After taking a look at a couple of Asus’ MicroATX Z77 boards we are moving up in size to the standard ATX products. Asus has been (as we have told you) working on integrating the same feature set you find in their ROG boards down into their mainstream and even channel boards. This move is also helping them to restructure the feature set at each level and offer the right features to the right market segment. We started off with the gateway product into the ROG line (the Maximus V Gene) and then dropped to the other end of the spectrum with the P8Z77-M Pro. Now we are going to check out the lower end of the mid-range motherboards in the P8Z77-V. This board is a step up from the P8Z77-M Pro in both size and the features that it brings to the table. Let’s take a look shall we?
Features -In the current market motherboard (and indeed almost all component) performance is very close. The days of a large performance advantage between boards using the same chipset are long gone. That is unless someone makes a HUGE mistake (like runs traces completely wrong). Now, the thing that differentiates different products is the features. These are things like power management, extra slots, better audio CODECs etc. It is these items that R&D teams work so hard to drop into what are really identical pieces of hardware at their most basic level. Excellent -Intel LanFanXpert 2Smart Digi+USB 3.0 BoostUSB BIOS FlashbackWiFi GO! Media StreamingVirtuMVPPCIe 3.0 Network iControlYou might have noticed that this list is a little long. The reason behind this is that these features are excellent in this level of motherboard. At the range we are talking about to have the same level of features that you would expect from Asus’ ROG products is simply great. The Intel LAN, the Network iControl and media streaming over WiFi all are outstanding features for a mid-range product like the P8Z77-V. Asus’ implementation of the Smart Digi+ controls is another item that we cannot stress enough. To not only bring these controls to the mid-range market, but to package them in a way that allows even new users to take advantage of this shows a high level of commitment to the consumer. In the middle (sort of good) -DTS UltraPC IIDTS ConnectHDMI 1.4As you can see here even the mid-level features are solid. The addition of the DTS UltraPC II and DTS connect increase the P8Z77-V’s potential as a multi-media and gaming system while HDMI 1.4 support on the board (with Intel’s next gen CPU) only adds to the valueFloor Mats -Q-ConnectSLICrossfireThese features are still good, but they are features that you would expect from a board at this level.
