Gigabyte Z77X-UP5 TH Intel LGA 1155

[cadaveca]

First out the gate with Thunderbolt at TPU is none other than Gigabyte, with the Z77X-UP5 TH. Using a layout quite similar to its older sister the Z77X-UD5H, the newcomer Z77X-UP5 TH has a few other new features too, and should not be overlooked.

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[NHKS]

enjoyed reading another MB review, as always.. board looks high quality & sophisticated,
the heat sink design looks good.. board power consumption looks good.. but the performance(cpu & data transfer) are so so..

just wanted to clarify about the SATA ports, quite a few on this board..
Marvell: 1x e-SATA III + 1x SATA III
Intel : 2x SATA III
4x SATA II with 1x mSATA shared
that means the mSATA 3Gbps controlled by Intel chipset?

I am guessing this is the first Thunderbolt board TPU has reviewed.. do we plan to benchmark it(against USB 3 or other TB boards)?

 

[Random Murderer]

The review mentions at least twice that there is a FireWire port on the back panel, yet I fail to see it. Could you clarify where it is, Dave?

 

[Major_A]

I'm more interested in the mPCIe to PCIe WiFi card. I've been tempted to buy something similar on Amazon but thought they looked like junk. Intel makes the best mPCIe WiFi cards on the market and I wanted to see if it would help with a PC I have connectivity issues with. I ended up passing but now I see that Gigabyte is using the design so it can't be all bad.

 

[Munki]

The review mentions at least twice that there is a FireWire port on the back panel, yet I fail to see it. Could you clarify where it is, Dave?

My understanding is that there is a internal connector for firewire. Not an actual port in the rear IO panel.

 

[cadaveca]

The review mentions at least twice that there is a FireWire port on the back panel, yet I fail to see it. Could you clarify where it is, Dave?

In my imagination. Fixed. There is a header on the board edge though. I swear a saw one...but alas, it's USB.

enjoyed reading another MB review, as always.. board looks high quality & sophisticated,
the heat sink design looks good.. board power consumption looks good.. but the performance(cpu & data transfer) are so so..

just wanted to clarify about the SATA ports, quite a few on this board..
Marvell: 1x e-SATA III + 1x SATA III
Intel : 2x SATA III
4x SATA II with 1x mSATA shared
that means the mSATA 3Gbps controlled by Intel chipset?

I am guessing this is the first Thunderbolt board TPU has reviewed.. do we plan to benchmark it(against USB 3 or other TB boards)?

Yes, you'll find that all mSATA ports on boards that offer them are rrun by the Intel PCH, so Rapid Response and such can be used.

The cheapest Thunderbolt dock is just under $200, and drives are 2.5 times that. Since it needs to be measured, I will get Tunderbolt devices, but I need more board samples with Thunderbolt first.

As to overall performance, it's reasonable now. Not the best, but OK. the best result in my graphs are from X79 or boards that use modified Turbo profiles by default. The Z77X-UP5 TH has some Turbo issues, that need to be rectified with a BIOS update, and then performance should go up.

I'm more interested in the mPCIe to PCIe WiFi card. I've been tempted to buy something similar on Amazon but thought they looked like junk. Intel makes the best mPCIe WiFi cards on the market and I wanted to see if it would help with a PC I have connectivity issues with. I ended up passing but now I see that Gigabyte is using the design so it can't be all bad.

The design itself is really simple, and nearly all board makers with WiFi/Bluetooth are using very similar implementations. There are a few different WiFi/Bluetooth cards out there that they can choose from, however.

 

[Sasqui]

Great review as always, seems the CPU is still treating you well

I see the big red sticker regarding the "4x" PCIe slot requiring an Ivy Bridge CPU... what's up with that?

 

[fullinfusion]

Great review and love actually reading the reviews by you and the other reviewer's from TPU.

I must say though thats one hell of a cpu clock you have at such a low voltage

What stability program you use for the cpu?

 

[cadaveca]

Great review as always, seems the CPU is still treating you well

I see the big red sticker regarding the "4x" PCIe slot requiring an Ivy Bridge CPU... what's up with that?

That PCIe slot connects directly to CPU, and SandyBridge can only address 2 devices, not three like IvyBridge. P67/Z68 boards that offer more than two slots either use some form of PLX muxer, or run the third slot via the chipset.

Because the slot connects to CPU, it's PCIe 3.0 compatible. The Z77 chipset can opnly provide PCIe 2.0.

Great review and love actually reading the reviews by you and the other reviewer's from TPU.

I must say though thats one hell of a cpu clock you have at such a low voltage

What stability program you use for the cpu?

Everything.

Actually, I use Prime95 for 24 hours. I know what the CPU needs to do it, which, like you say, ain't much.

 

[Nordic]

I have not looked at a motherboard review in awhile. Not since I got my current motherboard. This makes me want a new one though. Not that it would do me much better though.

 

[fullinfusion]

That PCIe slot connects directly to CPU, and SandyBridge can only address 2 devices, not three like IvyBridge. P67/Z68 boards that offer more than two slots either use some form of PLX muxer, or run the third slot via the chipset.

Because the slot connects to CPU, it's PCIe 3.0 compatible. The Z77 chipset can opnly provide PCIe 2.0.



Everything.

Actually, I use Prime95 for 24 hours. I know what the CPU needs to do it, which, like you say, ain't much.

OCCT? Prime you dont think it stresses out the vrm's to much?

What temp is the cpu and Vrm's running after 24 hr test?

 

[MxPhenom 216]

OCCT? Prime you dont think it stresses out the vrm's to much?

What temp is the cpu and Vrm's running after 24 hr test?

dude OCCT is old news man. Prime95 blend test seems to be the best for Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge stress testing.

 

[cadaveca]

OCCT? Prime you dont think it stresses out the vrm's to much?

What temp is the cpu and Vrm's running after 24 hr test?

you bet it does. But then again, so does many distributed computing apps.

I mean really, MSI is touting this as their new "standard" for board testing for those OC boards, but I do that to every board I review, and I have yet to have one fail...even the cheapo ones.

And wouldn't you like to know if it did?


Now, if a board has no vrm cooling, then sure, I might worry a bit, but not much, to be honest. Nearly 2 years of board reviews, and many years before that OC'ing, and VRM death has not been something I've ever encountered.

I punish my review samples, for sure.

CPU hits 70c on H100, 82c on NH-C14. VRM temps vary from board to board, And I don't do much more than a "finger test"

 

[SIGSEGV]

very nice review from TPU for this board, afaik gigabyte and asus always deliver very excellent quality board components, i wish in the future there will be a review for asus rog z-77 motherboard (Maximus V Gene/Formula/Extreem) or maybe the next release of asus rog crosshair v formula-Z.

thanks

 

[cadaveca]

very nice review from TPU for this board, afaik gigabyte and asus always deliver very excellent quality board components, i wish in the future there will be a review for asus rog z-77 motherboard (Maximus V Gene/Formula/Extreem) or maybe the next release of asus rog crosshair v formula-Z.

thanks

Maximus V Formula this coming week.

 

[Sasqui]

Maximus V Formula this coming week.

Sweet!

 

[fullinfusion]

dude OCCT is old news man. Prime95 blend test seems to be the best for Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge stress testing.

News flash OCCT has been revised lol.

Its current, and blends tests for sure.

Thanks Dave.. Busy guy I see. Have fun and looking forward to seeing the Formula V tests

 

[micek_kc]

From your opinion,would you choose this board or the Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H WiFi ?
This may sound silly,i love everything about the Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H WiFi,but the colors of the heatspreaders make it so difficult to put in the case which is all black themed and that has a window(Corsair Obisdian 800d).
Is the new board really that much worse than the Wifi one,or its just a matter of fixing the problems of Bios?

 

[cadaveca]

From your opinion,would you choose this board or the Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H WiFi ?
This may sound silly,i love everything about the Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H WiFi,but the colors of the heatspreaders make it so difficult to put in the case which is all black themed and that has a window(Corsair Obisdian 800d).
Is the new board really that much worse than the Wifi one,or its just a matter of fixing the problems of Bios?

There's nothing really wrong with UP5 TH. I'd use it, but 3820 or 3960X is what I got to use myself. If you like the colour, go for it.

 

[micek_kc]

There's nothing really wrong with UP5 TH. I'd use it, but 3820 or 3960X is what I got to use myself. If you like the colour, go for it.

It is probably gonna make home for a 3770K. I mean i was sceptical cause you awarded the wifi version an near perfect score,really didnt find nothing bad there,and this bios issue here seem troublesome to me

 

[cadaveca]

and this bios issue here seem troublesome to me

Ah, BIOS problems. You know, that's par for the course when a board is freshly released, and I do push things pretty far when it comes to stability testing.

The UD5H, when I tested it, was much more mature, and at the same time, was a big step up from P67 and Z68-based products, expecially considering that was when Gigabyte launched into UEFI BIOSes for SKT 1155. What a great product for Gigabyte that is!


Since then, my expectation out of all the OEMs is a bit higher, and a fair bit different. For an enthusiast class product, the UD5H does score better in benchmarks overall compared to the UP5 TH, as the UP5TH did have a bit of a performance deficit.


Now, I must be honest. Performance compares, with results as close as my reviews are, are almost silly. At the bleeding edge, yes the UD5H is faster, so it scored higher, and that is all. Gigabyte's BIOS engineer merely needs to tighten up the Turbo profile a wee bit, and the UP5 TH will match the UD5H...but there's nothing WRONG with the UP5 TH. The BIOS is the issues because that's what needs to be changed to make it perform like the UD5H, not because it's unstable or anything.

 

[micek_kc]

Ah, BIOS problems. You know, that's par for the course when a board is freshly released, and I do push things pretty far when it comes to stability testing.

The UD5H, when I tested it, was much more mature, and at the same time, was a big step up from P67 and Z68-based products, expecially considering that was when Gigabyte launched into UEFI BIOSes for SKT 1155. What a great product for Gigabyte that is!


Since then, my expectation out of all the OEMs is a bit higher, and a fair bit different. For an enthusiast class product, the UD5H does score better in benchmarks overall compared to the UP5 TH, as the UP5TH did have a bit of a performance deficit.


Now, I must be honest. Performance compares, with results as close as my reviews are, are almost silly. At the bleeding edge, yes the UD5H is faster, so it scored higher, and that is all. Gigabyte's BIOS engineer merely needs to tighten up the Turbo profile a wee bit, and the UP5 TH will match the UD5H...but there's nothing WRONG with the UP5 TH. The BIOS is the issues because that's what needs to be changed to make it perform like the UD5H, not because it's unstable or anything.

Thanks alot for detailed explination... With this considered,i think im gonna wait a bit more until Gigabyte puts out a decent bios and than im gonna get it. Keep on the good work

 

[thebluebumblebee]

...not like you don't have anything else to do...
It would be nice to see an update on the Turbo issue.

 

[cadaveca]

...not like you don't have anything else to do...
It would be nice to see an update on the Turbo issue.

I do have plans to revisit this product, since it includes Thunderbolt, which offers much more now, like 4K rendering.

I have to do some "meeting of the minds" with Gigabyte to arrange the other parts I need for that, but rest assured this is one board that won't leave me house any time soon.


However, I also have many products here to review, and have been having issues with some dying hardware and have nearly replaced my entire test rig at this point, so I do have a slight backlog of reviews to finish first. The Haswell launch "delay" works well for me.

Besides, the Turbo profile was relaxed a bit compared to the hardcore OC boards, but not non-functional..just a wee bit slower.

 

[thebluebumblebee]

I'm also curious about how the BIOS updates affect the performance of a (not just this) motherboard. IIRC, they are on the beta release of F11 and you tested this board at F4.