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Asus Sabertooth Z77 Motherboard Review (with OC GTX680)

HQV Benchmark 2.0 is an updated version of the original tool and it consists of various video clips and test patterns which are designed to evalute motion correction, de-interlacing, decoding, noise reduction, detail enhancement and film cadence detection.

There are two versions of the program, standard definition on DVD and high definition on Bluray. As our audience will be concentrating on HD content so will we.

This has a total of 39 video tests which is increased from 23 in the original and the scoring is also up from a total of 130 to 210. As hardware and software gets more complicated, the software has been tuned to make sure we can thoroughly maximise our analysis.

Read our initial analysis over here.

Asus GTX680
Dial
4
Dial with static pattern 5
Gray Bars 5
Violin 5
Stadium 2:2 5
Stadium 3:2 5
Horizontal Text Scroll 3
Vertical Text Scroll 5
Transition to 3:2 Lock 5
Transition to 2:2 Lock 0
2:2:2:4 24 FPS DVCAM Video
5
2:3:3:2 24 FPS DVCam Video
5
3:2:3:2:2 24 FOS Vari-Speed
5
5:5 FPS Animation
5
6:4 12 FPS Animation
5
8:7 8 FPS Animation
5
Interlace Chroma Problem (ICP)
5
Chroma Upsampling Error (CUE)
5
Random Noise: Sailboat
5
Random Noise: Flower
5
Random Noise: Sunrise
5
Random Noise: Harbour Night
5
Scrolling Text
5
Roller Coaster
5
Ferris Wheel
5
Bridge Traffic
5
Text Pattern/ Scrolling Text
5
Roller Coaster
5
Ferris Wheel
5
Bridge Traffic
5
Luminance Frequency Bands
5
Chrominance Frequency Bands
5
Vanishing Text 5
Resolution Enhancement
15
Theme Park
5
Driftwood 5
Ferris Wheel
5
Skin Tones
5
Total 192

The hardware scores 192 points out of a possible 210 which is excellent.

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22 comments

  1. I love the heatsink idea with the cover, but it looks like it might block some of the bigger CPU coolers, hard to tell going on the information but it looks tight near the top of the board.

  2. Great review. So, it did or didn’t OC stable to 5Ghz with the H100?

  3. Thanks for a great review!

    I have a couple of questions about this motherboard with a Noctua NH-D14 cooler – firstly if it fits and secondly if the motherboard is able to control the Noctua fan speeds (they are 3 pin fans, not PWM).

  4. yeah 5ghz is stable with one of the samples I have, but they all vary. 4.8ghz is best all round spot with less voltage and a cheaper cooler (for most people anyway).

  5. If you give me a few days ill try with a D14, didnt for the review, but I have one in another drawer.

  6. Great! Thanks =)

  7. Zardon. Any new about the D14, with this board? Its compatible?

  8. I’m getting this board and want to know, would the Thermalright Silver Arrow cpu cooler fit above the TUF Armor? With two 140mm fans attached?

  9. Hi there, the NH D14 fits – but its close. As for the question on the Silver Arrow CPU cooler, I dont have one here, but ill try and get hold of one.

  10. Thanks for the quick answer. Hopefully it will since the D14 fits. But this pic has me really concerned:
    http://www.overclockers.ru/images/lab/2010/11/25/391_thermalright_silver_arrow_onmobo_big.jpg

  11. Actually looking at that, it looks as if it would fit. I can’t guarantee it, but I have the board at the same angle on the desk here and it looks as if it would fit fine.

    Remember, I know its not ideal, but you can remove the protective shell in a worst case scenario, so the board isnt redundant if there are some fitting issues.

  12. Since the looks of TUF armor are one of the reasons why I want that mobo It would be a waste to remove it. Also I heard that it cools well with the 2 small fans, and I don’t mind a little bit of noise. If the Silver Arrow wouldn’t fit, I’d get a Corsair H100 and normal RAM with heatsinks, so that’s why I wanted to know in advance. According to reviews the H100 is behind by a few degrees and is also more expensive, so I wanna have the Silver Arrow which is currently the best no-maintenance cooler, if it would fit.

  13. Quote: “Quad GPU AMD CrossfireX – a flawless architecture accommodating the power of up to four graphics cards” /Quote

    So where do Install the 4 graphics cards?

    I see 3 slots

  14. I think they do that, saying quad is possible with two cards, but its actually tri crossfire

  15. did you downclock your RAM to OC? page 4 bottom pic. RAM speed=800 mhz…

  16. Thats 1,600mhz. its how DDR3 memory is reported in those programs Matt.