GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UP4 TH (rev. 1.0) Pro Reviews

If you need a motherboard with Thunderbolt, this is one of the most cost-effective options around

Summing up the results of our today’s review of Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP4 TH and Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP5 TH mainboards we should definitely once again point out their numerous advantages. The boards have very smart and balanced layout, their functionality has been enhanced with a number of additional controllers, they support all contemporary interfaces including the latest Thunderbolt. Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP4 TH is a well-balance product for every-day type of tasks, while higher-end Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP5 TH boasts large accessories bundle and supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies thanks to GC-WB300D add-on card. The distinguishing feature of Gigabyte mainboards on Intel Z77 Express chipset is the mSATA connector that allows taking advantage of such technologies as Intel Smart Response or Intel Rapid Start. Gigabyte mainboards have been long known for their remarkable attention to detail. Is it these mainboards that were the first to start using color-coding for the front panel button and indicator connectors, to start marking the slots not only on the textolite next to them, but also inside the slots and connectors themselves. Today we are definitely pleased to see convenient wide latches on the graphics card slots and helpful color-coding of the memory DIMM slots. We are particularly pleased with the quality of the new Gigabyte 3D BIOS, which offers not only the basic functionality for successful system overclocking and fine-tuning, but also Gigabyte’s unique distinguishing features, such as ability to adjust the rotation speed of the processor cooling fan even for three-pin fans and automatic saving of the latest settings profile after a successful system startup.

The Gigabyte Z77X-UP4-TH is a solid and impressive motherboard in the enthusiast arena. It has surpassed some overclocking "records" on our test benches which we have not seen before with such a high Intel Core i7 overclock requiring such little vCore manipulation. The downside is that the dual Thunderbolt ports are commanding a hefty price of around $193 after shipping expenses. If you are not in need of Thunderbolt, the Gigabyte Z77X-UP4-TH motherboard equates to a very expensive motherboard for its limited feature set, but proves to a great overclocking project for the Ivy Bridge processor.

The Gigabyte Z77X-UP4 TH is targeted to the mainstream user who wants a motherboard with Thunderbolt ports. This motherboard also brings three PCI Express x16 3.0 slots, even though they don’t work at x16 speed when more than one video card is installed. However, this is expected on a mainstream product. Another highlight of this motherboard includes the presence of an mSATA slot (even though it is SATA-300 and shared with one of the available SATA-300 ports); two BIOS chips; eight USB 3.0 ports; a PLX PEX8605 chip that allows performance to stay high when the Thunderbolt ports are used in conjunction with SATA-600 and USB 3.0 ports; an excellent voltage regulator circuit; and decent overclocking features, including the possibility of configuring the CPU base clock in 0.01 MHz increments.