Motherboards Unboxing & Preview: ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe

There is a new CPU on the horizon from Intel, and with a new processor there has to be some new shiny toys to look at. Today we have the ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe motherboard. Enough of the talk lets get to opening up the goodies.

Front of the Box



And of course the back just to make sure we stay blanced



But what is in the box?



Cables and connectors



And now for something different some WiFi Go goodness




Let us not forget the DVD with all of the bundled drivers and software you will need.


 
The socket area is tidy and your old coolers can be used with the board as the hole spacing’s are the same as both the 1155 and 1156 socket boards.

The CPU gets 16 phase VRMs, iGPU 4 phase, DDR3 2 phase, VCCIO 2 phase, VCCSA 2 phase. VCCSA/IO are under the central heatsink.


 
4 slots for DDR3 Dual Channel Ram. Plus the MemOK button – very handy for trying older or niche DDR3.


 
Closer look at the DIGI+ Chip, that digitally interprets CPU power state signals and adjusts the VRM frequency between 200-500Hz (user selectable) and balances power distribution across VRMs according to their temperatures or all 100% on (user selectable)


 
The custom TPU chip shown here integrates both auto overclocking functions, advanced OC controls and BIOS Flashback.


 
Enough PCIe 3.0 Lanes to keep even the most hardcore gamer happy (3-way capable + extra 1x slot at the top for a soundcard. The WS model is 4-way capable).



Top view to show the spacing for those powerful graphic cards and please note the 2 digit LED POST readout at the bottom right hand corner of the board.



Time for some Wi-Fi Go goodness. Anyone remember the ASUS P5K Black Pearl motherboard with onboard WiFi? The bundled plugin module fits between the keyboard/mouse USB ports and the eSata ports.



And finally no un-boxing would be complete without the In/Out panel. Plenty USB 3.0 connectivity, dual Ethernet, two eSATA, HDMI output and DisplayPort for users of 2560res monitors. The BIOS Flashback button is nestled in there too.



The Z77/LGA1155 combo will work just fine with the current crop of 2nd Gen Intel Core CPU’s as well as the upcoming 3rd Gen Intel Core CPUs too.

 

Absolutely fantastic! New heatsink design looks great, and the spacing between the X16 slots is a nice bonus too!

 

Nice looking board.

Looking at the PCI-E 1 & 2 slot's (Blue & White) will this board do SLI/Crossfire at x16,x16 or 8x,8x as I really want a new board if I don't upgrade to Sandy Bridge E, that will do 16x,16x.

I like the wireless card as well although I don't use wireless, it's a good idea as if I get this board I could use the wireless to link to a media server.

Had a old P8P67-Pro board and it was fantastic really well laid out and was nice and cool as well.

 

Wow! Now this I like a lot... Will you be unboxing the new Z77 m-itx board anytime soon, and no I will not shut up about it!

 

As soon as I get one I will.

I'll have the Sabertooth Z77 as well shortly.

 

Ooh goody! The Sabertooth z77 is the best looking mobo in my opinion, probably ever, but its a bit big, maybe for my next, next project!

 

And then you know what you need to do .

 

Bindi marketing done for the week!

 

is it.... get rid of the deluxe board first, by sending it to me?

 

At least im tactful, you two are just blatant!

 

Thats what I was thinking

I can't justify spending any money on this. By the time I have money available to buy side grades or upgrades it will most likely be next year. Just wish my current board would sli and was crossfire only stupid me!!

 

I am joking about this for over 2 weeks now . In reality i am waiting for the release and hoping it will arrive to me before 20th April, when i go to a LAN party where i would like to use a ITX rig with this new board .

 

Yea that one is our ONLY marketing sample and it's a dummy Still waiting for the boxed ver.

TrueLOL

 

Will the m-ITX be more....

hmmm...do you think smaller things are more expensive than larger things?

 

Of course, for many reasons.

Niche design: we make millions of ATX motherboards and only very few mini-ITX, therefore all the production hardware is mostly designed for ATX.

Making smaller is harder: EMI issues are greater, heat issues are more pronouced (your average ATX case has lots of space and lower air temps), specialist chips rather than standard ones, chips on the BACK and front = 2x through a solder machine = extra cost, lower economies of scale due to unable to special parts, RD and QA is much higher (also why ROG is much more costly: mostly RD).

The daughterboard costs a lot to make and fit. It's not easy to get through a wave-solder machine.

Integrated WiFi costs extra $$$

 

I looooove integrated wifi+bluetooth. Something I think every motherboard should have. Other than that, it looks like a great motherboard! Especially the fantastic amount of I/O! 6x USB 3.0, 4x USB 2.0, 2x eSATA, dual ethernet, HDMI (eeew), DP (yay!), and of course your standard 6x 1/8" jacks + toslink out. Being able to flash the BIOS sans CPU is a godsend (something I really could have used on an FX-8120 build!), it just looks like a properly premium grade board! My compliments to the chef

EDIT: Also, is there a guesstimated price on the Mini-ITX version? It looks awesome, and with built in wifi, it negates one of the major disadvantages of M-ITX (in my opinion). I'm curious how it will stack up against ZOTAC's offering when that gets released. Their current Z68 board is awesome, though expensive, so I'm interested in the comparison

 

Hope some high spec decent IB boards will have a PCI slot. One that is not covered by a dual slot GPU!
Otherwise my nice new DG is useless

 

By your logic the cheapest computers should be ultraportable laptops then Miniaturisation is one of the biggest cost factors when it comes to computer hardware. Look at modern smartphones. They are pretty powerful and offer good performance per Watt, but once we look at performance per £ then they are off the chart dreadful when compared to even the crummiest of desktops.

Bindi explained it better when it comes to motherboards then I could ever try.

 

I just checked: the Pro has PCI