ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE Motherboard

Conclusions

The ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE is a high-end motherboard, meaning it is targeted to the most advanced user, who understands the importance of the PLX PEX8608 switch chip. Since the chipset doesn’t have enough PCI Express lanes available to connect all the devices that are present on this motherboard, this chip automatically switches PCI Express lanes in order to provide the highest performance possible to the device that is requiring performance at any given moment. On motherboards without this chip, you need to manually disable devices (namely, USB 3.0 and SATA-600 ports) that you are not using if you want to achieve the highest possible performance on the ports that are being used.

Feature-wise, it comes with a myriad of options: Three PCI Express x16 slots (working at x16/x0/x8 or x8/x8/x4), eight USB 3.0 ports, four SATA-600 ports, two independent eSATA-600 ports, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a high-end voltage regulator circuit, and very good overclocking options.

It is important to understand that the Bluetooth/Wi-Fi module that comes with this motherboard is better than modules available in some competing products: The Bluetooth is 4.0 (not 2.1+EDR) and the Wi-Fi is dual-band with two antennas, which allows you to achieve higher speeds at you IEEE 802.11n network.

Also noteworthy is the high-end audio codec used by ASUS on this motherboard, the Realtek ALC898, which provides very high signal-to-noise ratios (110 dB for the outputs and 104 dB for the inputs), allowing you to use the on-board audio from this motherboard for professional tasks, such as audio editing.

In summary, it is a terrific option if you want the extra features brought by this motherboard. Of course, if you don’t need so many fancy features, you can pick a more affordable product.