Layout

With the release of Intels Z87 chipset ASUS's design team chose to bring quite some change to the design of their classic series motherboards. ASUS was brave enough to ditch their highly successful black/blue color scheme and replace it a color scheme kept in black, gold and yellow. Meanwhile ASUS again reworked the design of their classic series motherboards making them look more calm by removing yellow from the equation. They have also changed the tone of the gold color they are using to a more champagne-ish color.
Regarding the layout ASUS did a good choice when it comes to features, since there is basically everything you would expect to get these days. Obviously ASUS is compliant with Intels guidelines regarding clearance around the CPU socket. There even is some margin between the CPU socket and the DIMM slots.



The ASUS H97-Pro features a fully digital 6+2 phase power design. The CPU gets six phases and the memory gets a stable current supply from two individual phases. Apart from those, it also features high-quality, Japanese solid state capacitors, which have been specified 5000 hours.



In total, you will find four DIMM memory slots on the H97-Pro. Officially supported are the DDR3 1600 / 1333 MHz. There is enough space between the DIMM-slots and the CPU socket which means that you will not encounter any compatibility problems with big coolers even when you choose to install RAM with big heatspreaders. Also supported are Xtreme Memory Profiles (XMP) version 1.3.



On the H97-Pro, the PCH is being cooled by a passive cooling block. A closer look at the area where the VRM is, shows there is one additional, passive heatsink. Design, as well as the build quality is on a level you expect from ASUS' H97 series motherboards.

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 4 - Layout
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 5 - Connectors and I/O
Page 3 - Features	Page 6 - Conclusion