ASRock Fatal1ty Z77 Professional Review - IDE and Floppy on Z77
by Ian Cutress on May 20, 2012 1:30 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- ASRock
- Fatal1ty
- Z77
3D Movement Algorithm Test
The algorithms in 3DPM employ both uniform random number generation or normal distribution random number generation, and vary in various amounts of trigonometric operations, conditional statements, generation and rejection, fused operations, etc. The benchmark runs through six algorithms for a specified number of particles and steps, and calculates the speed of each algorithm, then sums them all for a final score. This is an example of a real world situation that a computational scientist may find themselves in, rather than a pure synthetic benchmark. The benchmark is also parallel between particles simulated, and we test the single thread performance as well as the multi-threaded performance.
Due to the default overclock enabled option of ASUS and Gigabyte boards, the ASRock unfortunately lags behind noticeably in multithreaded testing. The ASRock should have average single thread performance in comparison, but in our 3DPM test, the Professional comes in with the lowest score.
WinRAR x64 3.93 - link
With 64-bit WinRAR, we compress the set of files used in the USB speed tests. WinRAR x64 3.93 attempts to use multithreading when possible.
As a test that utilizes multithreading where possible, WinRAR exposes how the motherboards react to changes in load and application of turbo modes. The ASRock Fatal1ty Z77 Professional does well here, edging out the ASUS Pro and coming streaks ahead of the Extreme4.
FastStone Image Viewer 4.2 - link
FastStone Image Viewer is a free piece of software I have been using for quite a few years now. It allows quick viewing of flat images, as well as resizing, changing color depth, adding simple text or simple filters. It also has a bulk image conversion tool, which we use here. The software currently operates only in single-thread mode, which should change in later versions of the software. For this test, we convert a series of 170 files, of various resolutions, dimensions and types (of a total size of 163MB), all to the .gif format of 640x480 dimensions.
Focusing purely on single threaded performance, the Fatal1ty does not perform too well. With the ASUS Deluxe somehow blitzing the field, nothing is coming close.
Xilisoft Video Converter
With XVC, users can convert any type of normal video to any compatible format for smartphones, tablets and other devices. By default, it uses all available threads on the system, and in the presence of appropriate graphics cards, can utilize CUDA for NVIDIA GPUs as well as AMD APP for AMD GPUs. For this test, we use a set of 32 HD videos, each lasting 30 seconds, and convert them from 1080p to an iPod H.264 video format using just the CPU. The time taken to convert these videos gives us our result.
As Xilisoft stresses all cores all of the time, the ASUS and Gigabyte boards have the advantage with that default overclock in multithreaded load. As a result, the Professional lags behind a touch.
x264 HD Benchmark
The x264 HD Benchmark uses a common HD encoding tool to process an HD MPEG2 source at 1280x720 at 3963 Kbps. This test represents a standardized result which can be compared across other reviews, and is dependant on both CPU power and memory speed. The benchmark performs a 2-pass encode, and the results shown are the average of each pass performed four times.
In yet another multithreaded test, the Professional does not break into the top half of the motherboard testing due to that speed deficit.
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Senti - Monday, May 21, 2012 - link
Hell yes to IDE port. It was very frustrating to find on my new motherboard no IDE but "great" SATA 6 was there. Marvell, 2 SATA 6 ports on single PCI-E 2.0 line. Who sane would use that instead of integrated Intel RST plain SATA 3? IDE controller would be way, way more useful.The same story with PCI slots on new boards: we get 0 PCI and 7 PCI-E. But hey, if you plug something in slot X then Y won't work, or if this 1x slot is used then that 4x would become 1x. How about providing fully supplied (or at least more supplied) PCI-E ports and filling space left with PCI?
hechacker1 - Monday, May 21, 2012 - link
Yeah I like the IDE port, even if I'm going to rarely use it. They might as well shrink the header and give us a breakout cable to save space.I guess with USB 3.0, they could just give us an IDE to USB cable and solve the problem.
mapesdhs - Tuesday, May 22, 2012 - link
This is why I kept buying Asrock boards, the slot layout and choice was excellent,
eg. the P55 Deluxe is really good (I have several). Loved the 3-slot spacing for
SLI/CF, has floppy/IDE (I use SAS RAID cards which usually need a floppy for
BIOS/fw updates, and I was carrying over an IDE DVDRW), good price. Infact I
didn't think Asrock's P67 boards were as good as the P55 Deluxe.
The exception is my P67 board, an ASUS Maximus IV Extreme, because I got it for
a very low price refurb, otherwise I would likely have bought a Z68 Extreme4.
Ian.
silverblue - Monday, May 21, 2012 - link
...ATi logo on the board adjacent to the top PCI port.IanCutress - Tuesday, May 22, 2012 - link
We actually see that on a lot of boards still. Perhaps it's time for a design update :)Ian
hardslime - Monday, May 21, 2012 - link
"There are six fan headers on the board – the CPU socket has two fan headers above the top heatsink, one 4-pin and one three-pin, and two above the first PCIe x1 slot (both are three pin). Other fan headers on board are at the bottom, where we find two three-pin chassis headers."One of the chassis headers is a 4-pin. I own this board, you can also see it in some of the pictures.
Matt355 - Monday, May 21, 2012 - link
They should remove the Gamer tag and brand this as what it is, a Home Server Motherboard. 10 SATA ports, IDE, Floppy, lots of fan headers, PIC slots. Not what most Gamers are looking for but it still might sell to the home server crowd.faster - Monday, May 21, 2012 - link
Gamers are hardcore competitive. There is no way I'm going to copy the setup of someone I want to beat. I'm going to do my research and build a better system to try and squeeze out those extra framerates to give me the edge.I build a lot of systems and I have never bought a "Wendel" component and I probably never will unless it clearly beats the competition, something I have never seen from a Wendel component.
ocyl - Tuesday, May 22, 2012 - link
The fact that ASRock Fatal1ty Z77 Professional has built-in IDE and floppy connectors is one of the primary reasons why I will purchase this motherboard rather than the others in the same price range. Sure, I may never need to use these connectors again after the next system migration, but if/when I ever do in the future, I won't have to spend any additional money on expansion cards, nor will I need to allocate any PCI (Express) slot or USB port for them.On the other hand, I would have liked to see dual-link DVI, DisplayPort, and D-sub, or at least dual-link DVI and DisplayPort, instead of DisplayPort and HDMI, video output connectors on this motherboard. I have invested a lot of money in professional-grade monitors, and I am not going to swap them out simply because they are equipped with DVI connectors. Passive DisplayPort-to-DVI and HDMI-to-DVI adapters can only output single-link DVI signals.
jigglywiggly - Tuesday, May 22, 2012 - link
i have better aim that fatal1tyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on1dT4lLuWA
i have a frag of him somewhere, and every game i've played with him, my lg and rail accs are always better, 1.5x.
I still want his stuff, he is p cool, and a great dueler.
Wat u r describing is a lozer