The Board - A Closer Look

One of the first things I found that I did not expect to see on the Biostar Hi-Fi Z77X were these two switches for Power and RESET. Switches like these are usually reserved for more enthusiast-oriented products, but I was quite happy to see them because they simplify my testing period. I also found a socketed BIOS chip, which is, once again, more of an enthusiast feature. Oh, I see what you did there Biostar!


There is also a POST LED display onboard the Biostar Hi-Fi Z77X that will show CPU temperatures after boot. Biostar has offered this feature on many boards in the past, so I was pleased to still see it there. For monitoring duties, I found an ITE IT8728F Super I/O, which also provides support for the PS/2 Keyboard port.


The Biostar Hi-Fi Z77X's VRM is managed by an ISL6367 6-channel VRM controller which in turn pushes the 12 main phases, while the last phase has its own input drive. There will be some hotspots with so many phases on just four PCB layers, and Biostar has also built in several "cooling strips" at various points to help dissipate board heat.


The DIMM VRM is just a single phase, but does seem to be equipped with a rather large number of capacitors on its output stage. The PCH VRM seems to be 3 channels all on its own, although close examination shows that it isn't. This Biostar Hi-Fi Z77X is more enthusiast-oriented than I first thought!


Biostar has, of course, built the Hi-Fi Z77X for a different type of enthusiast - an audio enthusiast. Biostar has a whole line of new boards that adopt this "PURO Audio" design which specifically seeks to introduce better quality-audio to the market as a standard. You'll find that Biostar has one for nearly every current socket. This design includes using audio-oriented capacitors and resistors, EMI shielding, and other features like specific headphone amplifiers.


These capacitors and resistors almost seem to be the inspiration for the esthetic design of the Biostar Hi-Fi Z77X. There are two banks of blue capacitors and resistors on the board's left edge that form a big part of the Hi-Fi Z77X's design.


A line of complete isolation wraps around the Biostar Hi-Fi Z77X's audio section to ensure that no outside noise is introduced into the audio loop. It goes through every PCB layer - top to bottom. It, as you can see in the second image above, even goes so far as to separate the front panel audio and rear panel audio connectors. All this together is quite innovative, but it is not entirely new. However, It's not something we've seen on a full ATX product that is less than $135 in retail, and that is, in and of itself, what really sets this board apart from the rest. Not like that wasn't evident by the big speaker on the front of the box. :p


The Biostar Hi-Fi Z77X uses stylized, low-profile cooling, although I think it quite closely resembles the cooling on the Biostar TZ77XE4, which I reviewed here. The VRM cooler is most definitely the same design, although in different colors. Will it clock like its older brother?