Introduction and Technical Specifications
The Z77N-WiFi motherboard combines the power of the Z77 chipset with the mini-ITX form factor…
Introduction
Courtesy of GIGABYTE
The Z77N-WiFi is GIGABYTE's latest edition to the Mini-ITX lineup. Although the board is not as packed with features as some of the other enthusiast-minded mini-ITX boards, GIGABYTE did some interesting things with the board layout to space components out on the board more evenly. The Z77N-WiFi even comes standard with dual-Realtek GbE NICs and an Intel 802.11n-based WiFi mPCIe card. We put the board through our normal gamut of tests to see how well this mighty mite sized up with its full-sized brethren. The Z77N-WiFi board comes with an equally reasonable retail price at a mere $129.99.
Courtesy of GIGABYTE
GIGABYTE designed the Z77N-WiFi with 5 phases of power for the CPU in a 4+1 configuration with a small passive cooler only included on the Intel Z77 chipset. The Z77N-WiFi comes standard with the following features: SATA 2 and SATA 3 ports; support for three different networking types including dual Realtek GigE NICs and an Intel Centrino wireless adapter, offering support for 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth wireless; a single PCI-Express x16 slot; and USB 2.0 and 3.0 port support.
Courtesy of GIGABYTE
Technical Specifications (taken from the GIGABYTE website)
CPU |
Support for Intel® Core™ i7 processors/Intel® Core™ i5 processors/Intel® Core™ i3 processors/Intel® Pentium® processors/Intel® Celeron® processors in the LGA1155 package L3 cache varies with CPU (Some Intel® Core™ processors require a graphic card, please refer "CPU support List" for more information.) |
Chipset |
Intel® Z77 Express Chipset |
Memory |
2 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 16 GB of system memory * Due to a Windows 32-bit operating system limitation, when more than 4 GB of physical memory is installed, the actual memory size displayed will be less than the size of the physical memory installed. Dual channel memory architecture Support for DDR3 2800(OC)/1600/1333/1066/800 MHz memory modules Support for non-ECC memory modules Support for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules (Please refer "Memory Support List" for more information.) |
Onboard Graphics |
Integrated Graphics Processor: 1 x DVI-I port, supporting a maximum resolution of 1920×1200 2 x HDMI ports, supporting a maximum resolution of 1920×1200 |
Audio |
Realtek ALC892 codec High Definition Audio 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel Support for S/PDIF Out |
LAN |
2 x Realtek GbE LAN chip (10/100/1000 Mbit) |
Wireless Communication module |
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Supports Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) Bluetooth 4.0, 3.0+HS, 2.1+EDR |
Expansion Slots |
1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (The PCIEX16 slot conforms to PCI Express 3.0 standard.) * Whether PCI Express 3.0 is supported depends on CPU and graphics card compatibility. |
Wireless Data Network |
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n Supports dual band frequency 2.4/5 GHz |
Storage Interface |
2 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (SATA3 0/1) supporting up to 2 SATA 6Gb/s devices 2 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (SATA2 2/3) supporting up to 2 SATA 3Gb/s devices Support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10 * When a RAID set is built across the SATA 6Gb/s and SATA 3Gb/s channels, the system performance of the RAID set may vary depending on the devices being connected. |
USB |
Up to 4 USB 3.0/2.0 ports (2 ports on the back panel, 2 ports available through the internal USB header) Up to 6 USB 2.0/1.1 ports (4 ports on the back panel, 2 ports available through the internal USB header) |
Internal I/O Connectors |
1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector 1 x 4-pin ATX 12V power connector 1 x serial port header 2 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors 2 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors 1 x USB 3.0/2.0 header 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers 1 x CPU fan header 1 x system fan header 1 x front panel header 1 x front panel audio header 1 x S/PDIF Out header 1 x Clear CMOS jumper |
Back Panel Connectors |
1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port 2 x HDMI ports 2 x antenna connectors 1 x DVI-I port 2 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports 2 x RJ-45 ports 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector 5 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out, Rear Speaker Out, Line In, Line Out, Mic In) |
I/O Controller |
iTE I/O Controller Chip |
H/W Monitoring |
System voltage detection CPU/System temperature detection CPU/System fan speed detection CPU fan speed control * Whether the CPU fan speed control function is supported will depend on the CPU cooler you install. |
BIOS |
2 x 64 Mbit flash Use of licensed AMI EFI BIOS Support for DualBIOS™ PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.0, SM BIOS 2.6, ACPI 2.0a |
Unique Features |
Support for @BIOS Support for Q-Flash Support for Xpress Install Support for EasyTune * Available functions in EasyTune may differ by motherboard model. Support for eXtreme Hard Drive (X.H.D) Support for Auto Green Support for ON/OFF Charge Support for Q-Share Support for EZ Setup Support for Intel Wireless Display (Intel WiDi) Exclusive Bluetooth 4.0/WiFi module |
Bundle Software |
Norton Internet Security (OEM version) Intel® Rapid Start Technology Intel® Smart Connect Technology Intel® Smart Response Technology |
Operating System |
Support for Microsoft® Windows 8/7/XP |
Form Factor |
Mini-ITX Form Factor; 17.0cm x 17.0cm |
A decent board but has some
A decent board but has some layout issues.
Would prefer msata – put it on back of board like ASRock.
Would prefer sata sockets to be stacked at right angles not straight up (easier for cable management)
4pin ATX is in awkward place but can live with that.
Would like to see if some of the low profile coolers (fan downward) coolers would fit – would certainly improve cooling for power components, but looks to clash with pcie slot
I’ve been using this for a
I’ve been using this for a little over a month. The dual realtek nic and Wireless-N 2230 cards work out the box using Linux distros running 3.2.38 and higher. They don’t work on freebsd.
Performance with the Wireless-N 2230 with the included antennas in AP mode isn’t really stable beyond 12 – 15 feet direclty in the line of sight.
The smallest low profile cpu heatsink/fan combos fit but run into the power supplies and cables in your Mini-ITX cases.
Why does Easy Tune Processor
Why does Easy Tune Processor Name say i-3 in 2 different windows but other fields conform to an i-5 3570K?
Mostly likely a hardware id
Mostly likely a hardware id glitch with the version of easytune 6 installed for testing. The CPU used for testing (and while these screencaps where taken) was an i5-3570K.
Thanks for pointing this out.
The biggest issue is that it
The biggest issue is that it does not have Wake on LAN. For this kind of board a no-go in my eyes!
Don’t know how you got the
Don’t know how you got the specs but the official Gigabyte website shows that this mobo doesn’t support 5ghz wifi. I also personally own this board and it won’t detect my 5ghz router while my mac and android devices can.