Gigabyte Z77X-UP4 TH Review
Test Setup and Overclocking
Published: 20th August 2012 | Source: Gigabyte | Price: £150 |
Test Setup
Gigabyte Z77X-UP4 TH
Intel Core i7-3770K
8GB G.Skill Trident 2400 @ 10-12-12-31
Sapphire HD7950 with Catalyst 12.6
Cougar CM1000 PSU
Corsair F80 SSD
Thermalright Silver Arrow
Windows 7 x64
Overclocking
When considering where this fits in the Gigabyte line-up you can usually get a fair indication by the number. Of course there doesn't appear to be a UD7 on the horizon, and this is a UP rather than UD, but it still fits neatly into the gap between the D3H and the UD5 when it comes to overclocking our i7-3770K. Although we saw 4.8 GHz able to complete most runs, it wasn't completely stable in all of our testing and so we settled on 4.7GHz for our overclock tests today.
Considering the efficiency and cooler running that was lauded by the IR3550 MOSFET, it's slightly disappointing that we didn't see a higher usable overclock. One of the side benefits to the cooler running of the IR3550 is that the area around the CPU is cooler, which can make a slight difference in your CPU temperatures. During testing we found that on average our Core i7-3770K was 3°C cooler than it usually is. Not an earth shattering change, but any reduction in thermal profile has to be appreciated. It might, if you're running a lesser CPU cooler, make enough difference to allow you to achieve a higher overclock.
Most Recent Comments
and for the £££££'s this fairs well
I am seriously considering buying this board; however, I am little concerned about the height of the heat sinks that surround the CPU socket.
I have bought a Thermalright Archon SB-E and due its’ 155mm length, it will overhang / foul the very top heat sink.
The clearance from between the base of the cooler to the first fin is 42.55mm. Does anyone know the height of the top two heat sinks on the board?
Does the Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E used in the review overhang the heat sinks (length 147mm)? If so, I might be in the clear because the Silver Arrow SB-E has a height of 40.87mm.
Any reply would be very much appreciated!

Today we have the latest Gigabyte Z77X UP4 TH on our test bench. How does it perform?
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