ASUS Z97I-Plus Preview
Category : Z97
Published by Hiwa Pouri on 15.05.14
With the Z97I-Plus, ASUS has another interesting mini-ITX motherboard in its portfolio. Lying in front of us, we have a very compact and well equipped motherboard, which for example received an M.2 slot. Other than that there are quite a few software features, which is rather usual with higher-end motherboards these days. With their new Z97 mothboard ASUS have also reworked the color scheme of their classic sereis motherboards and they're now way less flashy.
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The Z97I-Plus is ASUS's new classic series mini-ITX motherboard regarding Intels latest Z97 chipset.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
Specs and Delivery
| Chipset | Intel Z97 |
| Memory | Dual Channel DDR3, 4 x DIMM, Max. 32 GB DDR3, 3200(O.C.) / 3100(O.C.) / 3000(O.C.) / 2933(O.C.) / 2800(O.C.) / 2666(O.C.) / 2600(O.C.) / 2500(O.C.) / 2400(O.C.) / 2200(O.C.) / 2133(O.C.) / 2000(O.C.) / 1866(O.C.) / 1800(O.C.) / 1600 / 1333 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory |
| Multi-GPU |
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| Slots |
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| Sound | Realtek ALC892 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC
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| Storage | Intel Z97 chipset
|
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth V4.0 |
| Network |
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| Internal Connectors |
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| Extrenal Connectors |
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| Forfactor | Mini ITX Form Factor (17cm x 17cm) |
| BIOS | Bios (64 Mb flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS) |
- User's manual
- ASUS Q-Shield
- 4 x SATA 6Gb/s cables
- ASUS 2T2R dual band Wi-Fi moving antennas
- 1 x 2-in-1 Wi-Fi antenna connector
- ASUS Q-Connector
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
Features
ASUS 5X Protection |
In this case the ASUS marketing department has been thinking about a new name for a set of features. "5X Protection" is the word they associate with the following things. First of all there is a six phase Digi+ power design, which is built around an ASP1103 chip. Second, you get ASUS DRAM OCP, which provides short circuit protection. Other than that there is the so called ESD guard that features additional protection regarding electrostatic discharge. Last but not least we find capacitors, which have been rated for 5000 hours. Overall this sounds like a reasonable featureset for a high-end Mini-ITX motherboard. |
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ASUS Fan Xpert 3 |
ASUS Fan Xpert 3 provides customizable settings for fans that have been attached directly to the onboard fan headers. With the Fan Auto Tuning feature, ASUS Fan Xpert 3 automatically detects and tweaks all fan speeds and in the end reduces unwanted noise. |  |
M.2 Support |
The new Z97 ITX motherboard from ASUS features an M.2 slot moved to the back part of the board this board can be euqipped with SSDs in M.2 format. M.2 is wired directly to the Z97 PCH via two PCI Express lanes, therefore offering x2 bandwidth. In other words up to 10 Gbps can be pushed over the bus through this slot, almost doubling performance of SATA-III. |  |
ASUS WiFi GO |
ASUS equips this board with a WiFi adaptor. In this case it's a modern dual-band adaptor which supports WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac. |  |
| EPU | EPU automatically detects the current system load and moderates power usage. It offers a system-wide energy optimization and is able to reduce fan noise. |  |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
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 motherboard make it more calm by removing yellow from the equation. They've also changed the tone of the gold color they're using to light gold. The layout itself is well thought and there is for example plenty of space around the CPU socket to install even todays largest CPU coolers. On a mini-ITX motherboard it is crucial that the CPU socket is in the center of the motherboard or closer to the top end then to the lower end, otherwise installing big aircoolers becomes an issue. There are plenty of other mini-ITX motherboards out there, which have the CPU socket closer to the PCI-Express x16 slot. This brings the consequence, that the cooler is going to collide with the VGA.
The ASUS Z97I-Plus features a fully digital 6+2 phase power design. The CPU gets six phases and the memory gets a stable current supply from two phases. Apart from that there are high-quality, Japanese solid state capacitors, which have been specified 5000 hours.
Totally you'll find two DIMM-slots on the Z97I-Plus. Officially supported are DDR3 3200(O.C.) / 3100(O.C.) / 3000(O.C.) / 2933(O.C.) / 2800(O.C.) / 2666(O.C.) / 2600(O.C.) / 2500(O.C.) / 2400(O.C.) / 2200(O.C.) / 2133(O.C.) / 2000(O.C.) / 1866(O.C.) / 1800(O.C.) / 1600 / 1333 MHz. There is enough space between the DIMM-slots and the CPU socket which means that you wont encounter compatibility problems with big coolers even when you choose to install RAM with big heatspreaders. Also supported are Xtreme Memory Profiles (XMP) in version 1.3.
On the Z97I-Plus 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 heatsink - one is on the front-side and the other is located on the back-side. The design as well as the build quality is on an excellent level, which is typical for ASUS' Z97 series motherobards.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
Connectors and I/O
Totally ASUS equipped the Z97I-Plus with four straight SATA ports, where two are located above the back end of the PCI-Express x16 slot and two others can be found below the 24-pin ATX power connector. On this board you won't find practical onboard power- and reset-buttons and there is also no debug display. There is basically only a MemOK! button, which can help you, whenever you experience incompatibilities with memory. A closer look at the audio solution shows, that there is an ALC892 chips from Realtek.
Totally you'll find three fan header on the Z97I-Plus which is enough, to provide a well equipped mini-ITX system with fresh air. The fan headers are located on the left side of the CPU socket. ASUS decided to use 4-pin PWM headers in all three cases. Therefore it is possible to adjust rotation speed in the BIOS or in Windows.
Looking at the external connectors directly at the back-panel ASUS equipped the Z97I-Plus with six USB 3.0/2.0 ports, four USB 2.0/1.1 ports, one gigabit ethernet port, an HDMI connector, a DisplayPort output as well as an optical out and an analogue audio panel. Furtheremore you'll find also a clear CMOS reset button and a USB BIOS flash back switch. Furhtermore there are two connectors to attach the antenna, which is included in the delivery.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |
Conclusion
| Overall | + | - | |
| At a first glance the Z97I-Plus leaves a good impression. You get a reasonable feature mix and it won't take long until you realize that ASUS created a product, which should feature a reasonable price tag. There is a decent power design and the absence of any overclocking features, makes it clear that this board will end up with a decent price tag. In terms of storage connectivity there are four SATA connectors, which makes this board perfectly suitable for compact gaming rigs or powerful HTPC's. There is also an M.2 slot on the back of the motherboard and furthermore you also get onboard WiFi. In case of the color scheme we're happy to see that the new Z97 Classic-Series from ASUS isn't as flashy as the Z87 motherboards anymore. | -
Design - Layout - mini-ITX |
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| Layout | + | - | |
| Basically the ASUS Z97I-Plus 's Layout has been well thought. There is a compact power design located at the top end of the board. Furhtermore the straight SATA 6Gbps ports have been placed at well accessible locations. Another thing we like are the four 4-pin fan header on the left side of the CPU socket. A really neat little features, that's what the M.2 slot on the backside of the motherboard is. We think it's a really good idea from ASUS to place this slot on the backside of the motherboard, since they now have more space for all the other features on the front. It also makes the installation of an M.2 drive a bit easier but you have to keep in mind, that an M.2 drive needs to be installed before mounting to motherboard. | - Space around the CPU socket |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Layout |
| Page 2 - Specs and Delivery | Page 5 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 3 - Features | Page 6 - Conclusion |