yea i wont pay that much for this board and have to wait for the ivy bridge to come out. i can get a badass x79 board for $60 more and go with a 3930k. 

but that CPU is $600 lol...doesnt it even out?
IMO its really only worth it for those like me who are on older platforms, like a 775/Q6600 combo

Sub in a 3820 then and you gotcha self a good combo.

Looks good, tempting to upgrade.
But as EG said, will there be a better board? Classy!

^question is if the Z68 FTW Step Up (if activated for Z77) gets us to plain SLI version or the FTW as well?

I'm assuming they would. Its only a matter of time. They will see the interest with their pre order system.

"For graphics power, EVGA has added dual 6 PIN PCI-E power connectors. Use a single 6 Pin PCI-E power connector for multi-card stability, or a second for extreme overclocking."
 
Someone care to explain what this even means? Are there 6 pin PCI-E connectors on the board?

Xtrem


"For graphics power, EVGA has added dual 6 PIN PCI-E power connectors. Use a single 6 Pin PCI-E power connector for multi-card stability, or a second for extreme overclocking."

Someone care to explain what this even means? Are there 6 pin PCI-E connectors on the board?

Yes.. One right above the top PCI-e slot. And one facing downwards on the bottom of the board.
 
Like they said, one will stabilize the voltage while running lots of cards. Like 4-Way. And then both will REALLY stabilize it for extreme overclocking (Ln2, and such).

Xtrem


"For graphics power, EVGA has added dual 6 PIN PCI-E power connectors. Use a single 6 Pin PCI-E power connector for multi-card stability, or a second for extreme overclocking."

Someone care to explain what this even means? Are there 6 pin PCI-E connectors on the board?

 

 
you plug that 6 pin in to prevent stuff like this from happening...thats my 24 pin after playing on two STOCK gtx 580 in SLI...yes, only TWO WAY SLI!!  others have reported similar as well
 
the motherboard side was blown as well...so I had to rma both motherboard and PSU (system would not POST)....good thing they didn't deny me and gave me brand new replacements
 
honestly, I have the slightest clue why not ALL motherboards come standard with this plug...I mean sure, GTX 560Ti in SLI (common setup) most likely will not cause problems...but there are also plenty of 580 SLI and up configs out there too....props to EVGA for listening to enthusiast needs!  I might just go EVGA this time around for motherboards because of the transferable warranty and free cross shipping

What PSU duke?  I wonder why you had an issue?

Only 7+1 PWM!!! Lot of high end board (high to low) has 16+8, 8+4, 8+2 PWM!! Will this affect OC??? Anyone could shed light on it??

ATGSteakHouse


What PSU duke?  I wonder why you had an issue?

 
850w XFX Black Edition 80+ Silver...its made by Seasonic
 
And it's not just me, theres other guys out there who have blown up with only SLI...it's not like you need 3 or 4 way to blow up

ATGSteakHouse


What PSU duke?  I wonder why you had an issue?

Sorry but your username makes me hungry.
 

^^^ I hear that - I could use a Steak Myself.
 
Wow Duke - I always thought it was 3 and 4 way SLI that was a problem - that's concerning.  Yeah EVGA owns all when it comes to customer support BTW - highly recommended.
 
mudvari - it's not only the number but quality of phases when it comes to overclocking.  Time will tell with the Z77 - but given it's an EVGA I don't foresee problems there.

I dont get it, it took years to get board manufacturers to go away from these stupid proprietary fans on chipset heat sinks. Here we are a few years later and they are showing up again left and right.
 
WHAT GIVES?
 
Two steps forward, one step back, give it a few months and that thing will start chattering, what to do what to do, oh I know, tear down the whole rig and send the board in for RMA cause a fan that never should have been in the design process to begin with and is proprietary, so you can replace it is making noise.
 
Seriously would it have been so hard or so much more expensive to make a heat sink just a little bigger so that you don't have a fan to fail in 6-8 months?

mudvari


Only 7+1 PWM!!! Lot of high end board (high to low) has 16+8, 8+4, 8+2 PWM!! Will this affect OC??? Anyone could shed light on it??

 
Quality over quantity...

Sorry passive version is just not possible. We looked at it but remember there are 2 chipsets under the heatsink... Z77 Chipset and PLX chip.

crazyg0od33


So a couple questions about the power connections:
Can we use either 8-pin for the CPU, and can we use either 6-pin for the PCI-e slots, and when would we NEED to use those?  For instance, If I have 2 580 classy hydro coppers, will I need the extra 6 pin?
Also, is this being tuned for overclocking?  I know we dont have specific numbers yet, I just ask cause I saw a video from asus saying the Max. V formula was being delayed because they were tuning it for highest possible overclocks.  Is high OC's what this board is for?
Thanks

 
Yes, yes and yes :)

burningrave101


Looking like the Z77 FTW will be a great board guys! However I'm dissapointed that there is no video out ports to take advantage of one of Ivy Bridges biggest improvements which is the iGPU. Couldn't you add one DisplayPort? 

 
There is one mini display port....

great job Jacob, so far it looks marvelous! just ran through all the specs and it would be perfect for me.
 
any news on when this Z77 FTW becomes available for step up from Z68 FTW? count me in, can wait about 2 months personally so no rush for me, but I really want to get out of Z68 which I am not fully satisfied with ... the USB 3.0 issues with VIA or NEC controllers ... NF200 bridge that some older devices can't talk to ...
 
  one question though. Will Z77 support Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge CPUs or Z77 is incompatible with SB chips at all?

EVGA_JacobF

Awesome. I can't wait!

Eru_JRRT

I really like the look of it but I'll wait for the replacment to the X79 series. Lack of funds is holding me back from jumping the X58 ship. Very nice board.

45nm Nehalem and 32nm Westmere shrink got the same i7-900 name brand and remained in X58 boards.  The same thing with 32nm Sandy-E and 22nm Ivy-E shrinks, they'll both get i7-3800/3900 name and stay within X79.  X79 won't be replaced until sometime in 2014 since X58 lasted just as long due to an utter lack of AMD competition in the high-end space.  Are you willing to wait that long?
 
I too am lacking in funds, but I'm not itching to upgrade either. 

if you want to run 2 way SLI...is it possible to space your cards as far as possible?  Like PCI-E X16 slot 1 and PCI-E X16 slot 4 or even slot 5?  Or are you required to sandwich them?

EVGA_JacobF

crazyg0od33


So a couple questions about the power connections:
Can we use either 8-pin for the CPU, and can we use either 6-pin for the PCI-e slots, and when would we NEED to use those?  For instance, If I have 2 580 classy hydro coppers, will I need the extra 6 pin?
Also, is this being tuned for overclocking?  I know we dont have specific numbers yet, I just ask cause I saw a video from asus saying the Max. V formula was being delayed because they were tuning it for highest possible overclocks.  Is high OC's what this board is for?
Thanks

Yes, yes and yes :)

 
I'm assuming that the yes and yes and yes are for the following:
Can we use either 8-pin for the CPU, and can we use either 6-pin for the PCI-e slots?
Also, is this being tuned for overclocking?
 Is high OC's what this board is for? 
 
Or is one of the yes's for needing another power to the PCI-e for 2 580 SLI?
Thanks for the answers

My bad. I've only been keeping up with computer tech for about two years.
 
Allow me to correct myself.
 
There was some talk of intel skipping the IB-E line, dunno where the rumors started. So what I was meaning to say is that I'll likely upgrade to the succesor of SB-E.
 
Back on topic, what do you guys think of gigabytes m-SATA on board ports, would EVGA have benefited from implementing this as well?

Awesome! Excellent job, the ivy bridge is going to run and overclock like a boss! But my Evga Z68 rig is only 5months old. Its still got atleast another 3years. I will be ugrading my graphics in a year so keep up the good work on those too! =D

feniks


great job Jacob, so far it looks marvelous! just ran through all the specs and it would be perfect for me.

any news on when this Z77 FTW becomes available for step up from Z68 FTW? count me in, can wait about 2 months personally so no rush for me, but I really want to get out of Z68 which I am not fully satisfied with ... the USB 3.0 issues with VIA or NEC controllers ... NF200 bridge that some older devices can't talk to ...

one question though. Will Z77 support Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge CPUs or Z77 is incompatible with SB chips at all?

Let me follow up with this tomorrow. Im 99% sure it will support both (99.999999 actually) but I just landed from a long weekend @ PAX and im exhausted so I dont want to give you incorrect information - but I am fairly certain youll be good to go.

crazyg0od33

EVGA_JacobF

crazyg0od33


So a couple questions about the power connections:
Can we use either 8-pin for the CPU, and can we use either 6-pin for the PCI-e slots, and when would we NEED to use those?  For instance, If I have 2 580 classy hydro coppers, will I need the extra 6 pin?
Also, is this being tuned for overclocking?  I know we dont have specific numbers yet, I just ask cause I saw a video from asus saying the Max. V formula was being delayed because they were tuning it for highest possible overclocks.  Is high OC's what this board is for?
Thanks

Yes, yes and yes :)

I'm assuming that the yes and yes and yes are for the following:
Can we use either 8-pin for the CPU, and can we use either 6-pin for the PCI-e slots?
Also, is this being tuned for overclocking?
Is high OC's what this board is for? 

Or is one of the yes's for needing another power to the PCI-e for 2 580 SLI?
Thanks for the answers

Yup, either 8/6 pin.
We design all of our boards with OCing in mind. FTW+ models specifically. That is why we now use poscap, give you extra 8/6 pins, etc. FTW+ models always have improved components specially for overclocking.

dukenuke88


if you want to run 2 way SLI...is it possible to space your cards as far as possible?  Like PCI-E X16 slot 1 and PCI-E X16 slot 4 or even slot 5?  Or are you required to sandwich them?

You are free to use any slot you want. 1+2 or 1+4 would both be dual 16x.

I’m kind of disappointed that the board has a fan which will collect dust over time and be noisy. when will this be out in Australia as i plan to build a new pc before Diablo 3 gets out.
 
just noticed the board is EATX and won't fit in the case i want Corsair Obsidian 550D =(