silverstone SG05 with low profile air cooler to hit 4.2GHz. Plenty of others use the Bitfenix Prodigy and liquid cooling to hit clocks normally reserved for ATX rigs. Another review site (Tweaktown) tested overclocking on Z77 ITX boards and the ASRock hit near 4.8GHz. THAT'S what I want to see.
Of course this AnandTech roundup has some very useful information too, such as DPC latency tests and POST times. Keep up the good work there! But please, know your audience. Next time if the board is supposed to be overclockable, test that feature.
Maybe there can be a companion article about overclocking and heatsink clearance? Would be a shame to not overclock this nice collection of Z77 ITX boards.