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Z77 is here!

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^^ They are also pushing this on their homepage... funny thing is, they combo it with a SB cpu, derp! As i don't have a intel cpu, I have to wait for IB cpu to get z77 board. :-/
 
Yup, they're out.
I reviewed the ASRock Z77 Professional for funkykit.
Working on another Z77 board for OCF here too. A link will be posted in this forum when that review goes live of course :D

So far I must say I'm impressed by Z77.
 
my only problem is that z77 isnt here at my house
 
Erm, so.... You're coming back into the light are you still on the dark side with the evil empire that is Apple? ;P
 
Cojac92 said:
Maybe you could have had one sooner if you hadn't gave Apple $4,000 :p
Click to expand...
hahaha, more like $2500, but yeah. I put in the extra RAM and SSD myself, of course. I wasn't gonna give Apple another $1k to do that 10 minute job for me! I do absolutely love this machine though, and I'll be keeping it for a while so I have something mobile (I'm getting rid of the Eee Slate after I graduate this semester...that's another awesome machine, but no need for it after May!). OSX is wonderful, and I absolutely hate working in Windows on my Eee Slate. In fact, I'll probably get OSX installed on my IVB setup and dual-boot...should be pretty easy since Z77 does EFI natively.

I haven't really had much time to game since coming to college, so there was no need for a top of the line desktop, and OSX does everything I need it too, faster and prettier than windows. I just want a dedicated rig for flight simulator this summer, as I'll be starting Air Force pilot training in July (that's what the patch in my avatar is), so I see it as an investment in my career. :D The fact that I'll be able to play BF3 at 60+ fps is an added bonus.
 
Cojac92 said:
You sure this is the train you want to ride? :facepalm:
Click to expand...

Train? I think he's referring to riding a rainbow which goes by the crystal stream, unicorns sleeping in the sunlight on its banks, mist from the waterfalls gently wafting by on the air :p

Sorry, I couldn't resist ;)
 
mjw21a said:
Train? I think he's referring to riding a rainbow which goes by the crystal stream, unicorns sleeping in the sunlight on its banks, mist from the waterfalls gently wafting by on the air :p

Sorry, I couldn't resist ;)
Click to expand...
Hahaha..."pretty" was admittedly the wrong word. Visually appealing and unobtrusive, perhaps? I honestly find that in Windows, the GUI gets in the way of what I want to do, whereas OSX isn't as bad about annoying pop ups and distracting elements. Visual design is important...wouldn't you rather work in an IDE which color-codes and auto-indents as you type, as opposed to one that's all monochrome? Don't those features make your workspace more visually appealing...even prettier? :D But don't those features also increase your efficiency? Same analogy.

Anyway, we're waaaayyyyy off topic. Point is, my macbook pro was great for engineering school, where 60% of what I did was email and calendar and whatnot, 20% was Word and Powerpoint, 10% was simple coding in Mathematica and Matlab, and the rest of the time I could boot into windows to either game or use one of the two windows specific engineering software I needed (Ansys and Solidworks). For that 90% where I could be in either operating system, I'd much rather be in OSX any day. Believe me, I used to bash it all the time too, until I tried it and the "it just works" philosophy got me hooked.

Back on topic: Z77. Yes. I'm excited. Now I just need to figure out what case, RAM, and PSU to buy...

Also, what's the general consensus on Z77 vs Z75? I think most people would be fine with a Z75 board...is it really that advantageous for manufacturers to just make a ton of Z77 boards instead of splitting them half and half?
 
RAM doesn't really matter. The RAM in my sig isn't bad for the price, only picked it up last week.

PSU choice really comes down to what you intend to run, reliability, noise and also whether conversion efficiency factors into your choice. Let me know which of those you value and in which order ad by how much and I'll give a recommendation on that.

For the case, I heavily recommend the Silverstone Temjin TJ04-E. Easily the best case I've ever owned. The case itself isn't massive though it will fit 8 hard drives + a few SSD's, full length video cards, and still feels roomy to work inside. Cable management is also very easy once you understand the case layout. I also absolutely love the concept of hard drive heatsinks actively cooled by side air intakes. It's a beautifully understated design, although if oyu decide you want a bit more bling you can get the side windowed version and add some lighting. Due to the understated design it doesn't appear over the top or anything. Excellent airflow and build quality.

Reliabillity and interface just doesn't fly with me. With Windows 7 I have my 3 every day use apps pinned to the taskbar, other common useage apps pinned to the start menu, and a separate task bar menu for my games. Everything is quick and easy to access and literally flies along. I prefer the this setup for day to day usage and can't live without windows key + E for explorer.

I had a Mac Pro quad (2x Core2Duo's, 2x socket mainboard) core with 10GB RAM and an d SSD and I'd have to say that OSX is more nimble on older hardware, but with what I'm now running on the PC side thats irrelevant. The interface on either is instant, it's just that the OSX interface drove me nuts, hence I sold it to a mate cheaply...... Once more, I recognize that interface differences come down to personal preference. I simply couldn't make the adjustment though despite trying to. As for the pretty stuff, well, I'm running WindowsBlinds Pro for that :D

Use MS Security Essentials for Antivirus and disable UAC and you get a completely different experience. ;)

Sorry, got off topic again.
 
Last edited:
LoneWolf121188 said:
Hahaha..."pretty" was admittedly the wrong word. Visually appealing and unobtrusive, perhaps? I honestly find that in Windows, the GUI gets in the way of what I want to do, whereas OSX isn't as bad about annoying pop ups and distracting elements. Visual design is important...wouldn't you rather work in an IDE which color-codes and auto-indents as you type, as opposed to one that's all monochrome? Don't those features make your workspace more visually appealing...even prettier? :D But don't those features also increase your efficiency? Same analogy.

Anyway, we're waaaayyyyy off topic. Point is, my macbook pro was great for engineering school, where 60% of what I did was email and calendar and whatnot, 20% was Word and Powerpoint, 10% was simple coding in Mathematica and Matlab, and the rest of the time I could boot into windows to either game or use one of the two windows specific engineering software I needed (Ansys and Solidworks). For that 90% where I could be in either operating system, I'd much rather be in OSX any day. Believe me, I used to bash it all the time too, until I tried it and the "it just works" philosophy got me hooked.

Back on topic: Z77. Yes. I'm excited. Now I just need to figure out what case, RAM, and PSU to buy...

Also, what's the general consensus on Z77 vs Z75? I think most people would be fine with a Z75 board...is it really that advantageous for manufacturers to just make a ton of Z77 boards instead of splitting them half and half?
Click to expand...

I would absolutely not to work with something that color codes anything; it is only for children.

I've used OSX many times. I'm not bashing it, because I hate all the Apple guys bashing Linux and Windows because they were born with intellectual deficiencies that give them an impetus to do such things. I was just joking around with you.

Z75 just seems to have less features, and less phases. It just fills a pricing gap.

As far as what should you go with... That all depends on your budget, and what your expectations are.
 
Cojac92 said:
I would absolutely not to work with something that color codes anything; it is only for children.
Click to expand...
Really? :confused: I thought this was common with modern IDEs. My only programming experience is in Matlab, Mathematica, and a tiny bit each in Java (Eclipse), Flash, and Dreamweaver. All color-coded, auto-indented, etc. What do you program with that doesn't?

I'm looking at an mATX build, like I said a bit further up...probably an H80 or similar, 8GB RAM, and a 680GTX. Probably a 1TB HDD, a 128GB SSD, and a blueray reader. Nothing else beyond that, I don't see myself going to SLI or something like that in the future. Should easily be able to fit that in a small mATX case and overclock it to 4.5GHz or so, right? I was originally thinking of going with an FT03, but I saw the TJ08-E review on the main page the other day and really like it. Budget is probably $1500.
 
LoneWolf121188 said:
I'm looking at an mATX build, like I said a bit further up...probably an H80 or similar, 8GB RAM, and a 680GTX. Probably a 1TB HDD, a 128GB SSD, and a blueray reader. Nothing else beyond that, I don't see myself going to SLI or something like that in the future. Should easily be able to fit that in a small mATX case and overclock it to 4.5GHz or so, right? I was originally thinking of going with an FT03, but I saw the TJ08-E review on the main page the other day and really like it. Budget is probably $1500.
Click to expand...

Sure that'll work with a good mATX case. Both of the cases you mentioned are good. As you already know don't skimp on the PSU and decent aftermarket cooler.
 
Can change a few things around, but it has what you wanted. TJ08 case, Blu-ray reader, 8GB of RAM, Corsair H80, 1TB HDD, 120GB SSD, and a high end graphics card.

There is a 7970 is the shopping cart for $529 only because they didn't have any GTX 680's in stock... I just put it in there as a "stand-in."

occombuildpic1.png

occombuildpic2.png
 
mjw21a said:
^^^ Nice build, though the PSU is overkill.

Maybe take a look at the Silverstone Strider Essential series ST70F-ES and save a few dollars. It's a quality power supply at the right price.
Click to expand...

The system I put together above will use 590-630watts... Not including fans, or the closed loop pump. So lets say 630-650. The extra 100 watts is to provide some cushion room for any additional hard drives, fans, optical drives to be added later. Also, power supplies will degrade a little over time. That PSU is also modular... A huge bonus when dealing with a mATX build.

Thanks for the nice build comment as well. :)
 
Cojac92 said:
Can change a few things around, but it has what you wanted. TJ08 case, Blu-ray reader, 8GB of RAM, Corsair H80, 1TB HDD, 120GB SSD, and a high end graphics card.

There is a 7970 is the shopping cart for $529 only because they didn't have any GTX 680's in stock... I just put it in there as a "stand-in."
Click to expand...
Awesome, thanks! Came out a little pricer than I had hoped...but that's a hell of a machine to stuff into an mATX form factor. I'm pretty excited. Just waiting on IVB to drop! :D
 
Ordinarily, though Silverstone have been nice enough to leave plenty of hiding spaces for cables in the TJ08-E, so not really a bonus. I was very surprised recently when I went from modular to non modular and found my cabling was tidier with the non modular PSU.... It'll all fit behind the mainboard tray no worries. Just save and go non modular. I'm in agreement on all other components though.

The Silverstone unit I linked is also a 700W unit.
 
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