Features

ASUS Deluxe is a hi-end mainboard series where ASUS brings to life enough of the top technologies and standards for any user. Also, mind the PLX PEX8606 switch that allows using most mainboard outputs simultaneously.

Auxillary controllers include:

• 8 x USB 3.0 ports: 2 chipset-based on the back panel, 2 chipset-based on board, 4 based on a couple of ASMedia ASM1042 (PCIe x1) controllers;
• 8 x USB 2.0 ports: 4 on the back panel, 4 on board;
• 4 x SATA 3.0 ports on board: 2 chipset-based, 2 based on Marvell 88SE9128 (PCIe x1);
• 2 x chipset SATA 3.0 ports onboard;
• 2 x eSATA 3.0 ports on the back panel based on ASMedia ASM1061 (PCIe x1);
• 2 x Gigabit Ethernet ports based on Intel 82579V and Realtek RTL8111F (PCIe x1);
• Integrated audio based on the 10-channel Realtek ALC898 HDA codec, with optical S/PDIF-out ports on the back panel and board, universal enclosure connectors;
• A Wi-Fi/Bluetooth controller supporting 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency ranges at up to 300 Mbps) on a daughterboard based on Broadcom BCM20702 (USB) and BCM43228 (PCIe x1) chips.

The mainboard is based on the Intel Z77 chipset. All the onboard SATA ports are horizontal, situated at the edge of the board. This placement lets you install large videocards without messing with hard drives. However, you might have to disconnect SATA cables to install an HDD, with a graphics card already installed. The two supplementary SATA 3.0 ports based on Marvell 88SE9128 support SSD caching if an HDD and an SSD are connected. The mainboard also supports ASUS Disk Unlocker for large-capacity drives.

There are four USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0 chipset ports on the back panel, and two USB 2.0 with two USB 3.0 chipset-based ports on board, one of the chipset-based ports supporting USB Charger+. The four supplementary UASP-enabled USB 3.0 ports on the back panel are provided by two ASMedia ASM1042 controllers.

The mainboard has two Gigabit Ethernet controllers based on Intel 82579V and Realtek RTL8111F. The latter was probably chosen for the sake of economy. The Network iControl utility can be used to optimize traffic and priorities, but it doesn't seem to be very useful.

The Realtek ALC898 controller supports 7.1 channel audio, Blu-ray audio playback through HDMI, DTS Connect for transferring multi-channel audio via a digital interface, and DTS UltraPC II enhancements. CPU's graphics core can be used with the digital outputs only: HDMI 1.4a and DiplayPort 1.1a.

The Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity is provided by an ASUS daughterboard installed from the outside of the enclosure. It's a mini PCIe board with a Wi-Fi PCI x1 controller that supports 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz ranges at up to 300 Mbbs as well as a Bluetooth USB controller claimed to support Bluetooth 3.0+HS and 4.0. The antennas are attached by means of proprietory connectors and also have magnetic bottom parts for easier installation. The board has status LEDs and uses the popular Widcomm stack.

The two Wi-Fi ranges and the 2T2R mode provided us with 15-20 MB/s upload/download with an ASUS RT-N66U Wi-Fi router. The bundled software allows creating hotspots, exchanging files, managing remote displays with a mobile device (Wi-Fi Go!), and working with the DLNA protocol. Unfortunately, hotspot settings are few (login and password only), NAT is not supported, it's Bridge Mode only.

Overclocking

ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe has advanced power capabilities and many UEFI settings for CPU, RAM, and built-in GPU overclocking. Yet it's probably not an overclocker's choice, because the numerous auxillary controllers might interefere with the process (and they sure add to the price). For this reason, we'll stick to easy overclocking with the bundled TurboV Evo utility.

Testbed configuration:

• Intel Core i7-3770K CPU
• Corsair Hydro Series H100 liquid-cooling system
• Kingston DDR3-2133 RAM
• Enermax Revolution 87+ 750 W PSU
• Cooler Master fan for the power supply curcuitry
• LinX tool

In the "Fast" mode of TurboV Evo we managed to overclock the GPU to 4.2 GHz (41 x 103 MHz) under load in less than a minute. All the power-saving tools worked, halving the clock rate in standby. In the "Extreme" mode we achieved 4.5 GHz (43 x 105.4 MHz), but it took more time. It's unclear why TurboV Evo only increased CPU's reference frequency and not voltage as would've been reasonble for an Intel K-series CPU, but the results were rather good anyway.

Manual settings in the same utility easily gets you 4.7 GHz, if you increase both the multipliers and the voltage. As you see, this motherboard is a good choice if you want to overclock a cheaper processor rather than buying a more expensive one. The only disadvantage is that the utility doesn't show reference values, so you can get confused, messing with multiple parameters. Similarly inconvenient is offloading Digi+ parameters to a separate utility. Overall, TurboV Evo is enough to make up for motherboard's incompatibility with the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility.

There's also that TPU switch we've mentioned above. It should 'optimize clock rates,' but it might also add to confusion, given that you already have BIOS Setup and TurboV EVO.

Final Thoughts

ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe is a universal solution with two PCIe 3.0 x16 slots and numerous auxiliary controllers. You get lots of SATA 2.0/3.0 and USB 2.0/3.0 ports, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth, and almost all of these can be used simultaneously thanks to the PLX PEX8606 switch.

The advanced CPU VRM and useful software provide good overclocking potential, but the price hints at high-end home PCs rather than overclocker rigs.

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