Gigabyte Z77-HD4 Review
by Ian Cutress on May 19, 2013 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Gigabyte
- Z77
Metro2033
Metro2033 is a DX11 benchmark that challenges every system that tries to run it at any high-end settings. Developed by 4A Games and released in March 2010, we use the inbuilt DirectX 11 Frontline benchmark to test the hardware at 2560x1440 with full graphical settings. Results are given as the average frame rate from 4 runs.
| Metro 2033 | 1 GPU | 2 GPU |
| AMD | ||
| NVIDIA |
The Z77-HD4 does quite well in single GPU mode, but using that PCIe 2.0 x4 from the PCH for a second AMD GPU starts to limit the results.
Dirt 3
Dirt 3 is a rallying video game and the third in the Dirt series of the Colin McRae Rally series, developed and published by Codemasters. Using the in game benchmark, Dirt 3 is run at 2560x1440 with Ultra graphical settings. Results are reported as the average frame rate across four runs.
| Dirt3 | 1 GPU | 2 GPU |
| AMD | ||
| NVIDIA |
Confirming what we saw on the G1.Sniper M3 (if you put the GPUs in the wrong slots), the PCIe 2.0 x4 is not really a gaming PCIe slot.
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kasakka - Monday, May 20, 2013 - link
WTF, does this actually have a manual VCore setting when the similarly priced DS3H didn't? Damn Gigabyte and their gazillion different models.kmmatney - Monday, May 20, 2013 - link
Yeah - that's a bit frusterating. I bought the DS3H knowing it didn't have Vcore setting, as my plan was to overclock as high as I could at stock voltage. However, while I was hoping to get to 4.5 Ghz (as a few other were able to do), mine crapped out at 4.3 Ghz, and I run it at 4.2 to be safe. More than enough performance really, and not a bad overclock from 3.4 Ghz, but I'm curious to see what it could do a VCore adjustment.kasakka - Tuesday, May 21, 2013 - link
I did the same and also ran into similar problems, though mine would boot at 4.5 but crash on benchmarks. I exchanged the board for a UD3H and now running 4.5 stable at lower voltage than what the DS3H would set, the CPU boots at 4.7 but didn't bother working to make it stable at that speed.What annoys me is that Gigabyte doesn't disclose the lack of VCore adjustment anywhere and there are other strange things like how the DS3H uses all-Intel USB ports whereas the UD3H is a combination of VIA and Intel controllers (with the VIA not working unless a driver is installed). I really sometimes wonder what is going thru mobo developers' heads.
Flunk - Monday, May 20, 2013 - link
It's nice that you're reviewing more commodity hardware, but this board is already being liquidated by the computer shops in my area. Intel has a new line of chips just around the corner. This review would have been a lot more helpful this time last year.lever_age - Monday, May 20, 2013 - link
Hopefully it's just an indication of more things to come. But yeah, coverage of the AsRock Pro3/Pro4, MSI G4x, Asus LX/LK, Gigabyte HD/D(S)3, etc. of the world would be nice. And the stuff under that as well. You know, the stuff you put in or recommend to friends, family, etc.Though to nitpick, this /particular/ board wasn't available until relatively late in Z77's reign.
rangerdavid - Monday, May 20, 2013 - link
Yeah, $5,600 / year is just about right for someone if they "sit at home, music playing while they 'work' in front of my iMac."Alan G - Monday, May 20, 2013 - link
I'm probably one of the older folks who reads these reviews. I haven't played a computer game (not counting Free Cell) since the Tex Murphy series ended way back when. Clearly one can spend a lot or a little on a build. I just finished a new build for photography and found reviews on this site particularly valuable (I ended up getting a Fractal Designs Arc Midi case in part because of the good overview). I needed a build that would run quiet (computer sits about 18 inches away from me) and would perform. Interestingly, my main software Adobe Lightroom really doesn't require a GPU and would run satisfactorily just using the Ivy Bridge on board graphics; Photoshop is a different matter and some operations do take advantage of a good GPU. Many reviewers of GPUs may not be aware of this and tend to focus only on the gaming community.Motherboards such as this one do have a place in builds for specialty purposes when price might be a key point. I can build a killer photo editing PC for under $700 and not sacrifice any performance. Adding some bells and whistles is nice but not necessary.
jabber - Tuesday, May 21, 2013 - link
Indeed, I have a lot of customers that really don't care about day glow slots and surround sound but they want a serious spec machine for heavy tasks.nathanddrews - Tuesday, May 21, 2013 - link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gSQg1i_q2gcrashtech - Tuesday, May 21, 2013 - link
The internet cafe comment seems out of place in an article with global readership.