At the launch of the 7-series chipset Asus is expected to have three different P8Z77-V models ready, the P8Z77-V, P8Z77-V Pro and P8Z77-V Deluxe. The differences between the three models are fairly subtle, yet there's enough difference that any potential buyer will have to pick carefully to get the right board.
Starting with the P8Z77-V we're looking at a fairly loaded board straight away with a pair of x16 PCI Express 3.0 slots – dual x8 mode when both are in use – a single x16 PCI Express x16 slot – in x4 mode – two x1 PCI Express 2.0 slots and two PCI slots. Add the standard Intel SATA ports and two additional SATA 6Gbps, a USB 3.0 header and four USB 2.0 headers for eight ports and you've pretty much covered all the features.
At the back we have a PS/2 port, two USB 2.0 ports, four USB 3.0 ports – of which two are via an ASMedia controller – a Gigabit Ethernet port, 7.1-channel audio with S/PDIF out and a DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI and D-sub connector. There's also a space for one of Asus' proprietary pin headers for one of its Wi-Fi/Bluetooth combo cards, although this may or may not come with the board depending on the SKU/market.
The P8Z77-V Pro has only had a few minor upgrades, such as an additional header for a pair of extra USB 3.0 ports and a different VRM design. We're not entirely sure why you'd go for the P8Z77-V Pro over the P8Z77-V considering the small differences, but we'll have to wait and see what the price difference is to before we can draw any real conclusions.
Moving up to the P8Z77-V Deluxe Asus has done quite a few changes. Gone are the PCI slots in lieu of two additional x1 PCI Express slots. The two extra SATA 6Gbps ports gains SSD caching and some of the USB 2.0 pin headers are gone and in their place we find power and reset buttons and a POST80 debug LED.
Around the back Asus has done some serious overhauling as this time around we're looking at four USB 2.0 ports, six USB 3.0 ports – again using ASMedia host controllers – two eSATA ports, a pair of Gigabit Ethernet ports – one via an Intel controller and one via a Realtek controller – 7.1-channel audio with optical S/PDIF out, a DisplayPort and HDMI connector and a clear CMOS button.
Overall a pretty solid line-up of boards from Asus and we'll be hitting the company up at Cebit to see what else they have lined up for the 7-series chipset launch, as well as all the other motherboard makers of course.
A quick look at the P8Z77-V range from Asus
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