3DMark 11
3DMark 11 is the latest offering from Futuremark, taking full advantage of DirectX 11 by utilising tessellation features and volumetric lighting. It takes your graphics and CPU hardware to the edge to simulate the most extreme conditions whilst working as a stand point to compare results with other users online.
Looking more at the gaming performance on offer, at both performance and extreme presets we saw the board perform around the same levels as other boards in the pack, but as soon as with gave the CPU a little boost of speed, we soon saw again some of the highest benchmark levels seen from Z77 so far showing that this board really does benefit form an overclock.
Gigabyte has always been my favourite brand of mobo. now if only they would jack up their software suite to Asus standards. What puzzles me is the inclusion of the eSata plugin board. Who the hell uses eSata? I’ve yet to meet anybody who does. If they removed that superfluous thing they could drop the boards price by a few bob.
Gigabyte is all i use in my builds.They look so damn good and the quality is superb.I agree with wayne to a point,I have never used esata,But hey nothing wrong with having extra features available just incase.;)
There are pro’s and con’s of eSATA, mainly it is one of those interfaces that generally doesn’t get used by the vast majority of people, but there are a number that can see a benefit. Take myself for example, I build and fix PCs as well as writing reviews on here and to save having an open system on my desk, I use the eSATA interface to conenct up hard drives to my system for testing and/or data backup.
Think of it a little like FireWire 400/800 that interface again is another that many didn’t see the need for but some did use, for the likes of hard drives and video cameras (pre USB 3.0) due to its slightly faster data transfer speed.
On the bright side, you could say that at least Gigabyte didn’t put the eSATA on the rear I/O, leaving space for more USB 3.0 and the display outputs.