GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UP4 TH LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with Dual Thunderbolt

Pros: This is a great overclocking motherboard. the first one I had lasted 5 days reason for 1 less egg, Newegg was great and sent me out another motherboard. I have had no problems with this board. Does not have as many features as some of the other boards but does what I need it for. have not tried the thunderbolt yet. overclocks better than the my other motherboard Z68X-UD3H-B3. the 3D bios is a little awkward but once you figure out the quirks its alright.

Cons: First board died after 5 days

Other Thoughts: I7 2600K @ 4.8 GHZ
Z77X-UP4TH
8 GB Dominator GT ram @ 2133 MHZ
XSPC RAYSTORM and RX360 rad

Pros: Lots and lots of USB 3.0 Ports

Thunderbolt ports help me be tech-proof if that standard becomes as successful as it could be (helpful because I run in a half-mac ecosystem, and apple is really pushing the tech)

BIOS is easy to work in

POST is fast

Cons: Only USB3.0 ports on the back -- spent a long time debugging an issue where windows couldn't see any USB ports. Eventually traced it to the fact that windows 7 doesn't have USB 3.0 drivers installed by default; I had to plug my keyboard / mouse into the case-side ports. Thankfully I had NOT upgraded to a case that used USB 3.0 ports.

Possibly related, but I have a minor issue with my USB inputs. Every once in a while, averaging about once per day, my USB controls (keyboard and mouse) freeze for a few seconds. Originally this took the form of my keyboard 'sticking' on a key while typing. The result would turn 'typing something' into 'typiiiiiiiiiiiiething' -- one key would act as if it was held down, and then it would skip over several of the ones I typed before I noticed the freeze. Over the last few days (just got back from a short trip) this has transmuted into a more frequent (and thus easier to debug) issue where all USB controls freeze for a few seconds, rather than a key appearing to stick. I improved the issue by installing the latest USB drivers from their site (which completely solved a second issue of USB devices being lost and immediately re-found, as if all of them had been unplugged and then replugged), but I still see occasional incidents of it. It's hard to debug because of it's infrequency (though it's latest transformation might make this easier), and it might be an interaction with my 'smart' peripherals or the KVM switch I use to switch between machines. Hard to test with something that doesn't occur on demand.

Moderately detailed manual is missing several critical sections -- it's only help regarding POST beep codes was to check a later chapter that did NOT have a list of BEEP codes. There is, as far as I could tell, no available reference material describing the beep codes the motherboard uses to report when POST fails. A lucky google search turned up that someone else had determined that a long period of repeated, fast beeps was a memory issue, or I might not have solved the issue yet.

RAID slows the boot cycle considerably. I spend more time in the RAID initialization screen than any other part of the boot up process. Annoying, because I boot from the SSD, *not* my RAID data array.

Other Thoughts: I have a number of complaints, but the board seems to be settling in nicely and I would definitely buy again.

Pros: This board feels very sturdy and it has the perfect feature set. I have had few problems with this board (see cons). the drivers were easy to install, however I would do a custom instal to avoid the pesky 3rd party software as I did. The whole build was a breeze, even though it was my first build.

Cons: I have had a few USB problems from the VIA chipset but that was easily fixed be reinstalling the driver from the Gigabyte website. Also, it gave me a fit instaling Ubuntu but that is probobly due to my lack of knowledge with it.

Pros: Easy setup...

Cons: Unable to get a pair of Western Digital WD Blue WD10EZEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives to setup in RAID 1 in either SATA II or III. The install almost finishes and then tells me it can't be installed on the hardware provided. I ran BIOS upgrades one at a time and still no go... I'm running Acronis weekly to ensure I don't blow the single drive it did install to.

Other Thoughts: I probably should purchase an add-in RAID card and run RAID 5 or 10 using five SSD drives... It just costs a lot!!

Pros: Fantastic Motherboard. Very Sturdy, with a beautiful matte black PCB and nice backplates on the MOSFETs. Speaking of the power delivery, Gigabyte used the best Power Stages(PS's) and Chokes I have ever seen on a motherboard. They are true 6 phase and true 60A PS's. This is fantastic for all of you out there who want to overclock, or just want clean reliable power delivery regardless of the load.

I was going to buy the "ASUS Maximus V Formula" but I already have an X-fi Ti-Fatality Pro so the high end audio on the board was irrelevant to me. I wanted the power delivery that this board could provide, and it has delivered.

POST is extremely quick on this board as-well, which helps with total boot-up times. There is a small gap between the CPU socket and the RAM slots which will accommodate most of the larger CPU Air coolers, provided that your RAM don't stick out too far.

The I/O panel is black and very clean, it also has a thick padding that provides cushion and firmness to the I/O panel and the I/O's themselves.

Came with 2xSATA cables with a 90° angle connectors on one side of the cables, and 2 that have 180° connectors on both sides.

Dual UEFI BIOS is very helpful, if you have a bad flash or if one BIOS becomes corrupt, you can switch to the other one. Also Gigabyte limited your ability to update your BIOS chip to the primary chip. This protects the user from corrupting both with a bad flash, etc.

Cons: Being a fantastic board, there are some drawbacks. Although there are 2 Thunderbolt ports, I don't believe that is enough to warrant only 2xSATA 3 (6Gbps) ports on the Mobo. Nor do I believe that the removal of the Debug LED from the more expensive "GA-Z77X-UP5 TH" was necessary. I'm sure consumers would gladly pay the extra dollar of two for that to be implemented.

Other Thoughts: Like before mentioned, I bought this board solely because of the Power Stages used for their new "Ultra Durable 5". I then soon realized that I would too love the Expansion layout. It allows me to place my Sound Card directly above it rather than below so my GPU's airflow isn't restricted.

This is the first Gigabyte product I have personally owned, and If they continue to deliver quality boards like this one, I'll have to remove ASUS from it's mantle place as my primary boards.

Pros: Solid motherboard, no issues whatsoever.

Cons: No +5v power reading. I really wanted this because I wanted to make sure my PSU is working properly, esp. with all the drives I have installed.

Other Thoughts: While this is a solid motherboard, I regret getting it. I should have went with the GA-Z77X-UD5H. Why? Much more Sata 6 ports and Sata ports in general, FireWire and eSata. In hindsight, I really didn't need the TH ports. Why I didn't get the other MB to being with? The recent negative reviews on the egg. Alas, this is a rock solid motherboard and definitely worth it, but just consider that do you really need TH?

Pros: Tough. High quality. Well thought out price/options. One head scratcher -see cons- but very happy with it. I under use it since I dont game, no oc. msata and Thunderbolt is a nice touch. Get one.

Cons: I use it to record music with Cubase 5 and after setup and all updates and many tweaks I could not record a single track without the asio cliping every 3 seconds. It was the EASY TUNE 6 bloat ware checking the system. Used for OC. For a program that is suppose to make your computer faster it sure interrupts the stability of the system. Not enough for one egg since it is easily uninstalled but it was a headache finding it. Watch out for that one.

Other Thoughts: very cool. Bios settings were easy.

Pros: Good board! Lots of BIOS options. Haven't used the RAID controller yet but excited to.

I haven't had any sound issues as indicated by others.

Cons: After setting up the board with my components and installing my assorted drivers, it took a while to identify that the USB ports on the backplane weren't working. I thought it was my hub initially.

There are apparently 3 USB controllers on this board. The one for the internal ports works natively but some of the backplane ports require not one driver install but two for all to work. Not terrible but certainly not what I was expecting…

Other Thoughts: Gigabyte, you guys make good hardware. You could make your customers even happier just by offering an automatic driver install utility. That would have brought my review to 5.

The 3D BIOS interface is a little hokey.

Pros: This is a good quality motherboard with the ability to power my Apple Thunderbolt Display. Thats really the only reason I looked into this Motherboard, it supports up to 32Gb Ram, I only use 16 so its good enough for now. The Dual Thunderbolt Ports rock!!!

Cons: No Wifi, no bluetooth, and while the thunderbolt display works, I'm still having a few problems with My GTX 680 while I run the thunderbolt display. When i plug the thunderbolt display, I run on the integrated graphics, and my other displays dont work. I'm still figuring this out.

Other Thoughts: Great board, especially if you have Thunderbolt Devices or displays.

Manufacturer Response:

Thank you for your comments. Honest and constructive opinions are always welcome. We apologize for your difficulty with your Gigabyte product.

Your separate graphics card (GTX690) should work at the same time as using the ThunderBolt port with your internal Intel graphics. You may need to change the BIOS settings such as the Int. Display First - IGFX, or PEG.

Your model UP4 TH does not included Wifi nor Bluetooth, however, the model UP5 TH does include our GC-WB300D PCIe expansion card that offers support for the latest Bluetooth 4.0 and IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity.

If you require further assistance, please contact us at newegg-support@gigabyte-usa.com with the case number 2013030801 in the subject line. We will provide personalized service and analysis to help solve your issue as soon as possible.

GIGABYTE VIP Support Team

Pros: It has been a great experience to install this motherboard. Thunderbolt, usb3, good installation instructions. My CPU is running quite well excepting for one thing that I will mention in the CONS section...

Cons: Windows 8 frequently starts with the clock giving incorrect time. I suspect there is a CMOS battery problem but, well, who knows until I get this battery. The manual does not says anything about the battery model that I must use. Well, some error. Is there any specific driver I need to install that could arrange this "clock" problem? Any ideas?