Intel DZ77GA-70K Motherboard

Conclusions

The Intel DZ77GA-70K is a high-end motherboard, meaning it is targeted to the most advanced user, who understands the importance of the PLX PEX8606 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: Eight USB 3.0 ports, four SATA-600 ports, one independent eSATA-600 port, two FireWire ports, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and an adequate voltage regulator circuit.

Also noteworthy is the high-end audio codec used by Intel 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 and want to have the peace of mind of using a motherboard that was designed by the same company that designed your CPU. If you don’t need so many fancy features, you can pick a more affordable product.