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ASUS has recently released their new flagship motherboard in the new P8Z77-V Premium and it’s an addition we have been anticipating for some time.
As much as the Z77 series has benefited from such things as WiFi, Bluetooth, integrated graphics, faster USB and ASUS has stepped even further with Thunderbolt Technology, Smart Digi+ Power Control and even top level caching with a built in mSATA SSD, we wanted to look beyond the every day qualities for just a bit.
The Asus P8Z77-V Premium motherboard has a bit of a gem that many don’t know about and it just so happens to be exclusive to the ASUS design as it goes much further than it’s potential as a caching SSD. The included 32GB SSD is capable of being used as a storage drive, if so needed, and can even be utilized as the boot drive. This mSATA is only SATA 2 so we really don’t know why one might sacrifice their SATA 3 speed simply to boot from the mSATA, but the ability to do it is key here.
For our use, it means that we can now throw an additional 256GB mSATA in there for storage or, from a reviewing standpoint, it just might make some sense to use this as the boot drive. After all, it frees up both Intel 6Gbps ports so we can actually evaluate two SSDs side by side.
LITE-ON 32GB MSATA SSD
The Asus P8Z77-V ships with a Lite-On 32GB mSATA solid state drive that has the Marvell 88SS9175 controller along with two modules of 16GB Toshiba 24nm Toggle Mode NAND flash memory and a Nanya DRAM cache.
If size is a concern, the mSATA can simply be unscrewed and switched off with a larger version SSD.
A quick look at the board shows thebrand new Thunderbolt port tucked in between the USB 3.0 slots and the HDMI port.
Oh what a nice setup….nice and tidy too.
The chipset is limited to 2 x SATA III.These go to P0 and P1 so the mSATA gets SATA II. .
Maybe Haswell will allow 4 or more SATA III connected devices.
Intel never gives you all they can.They want you to keep upgrading as they throw you a new bone.
Nice motherboard without the mSATA SSD that surely adds to the cost..
Z87 will allow 6 SATAIII devices..
Les get an A+ as Managing Director of the Wire Management Division.
^This
p.s. Why no bugs on the sunglasses, Les? Oh, I get it. The motorcycle voyage has started yet. 🙂
Seriously, since the 3D volume immediately above that mSATA form factor has plenty of available Height (i.e. the length of a full PCI slot cover), I’d like to see something like a fast integrated LSI 6G RAID controller with a small 4-slot “backplane/cage” to accommodate up to 4 of these mSATA beauties. The backplane/cage can plug into a dedicated header on the motherboard, allowing it to be removable. ASUS is already doing this with a removable WiFi adapter that installs at the upper left-hand corner, i.e. right next to the rear I/O panel. Finally, like other device drivers, the dedicated controller’s device driver can be downloaded and upgraded with “hot” new features as soon as they become available, like 8G and 12G transmission clocks and “jumbo frames” (had to use this opportunity for another little “pitch” 🙂
Well for those that will like to know a little more about this MB is awesome right now as I’m typping I’m using a Thunderbolt Cinema Display with this MB and let me tell U I love it, a lot money invest but its wealth it. Also I have (2)GTX 670 using Lucidlogic MVP setup and it’s awesome. I read somewhere that I don’t remenber now an article saying that U can’t or shouldn’t reun Lucidlogic MVP on a Raid Array don’t know why but, I’m running it and it’s perfect picture so far yes.
I envy you! Nice monitor.
Nice review as always Les!
The problem with this mobo is, it’s just asking too much money. 🙂