Now that the exclusive license Apple had for Thunderbolt has expired,
since Computex 2012 we have seen a number of motherboards destined for
PCs with a Thunderbolt connector. Thunderbolt on a motherboard is still
an added luxury, adding some $40 to the cost of the board to the user,
though that can pale in comparison to the cost of Thunderbolt devices
and storage. Despite all this, Gigabyte’s foray into the Thunderbolt
world is initiated in part by the board we are reviewing today – the
Gigabyte Z77X-UP4 TH. Using the Z77 chipset we get a motherboard with
two Thunderbolt ports, but it also has the enhanced power delivery
brought about by Ultra Durable 5.
Gigabyte Z77X-UP4 TH Overview
Like many Gigabyte boards in the Z77 range, there are very few issues
with the Ivy Bridge platform in Gigabyte’s hands. Due to MultiCore
Enhancement, CPU performance matches that of other Gigabyte and ASUS
products this generation, and the Z77X-UP4 TH comes with the two major
additions – a two port Thunderbolt controller, and IR3550 ICs to help
with the power delivery. As we saw on the Gigabyte X79S-UP5, these ICs
do help with power consumption assuming the cost can be justified.
Visually, the board does look a little empty with smaller heatsinks, a
gap left for an mSATA drive and some empty IO, but we do have a classic
three-way PCIe device implementation such that with an Ivy Bridge
processor, the board can run x16/-/-, x8/x8/- or x8/x4/x4 in PCIe 3.0
mode. We lack any extra SATA ports, with only those provided by the
chipset being used, and the back panel uses only USB 3.0 – two from the
chipset and four from a VIA VL800 controller. The other two USB 3.0
ports that the chipset provide are used for an onboard USB 3.0 header.
In terms of extra hardware and controllers beyond the chipset standard,
we are hard pushed to find anything special beyond the Thunderbolt
controller – sure there is a USB 3.0 VIA VL800 chip, but the audio is a
Realtek ALC892 and the Ethernet is a Realtek 8111. The iTE chips
onboard give us access to a combination PS/2 port and a COM port as
well. But the lack of extra SATA ports is perhaps a little strange for a
UP4 product.
Performance on the Z77X-UP4 TH comes on par with the other Gigabyte
motherboards tested. This is due to the fact that the Z77X-UP4 TH
enables MultiCore Enhancement when XMP is enabled, as per our standard
testing methodology. This gives our test bed an extra 200 MHz under
full threaded load, which benefits all CPU intensive tasks. Power
consumption, due to the use of IR3550 ICs, is low compared to most Z77
motherboards we have tested, and the third PCIe 3.0 slot at performs
well with a PCIe 3.0 GPU plugged in.
The only question mark comes down to the price. Thunderbolt and Ultra
Durable 5 are, to quote a famous brand, ‘reassuringly expensive’.
Thunderbolt adoption in the PC market is quite low right now due to the
lack of competitive pricing, so having two ports on board for up to
twelve devices is a bit overkill. This limits the Z77X-UP4 TH more into
a niche target segment. Though if you have 6-12 TB devices, then this
is a nice board to consider. For all other usage scenarios, your
$190-$200 might be worth investing in a Z77X-UD5H.
Visual Inspection
One of the benefits of using the IR3550 ICs in the power delivery is that because each one is rated up to 60 amps, this means fewer phases are needed on board. Having fewer phases means saving energy and cost, but also results in smaller heatsinks, especially when we consider the IR3550s have unique IP to help keep cool. This reduction in the number of phases along with the smaller heatsinks gives the socket area of the Z77X-UP4 TH a lot of room. Almost every air cooler under the sun should fit on this motherboard, even a NoFan. (Actually, the NoFan will probably impinge on the memory slots, requiring low profile memory).
The heatsinks are set away and to the left and the top of the socket
area – the right hand side has memory up against the Intel specification
distance, but to the south we have a larger empty space than normal due
to the mSATA location and the movement downwards of the first full
length PCIe slot. For fan headers the CPU area has access to three in
the immediate vicinity – two to the top right of the socket (both 4-pin,
one CPU and one SYS), and another just above the 24-pin ATX connector
(4-pin, SYS). The other two fan headers on board are found on the
bottom, again 4-pin and also SYS headers.
The right hand side of the board is empty compared to a lot of other
Z77 boards we have seen – from top to bottom there is a 4-pin SYS fan
header, the 24-pin ATX power connector, a USB 3.0 header (powered by the
chipset), two SATA 6 Gbps ports in white and four SATA 3 Gbps ports in
black. One of these black SATA 3 Gbps ports shares routing with the
mSATA, meaning only one of them can be used at a time. The chipset
heatsink has nothing extra in the way of controllers to cool, so it is
relatively small taking care of the chipset chip itself.
The south side of the board gives us front panel audio (found at the
back of the board case wise – this confuses me a little), a SPDIF output
header, a 4-pin SYS fan header, a TPM header, three USB 2.0 headers,
another 4-pin SYS fan header, front panel connections and a COM port
header. Ideally I would think that the COM port header and the front
panel audio header should be swapped. It is also interesting to note
that this PCB has the old ‘ATI CrossFireX’ logo stamped on it, rather
than the new AMD one we see on other products.
The PCIe layout is set up to give maximum cooling for a dual GPU setup,
despite being configured for a tri-GPU configuration. From the top we
have an x1, x16 (x8 in dual and tri), x1, x1, x8 (x4 in tri), PCI and
x4. Placing a GPU in the bottom slot could potentially restrict the
bottom headers and any cables inserted.
It is worth noting on the board that a few minor details are not
present – neither power/reset buttons nor a debug LED are provided.
Both of these features are prevalent to testers, overclockers and system
builders dealing with overclocked configurations. There is a small BOM
cost for applying such additions, but it could save hours of headaches
if a stick of memory fails.
The IO back panel features a combination PS/2 port, video connections
(VGA, DVI-D and HDMI), six USB 3.0 ports in blue (two from the chipset,
four through a VIA VL800 controller), a gigabit Ethernet port (Realtek),
two Thunderbolt ports, an optical S/PDIF output and audio jacks. The
two Thunderbolt ports are powered by a single DSL3510L chip, which means
peak bandwidth between the ports will combine to a maximum of 10 Gbps,
rather than 10 Gbps each. This is also dependent on the PCIe devices
connected in the board. However, both ports will support a TB display
each, making a maximum of four video outputs possible (VGA, DVI or TB2,
HDMI, TB1).
Board Features
| Gigabyte Z77X-UP4 TH | |||
| Price | Link | ||
| Size | ATX | ||
| CPU Interface | LGA-1155 | ||
| Chipset | Intel Z77 | ||
| Memory Slots | Four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 32 GB Up to Dual Channel, 1066-1600 MHz |
||
| Video Outputs | VGA DVI or TB2 HDMI TB1 |
||
| Onboard LAN | Realtek 8111 | ||
| Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC892 | ||
| Expansion Slots | 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 (x8 in dual) 1 x PCIe 3.0 x8 (x4 in tri) 1 x PCIe 3.0 x4 (when IVB CPU is used) 3 x PCIe 2.0 x1 1 x PCI |
||
| Onboard SATA/RAID | 2 x SATA 6 Gbps (Chipset), RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 4 x SATA 3 Gbps (Chipset), RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 1 x mSATA 3 Gbps (disables SATA2_5) |
||
| USB | 4 x USB 3.0 (Intel) [2 back panel, 2 onboard] 4 x USB 3.0 (VIA) [4 back panel] 6 x USB 2.0 (Intel) [6 onboard] |
||
| Onboard | 2 x SATA 6 Gbps 4 x SATA 3 Gbps 1 x mSATA 5 x Fan Headers 1 x USB 3.0 Header 3 x USB 2.0 Headers 1 x COM Header 1 x TPM Header |
||
| Power Connectors | 1 x 24-pin ATX Power Connector 1 x 8-pin CPU Power Connector |
||
| Fan Headers | 1 x CPU (4-pin) 4 x SYS (4-pin) |
||
| IO Panel | 1 x PS/2 Combination Port 1 x VGA 1 x DVI-D 1 x HDMI 6 x USB 3.0 1 x Realtek GbE 2 x Thunderbolt 1 x Optical S/PDIF Audio Jacks | ||
| Warranty Period | 3 Years | ||
| Product Page | Link | ||
Despite Thunderbolt and IR3550 ICs onboard, we are lacking much grunt
in the design. No extra SATA, no Power/Reset buttons or debug LED,
Realtek Audio+NIC. It is easy to visualize the design team being told
to create a board ‘with Thunderbolt and Ultra Durable 5’, but being
given a tight budget to work within. However the usage scenario for the
user has to be on the Thunderbolt design to make the purchase
worthwhile – in essence the Ultra Durable 5 power delivery is an added
extra. I bet a Z77X-UD4 TH would sell just as well if not better than
the Z77X-UP4 TH.
Gigabyte Z77X-UP4 TH BIOS >>
source:http://www.anandtech.com/
