Review: Biostar Hi-Fi Z77X
Published by Marc Büchel on 04.10.12Conclusion
| Allgemein | + | - | |
| With the Hi-Fi Z77X, Biostar leaves quite a good impression. We really liked the design of this board. The black matte PCB combined with black expansion slots and blue coolers and capacitors looks really nice. Furthermore there is the beefed up audio solution. Isolating the audio chip from the rest of the board makes a lot of sense and so does an EMI shield as well as additional capacitors. Altogether you get quite a decent audio experience with this board. A little disappointing, that's what the BIOS is. Biostar should really put some more effort into making the BIOS look nicer and it could also use some more structure. | -
Design - Audio Solution |
- BIOS | |
| Layout | + | - | |
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Basically the Biostar Hi-Fi Z77X's Layout has been very well thought. Once more practical are the angled SATA connectors as well as the power- and reset-buttons. There is also a debug display which is very useful in case you should have issues with a component in your system or the board itself. Even the placement of the PCI-Express x16 is very well chosen. There is a total of two of these slots. For a board like this which is targeting a budget segment this is ok. But there is something about this board we really don't understand. Why is there no optical out? Since Biostar says that this board has been built for Hi-Fi enthusiasts there should definitely be such a connector. If you build an HTPC you could use the HDMI to get digital audio but otherwise you will have to use the analogue connectors. |
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Angled SATA connectors-
Power/Reset-Button onboard - Debug display - Space around the CPU socket |
- No optical out | |
| Performance | + | - | |
| A closer look at this boards performance reveals that the Hi-Fi Z77X is a very good contestant. In our 2D as well as our 3D comparison tables the board is able to score very well. In both cases the board reaches thrid place. If you add power consumption to the equation then things start to look even better. In this case the Hi-Fi Z77X is able to score second an keep all the other ATX boards on a safe distance. | -
2D Performance - 3D Performance - Performance/Watt |
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| BIOS / Overclocking | + | - | |
| This is the one thing Biostar should really put in some more effort. The BIOS looks a bit untidy and it can take time until you find the settings you're looking for. We would really love to see a BIOS that is better structured. Biostar could for example add more submenus for easy and advanced overclocking. Furthermore it's ok to do some easy air overclocking but it's really not what you're looking for when you want to get the absolute maximum out of your PC. | - Untidy - Design | ||
| Recommendation | + | - | |
| If you should be looking for an ATX motherboard which is good and cheap and also comes with a beefed up audio solution, then the Hi-Fi Z77X is a very good choice. Furthermore there is the beautiful Design as well as the excellent performance under standard conditions. | -
Desktop - Gaming |
- Enthusiast - Overclocking |
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| Rating | |||
| We give the Biostar Hi-Fi Z77X four out of five stars. | |||
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Author: m.buechel@ocaholic.ch l.rocchi@ocaholic.ch
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