ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe Review - Know Your SKU
by Ian Cutress on May 12, 2012 8:45 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Asus
- Z77
Certain words can convey many meanings. Luckily, for us, the word 'deluxe' has very few variations around a theme of being 'of a superior kind'. So when applied to a motherboard, such as the P8Z77-V Deluxe, we would expect a superior product. ASUS has kindly provided in kind.
Sweeping in at $275 is perhaps not the main price point for Z77, especially when there are motherboards that can run these processors for half the price. However, this is where the P8Z77-V excels - for your extra money, you get a plethora of enthusiast related features that a user would not dream of on a half-price product. Alongside the dual band WiFi, dual network controllers (one Intel, one Realtek), superior fan control and provision for a future Thunderbolt add-in card, we have the stalwarts of the ASUS arsenal, such as USB BIOS Flashback, Fan Xpert II, enhanced USB charging, USB 3.0 Boost, a well thought out BIOS and superior operating software.
ASUS clearly know the market, and they hire enthusiasts to help improve their product. On a recent trip to a UK iSeries LAN event, I was amazed at how many enthusiasts build their products as if price was not a concern - they want something that is good when they buy it, and something that will last for the next few generations. The Deluxe is a board that fits into this category very nicely.
The P8Z77-V Deluxe utilizes MultiCore Enhancement, a 'feature' on ASUS motherboards to boost multi-threaded performance. Combine this with what seem like a few tweaks native to the board and we have a product which single handedly takes the top position in almost every throughput benchmark we have, and comes near the top in ones that it does not.
The only features directly missing seem to be those that add a significant cost on board (PCIe PLX chip for >2 GPUs, a premium sound solution), where instead we would normally see products specifically focused for them in that price bracket. Perhaps it would have been beneficial to include a USB 3.0 bracket in the box to sweeten the deal.
The main contenders for this board come from ASUS products themselves - the Z77 Sabertooth arguably offers more control and a larger warranty (the Deluxe still qualifies for North America ASUS Premium Service, as does the Sabertooth), or a ROG product that is focused towards gamers/overclockers. The ECS Z77H2-AX and Gigabyte G1. Sniper 3 (both part of future reviews) utilize the PCIe PLX chip for >2 GPUs.
As part of a long term, stable build, it is hard to put a foot wrong if you choose the P8Z77-V Deluxe. If ever there was a time to use the phrase 'you get what you pay for', then surely this is it. I had no issues during testing and it sailed through the benchmarks with top honors. I have no hesitation in awarding the P8Z77-V Deluxe with an AnandTech Editors Choice Silver Award.
ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe
Editors Choice Silver Award
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maximumGPU - Saturday, May 12, 2012 - link
i recently build a pc around an Ivy processor, and that's the motherboard i went for.Very happy with it, and the software bundle you get with Asus mobos is really useful.
One annoyance thought is that the cpu temperature reported in Fan Xpert did not seem to match the temperature readings i get from Real Temp or other software, especially under load. And since fan control is tied to that reading it makes it rather pointless.
Did you encounter that Ian?
Great review too.
Lonyo - Saturday, May 12, 2012 - link
I've noticed that as well, to the point where the numbers in the Asus software don't seem to update properly OR match the numbers in Realtemp, making the Asus software pretty useless for checking temperatures, and something I'm not entirely comfortable with in terms of controlling fan speeds, since it would be based on temperature readings I'm not comfortable with.webs0r - Saturday, May 12, 2012 - link
Run AIDA64 alongside fanXpert. You will find that ASUS uses the sensor named "CPU" rather than the individual core temps.While it reports lower than the core temps, it moves in line with the CPU temperature, and is a good proxy for fan control.
I would not worry about this at all.
So you should put the CPU under various loads and monitor in AIDA where temps get to, and construct your fan profile as you desire to balance the cooling power with noise.
I'm not sure what realtemp reports, it may not report the overall CPU sensor if it is only reporting each core temp.
The ASUS software is not useless/pointless at all.
maximumGPU - Saturday, May 12, 2012 - link
under Prime, both Aida and Asus mobo report 33 deg, while real temp shows 50-52 across all cores, which certainly makes more sense than the other reading.That makes fan controlling based on the number reported by the deluxe pointless.
mdev - Saturday, May 12, 2012 - link
I'm currently preparing to start building my new Ivy Bridge setup, with the ASUS P8Z77-V Pro motherboard.I'm interested to know if this would be the case with the Pro too. Is ASUS aware of this issue?
webs0r - Saturday, May 12, 2012 - link
You are all wrong, it is not pointless!Are you using the latest beta version of AIDA? It will show you both the 4 core sensors AND the CPU sensor.
So on mine (4.4ghz), right now my
CPU = 22
Cores = avg 28
Running IBT
CPU = 54
Core = avg 70
So what does this tell us??
1) In terms of *absolute temperature readings* they are probably all inaccurate to some degree.
2) Of course the die temp is going to be higher than the overall CPU sensor die, they are monitoring different places on the CPU.
3) By looking at the pattern in AIDA, I know that the CPU sensor idles around 25 and scales to 55+ when the cores get HOT (70+). So - I can control the fans with this. It scales in line. It is a proxy for the CPU temp. As good as any. It doesn't matter that it is not equal to the average of the die temps. As long as it goes higher when the CPU gets hotter - you get the same end result? Get it??
If it went the other way or didn't move while the CPU got hot, then that's a problem.
So I made a fan ramp that stays at minimum until 25 deg, ramps slowly until 50 deg and ramps a bit faster until 55 deg, then caps out to the loudest I want the fan to be at 55deg. This gives the exact behaviour I want, thus it is not useless.
althaz - Saturday, May 12, 2012 - link
Ian, it's great to see somebody take on board suggestions from their readers and apply them so quickly!In the Z77 roundup people asked for stripped and default POST times and here they are in the next review just a couple of days later.
Fantastic review all-around and I eagerly await the incoming Intel board reviews (so I can decide what to buy :)).
BlueReason - Sunday, May 13, 2012 - link
I believe he said such tests would be included in the future, not in this review. Not sure how that could be confused with a bar chart of test results, but the mind works in mysterious ways.arvee - Saturday, May 12, 2012 - link
Can you elaborate at all on the thunderbolt support in this? Will an add on card be as good as an integrated solution like on the MSI Z77A-GD80?tyger11 - Saturday, May 12, 2012 - link
I think I heard somewhere taht the add-in card via the TB header is a single channel, and the future mobos with it onboard will be dual channel. I could be misremembering.