Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/6097/biostar-tz77xe4-review-dichotomy-by-default
Biostar TZ77XE4 Review: Dichotomy by Default
by Ian Cutress on July 21, 2012 5:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Biostar
- Motherboards
- Z77
Biostar have always been on the radar for motherboard builders, occupying that niche of ‘bang-for-buck’ if your wallet is looking a little empty this month. In the grand scheme of things they usually do okay, perhaps a little imperfect in the design or not exactly the premium BIOS and software package we have come to expect from top-tier motherboard manufacturers, but today we look at one of their Z77 range, the Biostar TZ77XE4. Visually in orange, it provides something different, but is that true of the whole package? Read on to find out more.
Biostar TZ77XE4 Overview
The Biostar TZ77XE4 forged an ambivalent relationship with me during testing. The design is good, with a full set of video outputs, PCIe laid out appropriately, enhanced Realtek ALC898 audio to 110dB SNR, extra SATA ports, and in the box we should get a USB front panel if you are in the USA. Gaming performance on a single NVIDIA card was similarly worthy of note.
However, performance in other areas was not so great – for whatever reason CPU performance was stagnant compared to other Z77 motherboards, even in our benchmarks that were memory-independent. The additional software needs to be updated; especially the driver and utility install CD that required manual install of each individual driver and utility. The lack of fan headers could also be cited as a concern.
There were memory issues - none of my testing kits wanted to work at XMP - the board is rated at "DDR3-2400+" and I have seen others running it at such, but my DDR3-2400 and DDR3-2133 kits did not want to play ball. For all the testing on the Biostar board, I had to run at a lower memory strap (DDR3-2000 mostly) in order to remain stable. Even a couple of the gaming setups did not work unless I resorted to default SPD. A word from Biostar states that I received an early model before it was entirely finalized, so users should not experience these issues. However, I did experience these issues, and it was odd that in some tests, the Biostar bottomed out (3DPM), but in others it ruled the roost (Metro2033 on a single GTX580).
At an MSRP of $170 (currently at Newegg for $150), there are currently a significant number of motherboards from the main manufacturers that cost less and have competitively better packages, such as the Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H, the ASUS P8Z77-M Pro, the ASRock Z77 Extreme4, and the ASRock Z77E-ITX. That makes the TZ77XE4 a hard sell in all honesty – as a budget-perceived brand, Biostar has to bring something extra to the table. In the past, this has always been the super-low price, but the TZ77XE4 does not qualify for that.
Visual Inspection
Biostar have characteristically been black and orange, and we see it here again on their top Z77 model, the TZ77XE4. The power delivery is covered with large brightly colored heatsinks to remove heat, both connected via a heatpipe. These heatsinks are set a little away from the Intel designated socket area, though the memory banks are right up against the socket boundary - with only two sticks of memory in the board there will be enough room for most of the beefiest air coolers.
In terms of fan headers, Biostar have unfortunately put much effort in here, with only three to play with - a 4-pin CPU fan header to the top right of the socket, and two 3-pin at the south end of the board. Anyone requiring headers for more than three fans will have to resort to providing their own fan control.
Along the right hand side, apart from the 24-pin power connector, we have a series of eight SATA ports - two SATA 6 Gbps from the PCH, four SATA 3 Gbps also from the PCH, and another two SATA 6 Gbps from an ASMedia controller. These are unfortunately not color coded, meaning users will have to double check every time that the SATA cable is going into the port as intended. Below these we have a two-digit debug display for error reporting which also doubles up as a temperature sensor during normal OS operation.
The chipset heatsink sports the bright orange Biostar color, but is rather small which could lead to it being warm to the touch. On the south side of the board, we are not exactly bursting with headers - aside from the fans, we have front panel headers, a pair of USB 2.0 headers, and power/reset/clear CMOS buttons. These final three buttons are all similar and next to each other, so I can just see myself accidentally pressing the wrong one from time to time. It is also important to note the location of a USB 3.0 header, just above the third full-length PCIe slot. This is a rather awkward place, and cements its use primarily for rear facing adaptors (as long as there is nothing in the PCI slot beside it).
The PCIe layout is better than previous iterations, featuring an x16 (x8 in dual-GPU), x1, x8, PCI, PCI and Gen 2.0 x4. This leaves a space between GPUs, and a spare x1, PCI and x4 when dual GPUs are being used. Note we do not have a molex connector here, suggesting that Biostar are happy with the power delivery when the PCIe slots are in use.
Along the left hand side, you will see a Biostar branded metal shield. Underneath this is a Realtek ALC898 chip, powering the audio. Biostar claim that they have improved the shielding and the isolation for the audio. This results in 110dB SNR; whereas we are normally quoted 108dB SNR or less for the Realtek codec (it states 110dB SNR in the Realtek Whitepaper under ideal conditions). However, you may note that there are no digital audio outputs.
For back panel functionality, we have a PS2 keyboard port, two USB 2.0 ports (black), DisplayPort, HDMI, D-Sub, DVI-I, eSATA, two USB 3.0 (blue), gigabit Ethernet, two more USB 2.0 (black), and audio jacks. I should stress that even though there is a DVI-I on the back panel, it does not accept analog signals by adaptor.
Board Features
Biostar TZ77XE4 | |
Price | Link |
Size | ATX |
CPU Interface | LGA-1155 |
Chipset | Intel Z77 |
Memory Slots |
Four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 32 GB Up to Dual Channel, 1066-2600 MHz |
Video Outputs | DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI-D, D-Sub |
Onboard LAN | Realtek 8111E |
Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC898 |
Expansion Slots |
2 x PCIe x16 Gen3 (x16, x8/8) 1 x PCIe x16 Gen2 (x4) 1 x PCIe x1 Gen2 2 x PCI |
Onboard SATA/RAID |
2 x SATA 6 Gbps (PCH), Support for RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 4 x SATA 3 Gbps (PCH), Support for RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 2 x SATA 6 Gbps (ASMedia Controller) 1 x eSATA 3 Gbps |
USB |
4 USB 3.0 ports (2 back panel, 2 from headers) 8 USB 2.0 ports (4 back panel, 4 from headers) |
Onboard |
4 x SATA 6 Gbps 4 x SATA 3 Gbps 1 x USB 3.0 Header 2 x USB 2.0 Header 3 x Fan Headers 1 x CIR Header 1 x SPDIF Output Header 1 x Front Panel Audio Header |
Power Connectors |
1 x 24-pin ATX connector 1 x 8-pin 12V connector |
Fan Headers |
1 x CPU Fan Header (4-pin) 2 x SYS Fan Header (3-pin) |
IO Panel |
1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port 1 x eSATA 2 x USB 3.0 4 x USB 2.0 1 x DisplayPort 1 x HDMI 1 x DVI-D 1 x D-Sub 1 x Gigabit Ethernet Audio Jacks |
Warranty Period | 3 years from date of sale |
Product Page | Link |
Aside from the extra SATA controller, PCI slots, Power/Reset buttons and the use of all four display outputs, there's nothing much 'extra' that Biostar have put on the board which isn't already in the default chipset. This could perhaps be their downfall when it comes to conclusions after testing.
A good way to start testing a new Z77 board is to strap in my review kit of memory and apply the XMP profile. The kit I use for Z77 is a G.Skill DDR3-2400 9-11-11 16GB kit, one of the first 4x4GB DDR3-2400 kits originally designed for the X79 platform. It seems that this kit had a short life as the chips used were quickly modified and branded in other products – I get this impression as there seem to be only a couple of motherboard manufacturers that can get them to work properly at purely XMP.
For all other manufacturers, I often have to adjust the memory voltage to beyond 1.65 volts (typically 1.72 volts) and the VTT voltage to 1.3 volts, 200 mV above normal. This so far has worked in all testing, albeit even with a hint of instability. However, if a motherboard does make this kit work first time, more often than not, the motherboard performs well during testing and the product shows an extra level of finesse across the package.
So when the Biostar TZ77XE4 landed on my desk, it first failed to run XMP, and then failed with the modified voltage settings. I was a little downhearted. The Biostar TZ77XE4 is rated only to “DDR3-2400+”, in comparison to most Z77 motherboards that are rated to 2666 or 2800. I have seen reviews of the board where the DDR3-2400 on a more recent kit work successfully. DDR3-2400 with 9-11-11 timings is actually very aggressive for old memory chips, and in the end, the motherboard and I came to a compromise with DDR3-2000 11-11-11 timings on the adjusted voltages, as anything faster than that caused severe memory instability.
I double-checked the XMP issue with another kit I have from Patriot, a DDR3-2133 9-11-9 kit. Unfortunately, that did not work either. I approached Biostar regarding this issue, to which I achieved a very swift response:
"The issue you see does exist and we fixed that by hardware modify which was released right after the first production [that were sent to initial reviewers rather than users]; that means you received the older version and most of the boards out there are the new ones."
For the review it means that during our testing, we had to run most of the tests at DDR3-2000. This should give this motherboard a handicap, and it is true in our 3DPM test. But the board did manage to score some top places, resulting in a very distinct dichotomous nature in how to interpret the results.
Biostar TZ77XE4 BIOS
This is only our second Biostar board reviewed in 18 months here at AnandTech, so interpreting the BIOS is top of our list of understanding the motherboard. Unfortunately, a few default settings could be considered irregular if you have ever played with other Z77 boards.
First of all is the SATA settings - it is common place on Z77 to have these set at AHCI as standard, in order to take advantage of such a setting especially in the landscape of SSDs we now live in. Unfortunately, Biostar still resort to enabling IDE by default on the TZ77XE4, which may attribute to some less-than-spectacular SATA port results in other motherboard reviews. For our testing, we have enabled AHCI, and Biostar are now aware of this issue.
For overclocking, I typically input values using the keypad. This works most of the time, because NumLock is enabled by default on every motherboard I have reviewed. Unfortunately, it was not enabled on the TZ77XE4 - talking to Biostar, this should be enabled in future BIOS releases.
BIOS updating is becoming a prerequisite feature on motherboards, especially if users can do it outside of the operating system. If updating is OS only, a user needs to install the OS first, and then update the BIOS that in itself could cause issues. Most (~80%) motherboard manufacturers include a tool in the BIOS to do this, and some even go further to provide the facility without a CPU, memory or VGA card installed. In order to activate it on the TZ77XE4, users must press F12 at boot-time, but the POST screen will not tell you this, and there is no option in the BIOS. I found it accidentally when looking from the 'select a boot device' option on POST.
As for the BIOS, it is visually very welcoming:
The front screen has some of the details I like to see - motherboard name, BIOS version, memory amount and memory speed; unfortunately, we do not have other important information, such as current CPU installed, speed of the CPU, CPU temperature, voltages and fan speeds. I prefer having all this information to hand the minute I get into the BIOS in case something is amiss, or if diagnosing issues.
In order to enable AHCI mode, users should navigate to Advanced -> SATA Configuration, where the following screen will be presented:
By default, the SATA Mode selection and ASMedia controller are in IDE mode - switch this to AHCI mode for improved performance of most SATA hard drives.
Fan controls on the Biostar TZ77XE4 are both in the BIOS and in the operating system software and both are built on the same principle:
Users in the BIOS can select whether to give the CPU fan header one of the predefined settings, or let the BIOS 'calibrate' the fan. This means slowing it down and spinning it up, then suggesting appropriate values for the Biostar options. Note other motherboard manufacturers directly deal with CPU temperatures and correlate the fan speeds so that users do not have to learn arbitrary scales. No such luck here I am afraid.
All the overclocking, memory and voltage options are under the O.N.E menu. In this menu, the first option allows us to select which screen we would like to see first when entering the BIOS. Not many other motherboards have this feature - it would be interesting to see it on some of the top tier products in the future.
Overclocking options allow users to define CPU ratios depending on load, or have a fixed CPU ratio throughout. Memory selection is somewhat frustrating on the TZ77XE4 - on many other motherboards on the market users can configure certain memory settings and leave the rest on automatic. On this product, if a user wants to change any sub-timing, they must know all the equivalent subtimings as well.
Some elements of this BIOS feel like they are ripped straight out of the Sandy Bridge models. Take voltage selection for example - should a user select 'CPU VCore Fixed' in order to manually adjust the voltage, the first value it gives is 1.250 volts - a voltage that is too high for most Ivy Bridge usage scenarios. At this voltage, and around 4.7 GHz, users will see temperatures nudging 100ºC easily. Simple things like this should be caught before release, or adjusted depending on CPU detected.
Biostar TZ77XE4 Software
When buying a motherboard from a non top-tier manufacturer, a user must understand that the software package behind it may not be what they expect. This is especially true in Biostar's case. We start with the software install, which requires a user to manually select each item to install it. In a top tier product, we typically see that a user can one-click an 'Install Everything' or 'Install Selected' option to cut through the requirement for a user to sit at the desk over 15 minutes clicking every now and again.
Perhaps I am being overly critical, given that this is something that would only happen after installing an operating system. Though it is a small feature that I feel as a user should be part of the package. Biostar have taken the suggestion on board and we may see a change in future products.
G.P.U (Green Power Utility)
The software installed comes in several small packages, rather than one overriding interface. The first being Biostar's confusingly named energy saving utility, G.P.U. Rather than standing for Graphics Processing Unit, we are talking about the Green Power Utility, whose job it is to save power (read - reduce voltage and phases in use).
BIOS Update
Should the 'Press F12 to install BIOS' during the POST sequence pass a user by, there is an option to download the latest BIOS from Biostar's servers and install it via the operating system.
eHotLine
System builders will recognize the frustration that arises when you have a hardware fault. When asking for details, the company will require you to take an AIDA64 test or email them a memory dump. Should you need Biostar's support personnel, they may ask for an eHotLine system dump instead, from their own software. Through the software, a user should be able to describe the symptom and email support as required. How quickly you would get an answer is perhaps subject to debate depending on how busy Biostar are.
TOverclocker
The overclocking utility, TOverclocker, attempts to combine all the aspects of operating system overclocks into one interface. On the front screen, it gives a lot of detailed information - CPU speed, motherboard, motherboard model, BIOS version, and the details of the processor installed:
The main menu option here is the OC Tweaker, which allows users to adjust the frequency of the CPU (BCLK manipulation only), the voltage (which never worked for me), and a series of auto overclocking modes. These overclocking modes were actually quite poor, only giving 2 MHz BCLK overclocks which were unstable.
When we tested this software on 990FX for AMD chipsets, it was good and worked well. However, on an Intel chipset, it is fatally flawed and should be redesigned from the ground up.
Fan control is found in the H/W Monitor menu, and is similar to the BIOS implementation:
One last comment about TOverclocker: any overclock you perform in the software is lost on the next reboot until you open up the software. However, if you apply a 2 MHz overclock in the software, then apply it in the BIOS, the next time TOverclocker is opened it will attempt to apply that 2 MHz overclock on top of the BIOS overclock. This will result in an unstable system, meaning the user will not be able to use the software again until the BIOS overclock is set back to default. It is a very odd system to work with on the TZ77XE4.
Biostar TZ77XE4 In The Box
With Biostar being a well-enough known budget brand, it is fair to presume that we should not get that much in the box to tantalize us. However, the TZ77XE4 is the high end Biostar SKU, so we could always be in for a surprise.
Driver CD
User's Manual
Rear IO Shield
Four SATA Cables
Rigid 3-slot SLI Bridge
3-Slot Crossfire Bridge
USB 3.0 Panel (USA Special Offer Only)
I was initially confused, as the review sample I received did not correlate with the Newegg image of what is in the box as shown above - I did not get in a USB 3.0 panel. I discussed this with Biostar, who state that it is a USA specific promotion to include the USB 3.0 panel. At the MSRP for the motherboard, I would have expected every sample to include that USB 3.0 panel to sweeten the deal.
Aside from the panel, Biostar have included a CrossFire bridge in the bundle. Usually CrossFire cables are supplied with GPUs and not the motherboard, so it is a welcome addition.
Voltage Readings
After my first publication of OCCT voltage readings, a few readers responded with a more in-depth reasoning behind some of the results we were seeing. With this in mind, I would like to re-describe what we are doing with this test, and how it comes about.
Much of what an enthusiast overclocker does is monitor CPU temperature and voltage. Whatever settings a user places in the BIOS or OS is at the mercy of the motherboard - in terms of actually setting the values and reporting the values back. As an enthusiast, we have to rely on what readings we get back, and hope that motherboard manufacturers are being honest with their readings.
Take CPU voltage. What we as a user see in CPU-Z or OCCT is a time-averaged value that hides voltage ripple (if any) for power delivery. It is very easy for a motherboard manufacturer to hide this value, or to disregard slight deviations and report a constant value to the user. The CPU voltage reading can be taken at a variety of places on the power plane, which can vary between motherboards and manufacturers, meaning that each reading is essentially not comparable with the other. Nevertheless, as an enthusiast, we will constantly compare value A with value B.
Whether or not I can achieve 4.7 GHz with 1.175 volts on a particular board is inconsequential - your motherboard may perhaps produce the same result with a reading at 1.200 volts. The only way to test the actual value is with consistent methodology is via an oscilloscope connected to similar points on each board. This may sound like taking an OCCT reading is therefore redundant.
However, motherboards have settings relating to load line calibration. As load is applied to the CPU, the voltage across the processor decreases (VDroop). Load Line calibration essentially attempts to control this level of droop, by increasing voltage when voltage drops are detected away from a fixed value. Manufacturers have different ideas on how to modify LLC with respect to load, or whether the level of modification should be controlled by the user. Some manufacturers offer the option at a variety of levels, such that overclockers can be sure of the applied setting (even if it increases peak voltage, as explained by AnandTech in 2007).
By doing a full load OCCT test, we are essentially determining both how aggressive the motherboard is reporting the CPU voltage under load and how aggressive load line calibration is performing (from the point of view of the user without an oscilloscope or DVM). If someone has one of the motherboards we have tested and you have a different one, variations in load voltage should describe the offset you may require for overclock comparisons.
Reported Load Voltage / V | |
ASRock Fatal1ty Z77 Professional | 0.956 |
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 | 1.050-1.058 |
ASRock Z77 Extreme6 | 1.040-1.048 |
ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe | 1.085 |
ASUS P8Z77-V Pro | 1.090 |
Biostar TZ77XE4 | 1.036 |
Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H | 1.067 |
MSI Z77A-GD65 | 1.020 |
Overclocking
Note: Ivy Bridge does not overclock like Sandy Bridge. For a detailed report on the effect of voltage on Ivy Bridge (and thus temperatures and power draw), please read Undervolting and Overclocking on Ivy Bridge.
Overclocking on the Biostar TZ77XE4 was a mixture of disappointment followed by a brief respite of joy.
Automatic overclocking on this motherboard is flawed, resulting in shutdowns. As with some other motherboard manufacturers, the overclock is enabled directly from switch on - thus if it is truly unstable during POST, only a ClearCMOS will clear it (then you have to remember to enable AHCI again). Other manufacturers enable overclocks at the end of POST, which is preferable. I only experienced this when I adjusted the Load Line Calibration for the CPU, which essentially is best left on automatic.
During the manual testing, when a voltage was selected and we told the BIOS to make all cores the same multiplier, the operating system would remain at that speed and voltage constantly, not invoking any SpeedStep. This could result in high idle temperatures for users.
Our standard overclocking methodology is as follows. For automatic overclocks options, they are selected and tested for stability with PovRay and OCCT to simulate high-end workloads and catch any immediate causes for memory or CPU errors.
For manual overclocks, based on the information gathered from previous testing, starts off at a nominal voltage and CPU multiplier, and the multiplier is increased until the stability tests are failed. The CPU voltage is increased gradually until the stability tests are passed, and the process repeated until the motherboard reduces the multiplier automatically (due to safety protocol) or the CPU temperature reaches a stupidly high level (100ºC+).
Our test bed is not in a case, which should push overclocks higher with fresher (cooler) air. We also are using Intel's All-in-one Liquid Cooler with its stock fan. This is a 120mm radiator liquid cooler, designed to mimic a medium-to-high end air cooler.
Automatic Overclock:
For Automatic Overclocks, the only options available are found in OS Software through the TOverclocker program. This program gives three options - V6, V12 and Automatic (the naming suggests that Biostar are trying to emulate car engines in their overclock representations). Selecting these options allows the software to apply the overclock, which was not kept between reboots unless the TOverclocker software was loaded again. Here are our results:
For V6, the system boosted the BCLK to 102 MHz, giving 3978 MHz during single thread load. Unfortunately, the board also crashed after applying the overclock, suggesting instability.
For V12, the system boosted the BCLK to 104 MHz, giving 4056 MHz during single thread load. At this overclock, PovRay reported a peak temperature of 61ºC and OCCT had 63ºC. The system was very stable.
For the automatic setting, the board immediately reset itself, and loaded the OS. Nothing happened in the OS, and no overclock was applied. On loading TOverclocker, it acted as if nothing had happened.
Manual Overclock:
During the manual overclocking, PLL Overvoltage was left disabled and Load Line Calibration was left on automatic. To change the multiplier, the BIOS option 'Fixed CPU Ratio' was enabled and the CPU Ratio option was adjusted. Voltages were modified in the BIOS as well, using CPU VCore Fixed, which is gradated in 0.010 volt increments. Here are our results:
Starting at a 1.100 volt setting, the system was set at 44x on the multiplier. This gave a load voltage in the OS of 1.116 volts, and peak temperatures observed were 70ºC for PovRay and 75ºC for OCCT.
For 45x, a setting of 1.100 volts in the BIOS was required, which gave a load voltage of 1.116 volts in the OS. Peak temperatures observed were 73ºC for PovRay and 76ºC for OCCT.
For 46x, a setting of 1.130 volts in the BIOS was required, which gave a load voltage of 1.128 volts in the OS. Peak temperatures observed were 77ºC for PovRay and 80ºC for OCCT.
For 47x, a setting of 1.180 volts in the BIOS was required, which gave a load voltage of 1.188-1.200 volts in the OS. Peak temperatures observed were 84ºC for PovRay and 85ºC for OCCT.
For 48x, even at a setting of 1.280 volts in the BIOS, the system was not stable. At this voltage, the system would reach 97ºC during PovRay and then cause a hard crash.
Test Setup
Processor |
Intel Core i7-3770K ES 4 Cores, 8 Threads, 3.5 GHz (3.9 GHz Turbo) |
Motherboards |
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ASUS P8Z77-V Pro Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H MSI Z77A-GD65 ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe ASRock Fatal1ty Z77 Professional Gigabyte GA-Z77MX-UD3H ASRock Z77 Extreme6 Biostar TZ77XE4 |
Cooling | Intel All-in-One Liquid Cooler |
Power Supply | OCZ 1250W Gold ZX Series |
Memory |
GSkill RipjawsZ 4x4 GB DDR3-2400 9-11-11 Kit GSkill TridentX 2x4 GB DDR3-2666 11-13-13 Kit |
Memory Settings | XMP (2400 9-11-11) |
Video Cards |
ASUS HD7970 3GB ECS GTX 580 1536MB |
Video Drivers |
Catalyst 12.3 NVIDIA Drivers 296.10 WHQL |
Hard Drive | Micron RealSSD C300 256GB |
Optical Drive | LG GH22NS50 |
Case | Open Test Bed - CoolerMaster Lab V1.0 |
Operating System | Windows 7 64-bit |
SATA Testing | Micron RealSSD C300 256GB |
USB 2/3 Testing | OCZ Vertex 3 240GB with SATA->USB Adaptor |
Power Consumption
Power consumption was tested on the system as a whole with a wall meter connected to the OCZ 1250W power supply, while in a dual 7970 GPU configuration. This power supply is Gold rated, and as I am in the UK on a 230-240 V supply, leads to ~75% efficiency > 50W, and 90%+ efficiency at 250W, which is suitable for both idle and multi-GPU loading. This method of power reading allows us to compare the power management of the UEFI and the board to supply components with power under load, and includes typical PSU losses due to efficiency. These are the real world values that consumers may expect from a typical system (minus the monitor) using this motherboard.
Power consumption on the Biostar TZ77XE4 is very good, resulting in some low numbers at idle and during OCCT.
POST Time
Different motherboards have different POST sequences before an operating system is initialized. A lot of this is dependent on the board itself, and POST boot time is determined by the controllers on board (and the sequence of how those extras are organized). As part of our testing, we are now going to look at the POST Boot Time - this is the time from pressing the ON button on the computer to when Windows starts loading. (We discount Windows loading as it is highly variable given Windows specific features.) These results are subject to human error, so please allow +/- 1 second in these results.
Interestingly enough, the Biostar benefits a great deal from being stripped of controllers and features in the BIOS, putting it directly in the path of ASRock POST times.
Overclocks
Here at AnandTech we want to provide quick and easy ways to determine if a board is good for you (with in-depth analysis of course). So here is a quick round up of our overclocking results. Overclocks are tested for stability with PovRay and OCCT - while these may not be the most strenuous of stability tests, it does offer a quick check for memory errors under high load (and also balances testing time with getting the next board on for review!).
CPU Speed (MHz) |
Voltage (Volts) |
PovRay Peak Temp (ºC) |
OCCT Peak Temp (ºC) |
Notes | |
ASRock Fatal1ty Z77 Professional |
4700 | 1.200 | 89 | 89 | PLL Overvoltage enabled |
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 |
4700 | 1.175 | 86 | 86 | LLC Level 1 |
ASRock Z77 Extreme6 |
4700 | 1.175 | 81 | 82 | LLC Level 1 |
ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe |
4700 | 1.225 | 89 | 84 | PLL Overvoltage enabled |
ASUS P8Z77-V Pro |
4700 | 1.200 | 83 | 86 | PLL Overvoltage enabled |
Biostar TZ77XE4 |
4700 | 1.180 | 84 | 85 | None |
Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H |
4700 | 1.200 | 82 | 86 | LLC Extreme |
Gigabyte Z77MX-D3H |
4700 | 1.200 | 80 | 84 | LLC Extreme |
MSI Z77A-GD65 |
4700 | 1.250 | 90 | - | PLL Overvoltage enabled |
USB Speed
For this benchmark, we run CrystalDiskMark to determine the ideal sequential read and write speeds for the USB port using our 240 GB OCZ Vertex3 SSD with a SATA 6 Gbps to USB 3.0 converter. Then we transfer a set size of files from the SSD to the USB drive using DiskBench, which monitors the time taken to transfer. The files transferred are a 1.52 GB set of 2867 files across 320 folders – 95% of these files are small typical website files, and the rest (90% of the size) are the videos used in the Sorenson Squeeze test.
Typically, nothing much separates USB 2.0 speed between the motherboards. As we can see, in pure sequential read and writes, the Biostar is mid-pack. However, it does take top spot during our copy test of default USB controller and drivers, indicating better small-file performance.
Similarly, with USB 3.0 performance, nothing much stands out regarding the Biostar in terms of sequential reads and writes, but it hits the nail on the head during our copy testing.
SATA Testing
We also use CrystalDiskMark for SATA port testing on a C300 drive. The sequential test (incompressible data) is run at the 5 x 1000 MB level. This test probes the efficiency of the data delivery system between the chipset and the drive, or in the case of additional SATA ports provided by a third party controller, the efficiency between the controller, the chipset and the drive.
No upsets during SATA testing, with the Biostar still being very middle of the pack.
DPC Latency
Deferred Procedure Call latency is a way in which Windows handles interrupt servicing. In order to wait for a processor to acknowledge the request, the system will queue all interrupt requests by priority. Critical interrupts will be handled as soon as possible, whereas lesser priority requests, such as audio, will be further down the line. So if the audio device requires data, it will have to wait until the request is processed before the buffer is filled. If the device drivers of higher priority components in a system are poorly implemented, this can cause delays in request scheduling and process time, resulting in an empty audio buffer – this leads to characteristic audible pauses, pops and clicks. Having a bigger buffer and correctly implemented system drivers obviously helps in this regard. The DPC latency checker measures how much time is processing DPCs from driver invocation – the lower the value will result in better audio transfer at smaller buffer sizes. Results are measured in microseconds and taken as the peak latency while cycling through a series of short HD videos - under 500 microseconds usually gets the green light, but the lower the better.
While not the best ever board in our DPC testing, the Biostar clocks in at 109 microseconds, well within the green zone in the test.
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.
Single thread performance for the Biostar is well within statistical variation when compared to other Z77 motherboards.
Unfortunately, in our multithreaded testing, this is where the Biostar falls down greatly. Against the lowest Z77 board, the Biostar is another 2% slower overall - against the best Z77 board, the Biostar is 6.7% slower. This is indicative of a failing of some kind - the TZ77XE4 already lags behind due to not having MultiCore Enhancement and lower memory, but this is another stage further down the line. It may be worthwhile if Biostar go back to the drawing board and check to see if their SpeedStep is functioning properly and is being as responsive as it can be to multithreaded load. (For comparison, another motherboard at DDR3-1600 11-11-11 achieved a score of 667.12, almost 10 points clear of the Biostar.)
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, and provides as a good test for when a system has variable threaded load. If a system has multiple speeds to invoke at different loading, the switching between those speeds will determine how well the system will do.
In WinRAR, the Biostar motherboard again comes near the bottom due to the multithreading issues we have already mentioned.
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.
In a single-threaded test, the Biostar TZ77XE4 performs well, being statistically near the middle of the pack of other Z77 products.
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.
Xilisoft being fully multithreaded also shows the Biostar can lag behind, some 5 seconds off the pace of our best Z77 motherboard.
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.
Unfortunately, the Biostar comes bottom of our x264 test, though within the ranges of other motherboards that do not have MultiCore Enhancement.
Gaming Benchmarks
A foreword regarding the game tests: due to the TZ77XE4 not enjoying my normal memory configuration, the gaming tests were run mostly at DDR3-2000. During several setups however, memory was reduced to default SPD due to instability and the Biostar motherboard refusing to run with memory during the benchmark. These were:
NVIDIA, single GTX-580, Dirt3
NVIDIA, dual GTX-580, Dirt3
AMD, dual HD 7970, Metro2033
AMD, tri HD 7970, Metro2033
In addition, the Biostar enables three-way CrossFireX through the third PCIe slot. This slot is limited to four PCIe 2.0 lanes, as it comes from the chipset rather than the CPU. As a result, this third GPU will not provide optimum scaling, but results are shown here for comparison to similar Z77 boards we have tested.
Civilization V
Civilization V is a strategy video game that utilizes a significant number of the latest GPU features and software advances. Using the in-game benchmark, we run Civilization V at 2560x1440 with full graphical settings, similar to Ryan in his GPU testing functionality. Results reported by the benchmark are the total number of frames in sixty seconds, which we normalize to frames per second.
Unfortunately, the coupling of Civilization V with the Biostar and AMD does not give the best results, perhaps due to the reduced memory. We have seen how Civilization V loves memory speed in AMD, and it shows here with the Biostar results.
However, if you have a single GTX 580, it seems that the Biostar is the board to have, amazingly coming out top of the single NVIDIA card test.
Dirt 3
Dirt 3 is a rallying video game and the third in the Dirt series of the Colin McRae Rally series, developed and published by Codemasters. Using the in game benchmark, Dirt 3 is run at 2560x1440 with full graphical settings. Results are reported as the average frame rate across four runs.
Out of the Z77 boards we have tested with three AMD GPUs, the Biostar seems to be the one to get. The single and dual GPU numbers are also on par with other motherboards in this test.
In contrast, with NVIDIA cards the Biostar TZ77XE4 seems reach the top of the charts in Dirt3.
Metro2033
Metro2033 is a DX11 benchmark that challenges every system that tries to run it at any high-end settings. Developed by 4A Games and released in March 2010, we use the inbuilt DirectX 11 Frontline benchmark to test the hardware at 2560x1440 with full graphical settings. Results are given as the average frame rate from 10 runs.
The TZ77XE4 seems to like Metro2033, even with the memory speed disadvantage.
Chalk up another good performance under NVIDIA for the TZ77XE4.
Motherboards can relatively straightforward and a joy to work with, or the biggest level of frustration and anguish a system builder or tester can experience. The Biostar TZ77XE4 invokes quantum mechanics in its actions - being either a delight or a terror depending on what you want to do with it.
In terms of performance, for variable threaded loads the Biostar TZ77XE4 is to be found with its trousers around its ankles. However, in gaming, especially with GTX580s, it comes out on top even with a memory disadvantage. For overclocking, steer clear from any automatic overclocking settings. For manual overclocking, we end up with a fixed voltage at idle, but nice temperature readings at load in our 4.7 GHz overclock.
USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 sequential performance is middle of the pack when compared to our other Z77 motherboards we have tested, but our copy tests show that the Biostar comes out near the top when using default drivers. The BIOS has an odd range of choices by default, including IDE as standard rather than AHCI, as well as NumLock not being enabled. Nevertheless, visually it is inviting and easy to navigate.
Users have access to all three full-length PCIe slots for AMD tri-GPU action, but this is a little bittersweet as that last slot is limited to four PCIe 2.0 lanes from the chipset. The system does not add anything extra in the way of USB 3.0 apart from those on the chipset, but there is an extra SATA 6 Gbps controller from ASMedia.
Visually, very few motherboards are in orange, so for an orange-based system build there is no other real choice apart from Biostar unless you get the spray cans out. The USB 3.0 header is in an odd place, and having the ClearCMOS button right next to the power/reset could lead some enthusiasts to reach for the profanity jar should they press the wrong button by accident.
The Biostar TZ77XE4 comes in with an MSRP of $170, but is currently on Newegg for $150. At this price, the Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H, the ASUS P8Z77-M Pro, the ASRock Z77 Extreme4, and the ASRock Z77E-ITX all come into play as competition. These boards all have their plus points and their minus points - the Biostar could certainly use a polish and have some of the usage scenarios behave seamlessly in order to improve its standing.
As I mentioned back at the beginning of this review, the Biostar TZ77XE4 is a hard motherboard to recommend given the issues and the competition. If Biostar truly want to build more than budget products in the future, they have to have the software backbone and rigorous testing methodology that all the bigger manufacturers have in the enthusiast arena.