Which Motherboard?: MSI Z77A-G45 vs GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD3H

vawrvawerawe · Nov 11, 2012, 03:08 PM

MSI Z77A-G45 - on sale $99 normally $130
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD3H - $165

Considering the sale, which would you buy?

BarbaricSoul · Nov 11, 2012, 03:10 PM

been extremely satisfied with my GD80. Considering the price difference, most definently MSI

xxdozer322 · Nov 11, 2012, 03:12 PM

i currently have the g45 and its a damn sexy board for the price, when i first got it was 165 over at frys, but the price matched newegg for 120, soo it was a steal.

vawrvawerawe · Nov 11, 2012, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BarbaricSoul

been extremely satisfied with my GD80. Considering the price difference, most definently MSI

Thank you. What is the difference between the two in terms of features? Is there anything in the Gigabyte one that would be worth paying 65% more?

BarbaricSoul · Nov 11, 2012, 03:17 PM

The Gigabyte board has one more PCI 1* slot than the MSI board. The MSI board has one mSATA connection while the Gigabyte board has none. Other than that, I don't see a difference in features.

Also, some food for though. The highest Intel IB overclock in 3dmark11 was done with the MSI MPower board.

Quote:

The latest world record by T0lsty is the highest CPU speed for any 3rd generation Intel Core CPU in 3DMark 11 @ 6213 MHz (validation).

http://www.techpowerup.com/174864/MS...rformance.html

xxdozer322 · Nov 11, 2012, 03:19 PM

theyre basically the same. The 2 msi pcie slots run at 16x while the gigabytes slots run at 16x and 8x

vawrvawerawe · Nov 11, 2012, 03:27 PM

From what you guys are telling me, I should basically definitely get the MSI one.
The only thing I could tell is different, is:

MSI: 2 USB 3.0
Gigabyte: 6 USB 3.0
--- verdict: Extra USB 3.0 is not important to me.

Gigabyte has one more PCI 1x slot
--- verdict: the only PCI things I will be using are the Wireless card and Graphics card. So this benefit is useless to me.

Extra Features:
Both have different names, but overall, it seems to be pretty even.
--- verdict: not enough knowledge to know if one is better than the other.

Overall, it's looking like the MSI is a steal!

@xxdozer: I looked at your system specs, and it's very similar to what I want in my system. So if you are happy with the MSI Z77A-G45, then I will be too!

xxdozer322 · Nov 11, 2012, 03:31 PM

trust me you will, i went from an amd build to this, and i couldnt be happier! cheers! and for the price its THEE PERFECT deal.

cdawall · Nov 11, 2012, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxdozer322

theyre basically the same. The 2 msi pcie slots run at 16x while the gigabytes slots run at 16x and 8x

If both slots are populated they will run at 8x on both motherboards.

xxdozer322 · Nov 11, 2012, 03:36 PM

ahhh ok, im still new at this lol

vawrvawerawe · Nov 11, 2012, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cdawall

If both slots are populated they will run at 8x on both motherboards.

Good to know!
Would this mean if I added also a PCI wireless-n card, that it would lower PCI graphics performance?

xxdozer322 · Nov 11, 2012, 04:18 PM

nopeeee. youre good.

cdawall · Nov 11, 2012, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vawrvawerawe

Good to know!
Would this mean if I added also a PCI wireless-n card, that it would lower PCI graphics performance?

There is no PCI slot on the MSI board.

A PCI-E 1x or USB based card would work fine. Neither will change the performance.

Nov 11, 2012, 03:08 PM	#1
vawrvawerawe Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 501 (2.61/day) Thanks: 269 Thanked 24 Times in 22 Posts	Which Motherboard?: MSI Z77A-G45 vs GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD3H MSI Z77A-G45 - on sale $99 normally $130 GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD3H - $165 Considering the sale, which would you buy?

Nov 11, 2012, 03:10 PM	#2
BarbaricSoul Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Southeastern Virginia Posts: 3,735 (1.95/day) Thanks: 369 Thanked 1,082 Times in 797 Posts System Specs	been extremely satisfied with my GD80. Considering the price difference, most definently MSI __________________ “Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.” “Amd....definitely a blond female.....not much on the cpu side, but always strutting about showing off her gpus......wow that was bad. I apologize.” -ensabrenoir

System Name:	Barb's Domain/ Barb's Cruncher
Processor:	I7 2600k @ 4.2ghz/ I7 860 @ stock for now
Motherboard:	MSI Z68A-GD80(G3)/ Gigabyte P55-UD3R
Cooling:	Corsair H60/ Corsair A50
Memory:	8gig(24gig) DDR3 1600/ 4gig(22gig)DDR3 1600
Video Card:	XFX HD7970 OC'ed 1100core, 1400mem/ PNY GTX560
Hard Disk:	180gb Vertex3 SSD & 500gb Seagate Barracuda 7200.12/ WD Caviar Blue 160gb
CRT/LCD Model:	HP ZR30W 30" 25601600/SOYO Topaz S 24" 19201200
Case:	Lian Li V1200b Plus II/ NZXT Source 210 Black
Sound Card:	Realtek High Definition Audio
PSU:	XFX PRO750W XXX edition/ PC Power Cooling Turbo Cool 860
Software:	Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
Benchmarks:	http://3dmark.com/3dm11/4037778

Nov 11, 2012, 03:12 PM	#3
xxdozer322 Join Date: May 2012 Location: Santa Ana, Ca. Posts: 376 (1.01/day) Thanks: 170 Thanked 126 Times in 77 Posts System Specs	i currently have the g45 and its a damn sexy board for the price, when i first got it was 165 over at frys, but the price matched newegg for 120, soo it was a steal. __________________ heatware. http://heatware.com/eval.php?id=78934

System Name:	Mobydick
Processor:	Intel i7 2600k @ 4.4
Motherboard:	MSI M Power
Cooling:	CM TPC 812
Memory:	Gskill Ripjaw 12gb
Video Card:	Gigabyte GTX 580 SOC
Hard Disk:	Kingston hyper x 3k 120ssd,Samsung 256ssd, seagate 750gb green
Optical Drive:	Asus
CRT/LCD Model:	Dell UltraSharp 2709Wb
Case:	Haf X
PSU:	OCZ fatility 750w
Software:	Windows 7 64bit,Razer Deahadder, Lycosa, Corsair 1500

Nov 11, 2012, 03:19 PM	#6
xxdozer322 Join Date: May 2012 Location: Santa Ana, Ca. Posts: 376 (1.01/day) Thanks: 170 Thanked 126 Times in 77 Posts System Specs	theyre basically the same. The 2 msi pcie slots run at 16x while the gigabytes slots run at 16x and 8x __________________ heatware. http://heatware.com/eval.php?id=78934

Nov 11, 2012, 03:27 PM	#7
vawrvawerawe Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 501 (2.61/day) Thanks: 269 Thanked 24 Times in 22 Posts	From what you guys are telling me, I should basically definitely get the MSI one. The only thing I could tell is different, is: MSI: 2 USB 3.0 Gigabyte: 6 USB 3.0 --- verdict: Extra USB 3.0 is not important to me. Gigabyte has one more PCI 1x slot --- verdict: the only PCI things I will be using are the Wireless card and Graphics card. So this benefit is useless to me. Extra Features: Both have different names, but overall, it seems to be pretty even. --- verdict: not enough knowledge to know if one is better than the other. Overall, it's looking like the MSI is a steal! @xxdozer: I looked at your system specs, and it's very similar to what I want in my system. So if you are happy with the MSI Z77A-G45, then I will be too!

Nov 11, 2012, 03:31 PM	#8
xxdozer322 Join Date: May 2012 Location: Santa Ana, Ca. Posts: 376 (1.01/day) Thanks: 170 Thanked 126 Times in 77 Posts System Specs	trust me you will, i went from an amd build to this, and i couldnt be happier! cheers! and for the price its THEE PERFECT deal. __________________ heatware. http://heatware.com/eval.php?id=78934

System Name:	Deployment build
Processor:	Phenom II B97@4080mhz 1.6v (24/7 4800mhz max clock)
Motherboard:	Asus Crosshair V Formula
Cooling:	Coolermaster V10 modded to 96w TEC, Scientific Rulian fans
Memory:	4x4GB Wintec ONE@1800 9-10-9 1.62v (24/7)
Video Card:	Sapphire 7950 3GB@1150/1400 1.27v
Hard Disk:	2x32GB STT SSD's raid 0, 1TB Samsung F3's, 1.5TB Seagate 7200.11
CRT/LCD Model:	STi 22"
Case:	Thermaltake Commandar MS-I Epic Edition
Sound Card:	E07K USB DAC->Fischer FA-002W High edition
PSU:	Antec TPQ-850 (Antec TPQ-1200 waiting for it at home)
Software:	windows 7 ultimate x64

Nov 11, 2012, 03:36 PM	#10
xxdozer322 Join Date: May 2012 Location: Santa Ana, Ca. Posts: 376 (1.01/day) Thanks: 170 Thanked 126 Times in 77 Posts System Specs	ahhh ok, im still new at this lol __________________ heatware. http://heatware.com/eval.php?id=78934

Nov 11, 2012, 04:18 PM	#12
xxdozer322 Join Date: May 2012 Location: Santa Ana, Ca. Posts: 376 (1.01/day) Thanks: 170 Thanked 126 Times in 77 Posts System Specs	nopeeee. youre good. __________________ heatware. http://heatware.com/eval.php?id=78934

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