CPU/Mobo In search of a decent Z77 Board

Darklord

Darklord

Skilled
I am looking to buy a new motherboard for my home PC. Since Ivy Bridge seems to be the most happening thing right now. I thought let's stick to that and go for a Z77 based board right now. Nothing too expensive maybe 10-13kish maybe if possible ? What are my options ?
I am not a gamer. I use this machine purely for browsing, watching HD movies, listening to music and so on, the usual stuff.

Help me decide a nice board guys.

Thanks.
 
For this budget nothing will beat a MSI Z77 GD65. However, my first choice would be Asrock Z77 Extreme6 if you can find it. Second choice Z77 Extreme 4. Third choice MSI.

Asus is very good as well, but not in your budget. Better buy Z77 over Z68, so forget about Asus in this budget unless you want to go around 16k which too isn't worth while because in the Z77 round, Asrock > Asus in nearly every way.

Just avoid gigabyte for SB/Ivy CPUs.

My next board might be an Asrock as well, and this coming from a Z77 Deluxe owner who spent over 22k on his board when upgrading from P67 :)
 
Darklord said:
I am looking to buy a new motherboard for my home PC. Since Ivy Bridge seems to be the most happening thing right now. I thought let's stick to that and go for a Z77 based board right now. Nothing too expensive maybe 10-13kish maybe if possible ? What are my options ?
I am not a gamer. I use this machine purely for browsing, watching HD movies, listening to music and so on, the usual stuff.

Help me decide a nice board guys.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
*cough choke splutter* Maximus V Gene. Though it's micro-ATX, costs a little more but totally worth it imho.
BTW, is this the return of "the" Darklord? :hail:
 
ASUS P8Z77-M PRO-11.5k OR Asus P8Z77-V-14.5k/Asus Maximus Gene-V-14.5k Would be the best and VFM choice for OP.
 
@Darklord. If i were you. Then my first choice goes to Asrock Z77 Extreme 6 or 4. If you didn't find the MOB in online or shop then go for asus Z77 board. [MENTION=41634]Jakob suggested you.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Akash said:
Get p8z68 deluxe or get maximus 5 gene
Click to expand...

Since I am buying now, I guess its a good idea to stick to Z77, no ? I know there isn't much difference between Z68 and Z77 but if I am gonna put down 10-15k, might as well do it for better, newer stuff,right ?

rite said:
For this budget nothing will beat a MSI Z77 GD65. However, my first choice would be Asrock Z77 Extreme6 if you can find it. Second choice Z77 Extreme 4. Third choice MSI.

Asus is very good as well, but not in your budget. Better buy Z77 over Z68, so forget about Asus in this budget unless you want to go around 16k which too isn't worth while because in the Z77 round, Asrock > Asus in nearly every way.

Just avoid gigabyte for SB/Ivy CPUs.

My next board might be an Asrock as well, and this coming from a Z77 Deluxe owner who spent over 22k on his board when upgrading from P67 :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the inputs. After I went through the posts here, I checked out the MSI board and it really looks very very tempting.A definite contender. I agree with you, Asus boards are on the expensive side but I guess that has always been the case for a very long time now.I have heard a lot about the Asrock boards as well and have read about them a bit. I happen to have used 2 Asrock boards till date,both VFM boards. ATI chipset one failed pretty early on me but the AM2 socket Nvidia chipset one is still going strong, doing duty in one of the office PC.
Looks like Asrock have really gone places since then but STILL, I am not too sure about their BIOS fine tuning capabilities. I would definitely love to try out these Asrock boards but somehow I am not comfortable having one in my Main PC. The one in my Main PC has to be reliable,stable.
Any particular reason for avoiding Gigabyte boards ? I am a big fan of them. Have had the opportunity to use a few and none have ever failed on me. 790FXT-UD5, X58-UD7,890FXA-UD7 are just a few to name. All rock solid boards.

BIKeINSTEIN said:
*cough choke splutter* Maximus V Gene. Though it's micro-ATX, costs a little more but totally worth it imho.
BTW, is this the return of "the" Darklord? :hail:
Click to expand...
Hey Bikey. Long time :)
Any particular reason for choosing the Asus Maximus Gene V ? Good board but somehow I dont feel very comfortable putting down 15k for a mATX board.Maybe its psychological.
Return of the Darklord! LOL whats that supposed to mean ? If you want to find out who it really is, then its Amey. I came here searching for info and found out I cant login and the password needs to be reset and all. So i gave my regular Gmail ID and got details for this account. I dont remember what email ID I had used for my other account with 'Amey' as the username.
Hope that clears things.

sujithbvm said:
The price of MSI Z77A GD65 is 15200 inclusive of all taxes..got one from aashirwaad computers yesterday...insane looking board :)
Click to expand...

Yep, loved the board looks. Simple yet elegant and reeks of quality.I love such boards.

Jakob said:
ASUS P8Z77-M PRO-11.5k OR Asus P8Z77-V-14.5k/Asus Maximus Gene-V-14.5k Would be the best and VFM choice for OP.
Click to expand...

Haven't ever had a mATX board in my main pc so not too comfortable with that idea really.Has to be a Full ATX one. I recently picked up an Asus P8H67-MLX and Core i5 2320 and using it currently, no complaints about the performance but already feel that I need a better featured full atx board. Will use the 2320 as it serves my purpose very well while consuming a lot lesser power than what I had before.
May it be the 790FX + 1090T or the last Classified + W3570, it has always been decent feature full ATX boards. So I think you will understand why I am uncomfortable with mATX boards.

Mac.rock7 said:
Darklord. If i were you. Then my first choice goes to Asrock Z77 Extreme 6 or 4. If you didn't find the MOB in online or shop then go for asus Z77 board. Jakob suggested you.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Explained my outlook about the Asrock boards above. No point explaining again. Thanks for the suggestion though. :)

Here is my current config if it helps -

Intel Core i5 2320
Asus P8H67-MLX
4GB x 2 Corsair XMS3 1600 CL9
XFX Radeon 5770
1 x WD 500GB
2 x WD 1TB
2 x Seagate 2 TB
1 x Samsung DVD-RW
1 x LG - BD-RE
Dell E248 WFP
Asus Xonar DX
Chieftec LBX Chassis
Seventeam ST 750A- ZF PSU

I guess thats about it.
 
The reasons I do not recommend the Gigabyte based motherboards as readily as their ASUS / Intel / MSi brethren is due to --
  • biggest sore point in all motherboards excluding ASUS and ASRock are the non-existent nature of a decent UEFI BIOS, ASUS motherboard come out on the top due to this. Gigabyte screwed up big time with their "Hybrid Touch BIOS". Here is a review for the same, another article on UEFI..
  • Availability, after the launch of ASUS motherboards for the Sandy-Bridge family I see that it is much easier to get the same. ASUS has a greater presence and online representation, I can get them from most online stores too. Which is not the case for Gigabyte, the last Gigabyte motherboard that I recommended / used hands-on was the Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R.
  • the issues with certain RAM modules keep getting more and more exacerbated, had issues with Corsair XMS3 modules on a Gigabyte P55 motherboard had to go for Transcend.
  • The other "issues" which rite must be referring to are brought out with a google search.

Nothing against Gigabyte, it is a fine company and I hold it in high esteem more so because of its no-nonsense after sales network. Cheerio!!

I stake you go for the ASUS P8Z77-V ~15000/- in the light of this situation.
 
Darklord said:
This looks like a nice board. Although I am a bit inclined towards the MSI Z77A GD65
Click to expand...

But availability is a bugbear, the ASUS motherboard I and Jakob suggested are available at the following stores --
flipkart.com
Prime ABGB

Also, Gigabyte motherboards are available too, exclusively at The IT Wares --
Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3 ~10000/-
Gigabyte GA-Z77M-D3H ~9000/-

Problem with Gigabyte motherboards is that they lack heat-sinks near the MOSFET region, apart from that seem to have a new "3D BIOS" will have to research the same before recommending it. Also the µATX motherboard has a really weak set of OUTPUT connectors.

More on 3D BIOS -- http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/gigabyte_z77mx_d3h_review,6.html / http://www.anandtech.com/show/5049/gigabyte-shows-off-simplified-3d-bios-interface-for-x79-uefi / http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/gigabytes_3d_bios_technology_one_part_gimmick_two_parts_rad.

Seems the 3D BIOS is getting panned vis-a-vis ASUS standard UEFI BIOS.
Hope this helps, Cheers!!
 
I honestly recommend Asrock, till Z68 Asus was the king. But any review will show that Asrock is better than Asus with Z77, even for overclocking, performance, lower volts required etc.

Go Extreme6.
 
rite said:
I honestly recommend Asrock, till Z68 Asus was the king. But any review will show that Asrock is better than Asus with Z77, even for overclocking, performance, lower volts required etc.

Go Extreme6.
Click to expand...

By the way what happened to your love for MSi?

Where is it available [ASRock Extreme series]?
I have seen the ASRock Pro4 available at Prime ABGB, not the case with the Extreme4 and Extreme6.
 
rite said:
I honestly recommend Asrock, till Z68 Asus was the king. But any review will show that Asrock is better than Asus with Z77, even for overclocking, performance, lower volts required etc.

Go Extreme6.
Click to expand...

If you say asrock is so good then why did you get the asus v deluxe board?? Practice what you preach sir :)

Yes asrock is good for the money. Infact its brilliantly priced but if you can stretch your budgetvthen do get the maximum v gene. I did and I'm plenty happy with it. I had the same m atx problem but once you get the board but trust me once u get it you will absolutely love it

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2
 
Darklord said:
I am looking to buy a new motherboard for my home PC. Since Ivy Bridge seems to be the most happening thing right now. I thought let's stick to that and go for a Z77 based board right now. Nothing too expensive maybe 10-13kish maybe if possible ? What are my options ?
I am not a gamer. I use this machine purely for browsing, watching HD movies, listening to music and so on, the usual stuff.

Help me decide a nice board guys.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

z77 for browsing, hd movies and music?

you should go for top end x79 mobo and intel 3960x for your requirement.
 
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