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.

Dirt3 - One 7970

Dirt3 - One 580

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.

Metro2033 - One 7970

Metro2033 - One 580

Portal 2

A stalwart of the Source engine, Portal 2 is the big hit of 2011 following on from the original award-winning Portal.  In our testing suite, Portal 2 performance should be indicative of CS:GO performance to a certain extent.  Here we test Portal 2 at 2560x1440 with maximum graphical setting using the same timedemo used in our GPU and notebook reviews.

Portal 2 - One 7970

Batman Arkham Asylum

Made in 2009, Batman:AA uses the Unreal Engine 3 to create what was called “the Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever”, awarded in the Guinness World Record books with an average score of 91.67 from reviewers.  The game boasts several awards including a BAFTA.  Here we use the in-game benchmark while at the highest specification settings without PhysX at 2560x1440.  Results are reported to the nearest FPS, and as such we take 4 runs and take the average value of the final three, as the first result is sometimes +33% more than normal.

Batman: AA - One 7970

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  • 457R4LDR34DKN07 - Tuesday, November 6, 2012 - link

    Zotac Z77 A-E is vastly superior. It is the only mITX Z77 that has a mSATA. You could even remove the wifi/bt module and put in a mpci-e tv tuner and use the antenna.
  • K-thiraband-com - Tuesday, November 6, 2012 - link

    The ASRock Z77E-ITX also has mSATA.

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
  • RicardoNeuer - Thursday, November 8, 2012 - link

    just as Eddie implied I'm startled that some one can earn $9332 in a few weeks on the internet. have you seen this(Click on menu Home more information)
    http://goo.gl/lbKGT
  • cjs150 - Tuesday, November 6, 2012 - link

    I have the ASrock z77 E-ITX which is a lovely mini itx board and has a MSata on the back. Admittedly only SATA2 (like all MSata sockets at moment).

    Go for the samsung green low profile memory (fantastic overclocking potential) and there is no need to worry about CPU coolers interfering with memory heat spreaders.

    What I would really like is for MB makers to put the ATX socket at right angles to the board, it would make cable management much easier, and that is always a problem in Mini ITX cases.

    The Gigabyte board is a lot cheaper than my ASrock board, but I would not change it.
  • philipma1957 - Tuesday, November 6, 2012 - link

    there are 3 itx mobos and I own 2 of them I have the truly great ASrockz77 E-ITX with a msata under the board I have a crucial 256gb in it.

    I also own an intel BoxDH77DF

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...

    Which allows this:

    1 x PCI Express Full-/Half-Mini Card slot with support for mSATA .

    my build has a crucial msata in it also the 256gb size.

    frankly I won't buy anyboard that does not have a msata option/

    looking at this board you may be able to run a msata instead of the wifi.

    frankly if you go itx msata is a godsend for space and wire management
  • PEJUman - Tuesday, November 6, 2012 - link

    I have the asus H77 ITX, with 3770 + 2 x 2.5" SSDs + 2 x 3.5" Velociraptors with icepack. all inside a antec ISK 65, which is powered with 150W dell power brick to get around the 65 limit.
    I did have to modify the ISK removable frame brace to mount the 2 x 3.5" velociraptors, but there is enough airflow with 2 x 80mm + some clever ducting using a thin piece of flexible plastic to keep everything cool under load (prime + crystal diskmark): 85 C CPU & 45 C on raptors.

    it's it very tight, but that is half of the fun on building PCs;
    where is the challange on building mini HTPC with mSATA hehehe =P.

    The reason I picked the asus board is for the 6 SATAs, when it becomes obsolete, it would serve a a power efficient, cost efective file server.
  • Samus - Wednesday, November 7, 2012 - link

    I think most people would prefer an Asus, Gigabyte, Asrock, etc over a Zotac. The only reason to ever buy Zotac products in the past was for the nVidia ION options they provided when nobody else did. These days, Zotac is less innovative and quality/support have always been lacking, so why would you even consider them when there are higher quality, similarly priced competing products?
  • rafa333 - Friday, December 7, 2012 - link

    you are sow dirty ass
  • abrogan - Friday, December 7, 2012 - link

    The Zotac board uses thin steel "threads" to mount the wifi antennas. This is a very poor design. After receiving one already broken in the box, and after examining the proper way to do it (the gigabyte uses a folded plate), I won't purchase a Zotac again.
  • GoodBytes - Tuesday, November 6, 2012 - link

    On the POST performance table, I don't understand whats the difference between stripped and default. Can someone please explain it to me? I can't seam to find any info on this on the review. Thanks.

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