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Intel's Haswell CPU's and Z87 motherboards may well be just around the corner, but that hasn't stopped MSI from releasing another line of Z77 motherboards. With this new line of motherboards MSI are aiming at the gaming scene, and have a bold new color scheme and heatsink design to match. We are used to seeing either yellow or blue theme motherboards from MSI but this new 'gaming' line-up breaks that mould. Benchmark Reviews takes a look at the mid range MSI Z77A-G45 GAMING LGA1155 Motherboard (P/N 911-7752-19S) in this article. The MSI Z77A-G45 GAMING motherboard supports 3rd Gen & 2nd Gen Intel CPU's designed for the LGA115x socket, and DDR3 speeds up to 3000MHz (OC). Not much separates motherboards with the same chipset these days, so extras like a KILLER E2200 NIC, Creative Sound Blaster Cinema sound and PCI Express Gen 3 expansion slots aim to make sure you have a high quality experience with this latest offering from MSI.
The MSI FM2-A85XMA-E35 motherboard features the A85 chipset and the FM2 socket to support AMD’s latest Richland APUs. The MSI FM2-A85XMA-E35 motherboard takes the form of a Micro ATX board and is targeted at mainstream users. MSI includes all solid capacitors in the board to increase the life of components and protection against damage with anti-ESD ICs on the board. OC Genie II and Click BIOS II are provided for instant overclocking and easy to navigate UEFI BIOS. Connectivity options include USB 3.0 ports, SATA 6G, Onboard LAN, HDMI 1.4, and Super Charger USB port. Support is provided for AMD Dual Graphics technology, linking select discrete GPUs and APU for better graphics performance.
We check out our first Mini-ITX motherboard for the new Z87 Haswell platform from ASRock and find out what kind of performance this tiny board offers.
The ASUS Z87-Pro supports all the latest generation 22nm Haswell Intel LGA1150 Core processors. The Z87-Pro offers 12-phase DIGI+ power, ESD guards for the USB, LAN and video ports as well as fuse ICs for the DRAM, solid capacitors rated for 5,000 hours at 105C, and a stainless steel back I/O for an all-around protection and extended motherboard lifespan. In terms of connectivity, the Z87 Pro has the standard six SATA 6G ports from the Z87 chipset but also adds two more via an ASMedia 1061 controller, four USB 3.0 ports via the Intel Z87 chipset as well as four more USB 3.0 ports via an ASMedia 1042 in the top back I/O. Wirelessly, the ASUS Z87 Pro uses a dual-band Qualcomm Atheros Wireless-N module with Bluetooth 4.0 and comes with a 2TR2 antenna that uses gold-plated SMA connectors. For display output, the ASUS Z87 Pro supports up to 4096 x 2160 @ 24Hz via the HDMI, as well as the DisplayPort, and is also able to handle displays up to 1920x1200 @ 60Hz via the DVI-D or the VGA output ports.
As we trundle through the stack of Z87 boards we have for review, we find ourselves picking up the Z87X-UD3H and chucking it onto the test bench, but not before taking a look at what Gigabyte offer with it in terms of design, specifications and added accessories that are bundled in.
Now we're not expecting too much from the UD3H as it is at the lower-end of the scale but still has some high quality features in terms of SLI/CrossFire support, DualBIOS, USB 3.0 connectivity and even some features aimed at those wishing to dabble in overclocking. Couple the overclocking features with the Ultra Durable technology and sufficient sized heatsinks, and we may be pleasantly surprised by the UD3H and what it has to offer in terms of pushing its connected hardware to the limits.
As with all of our reviews, we will start by taking a look at what is on offer with the Z87X-UD3H before moving on to the board itself and taking a detailed look at all of its features before stepping into the BIOS to see if anything is new and shiny. Once we have all of this out of the way, we can start pushing the hardware to its limits and once a 100% stable ground has been found, we can start benchmarking our whole test suite at the overclocked speeds as well as stock to see how things compare.
Join us as we have a look at the Z87X-UD3H from Gigabyte, as we have a feeling that this board has a few tricks up its sleeve and may be able to keep up with the big boys, and if my sources are right at the time of writing this, it should be very attractively priced as well, meaning that we could have a great contender for an all around board that ticks all the right boxes, but lets not get ahead of ourselves and get into the aesthetics side of things first.
The ASRock Z87 Extreme4 is a mid-range socket LGA1150 motherboard targeted for the "Haswell" processors (fourth-generation Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 processors). Let's see what this motherboard has to offer.
Micro-ATX motherboards and all things on the smaller form factor have been a big highlight in the past year or so, with Mini-ITX taking the market by storm and manufacturers somehow managing to cram all of the much needed, and wanted components into this much smaller sized boards. Fast forward to the present day and we see the same thing happening all over again with Z87 and Gigabyte, as they have managed to produce a board based around the new chipset, branded under the G1-Killer branding, much like we saw with the Z77 M3 board which we loved by the way.
For those out there wanting 4-way SLI and a full ATX form factor, Gigabyte have a board just for you; the G1.Sniper 5, but for those wanting a much smaller footprint, they have graced us with the G1.Sniper M5. This particular board is set to pack all of the grunt that its big brother incorporates, without any of the drawbacks, and that can be said for improved audio, overclockability, design and overall key features. Of course it doesn't have the ability for quad SLI, but that's why they have its big brother sharing the limelight to cater for that market.
As we work out way through the large stack of Z87 motherboards that we have here, we wanted to make sure that this board was one of the first, because if it's anything like the Z77 G1.Sniper M3 was, then it's going to be a complete animal and may give you a few shocks on the way, as small doesn't necessarily mean underpowered of lacking features, in fact, quite the opposite.
Before we check out the performance though, we need to make our way through the packaging and accessories before we take a look at the board itself and all of its features including its shiny new BIOS that has been implemented. Once this is out of the way, we can get down to the nitty gritty and see how it performs at stock speeds as well as pushing it as far as we can under our testbed conditions, and then of course to see how it performs once it's been pushed to its limits, so lets not delay and get straight into it.
The Intel DZ87KLT-75K motherboard comes standard with many features. The DZ87KLT offers eight SATA 6G ports, support for 2400 MHz Memory (OC), back to BIOS switch, three Video out connectors, Thunderbolt, ten channel Intel HD Audio, dual Intel LAN, eight USB 3.0 ports, mSATA, and 3 PCI Express 3.0 slots, WiFi/Bluetooth and, of course, an onboard LED post Decode display. To wrap everything up, they even upgraded their UEFI BIOS to Visual BIOS 2.
Let's take a look at the Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3, a mid-range socket AM3+ motherboard for AMD FX processors, based on the 990FX chipset. Let's see what this motherboard has to offer.
After speaking to Gigabyte recently about the upcoming boards for Haswell and Z87, they kept telling me that the UD4H was a big focus for them, and I can see why, as it incorporates a brand new colour scheme that has never been tried by them before, and as you can see; it's red and it's sexy.
The UD4H is a mid-range board that incorporates a lot of key features that you'd expect including SLI/CrossFire, strong power delivery to the CPU socket and much more, but what is a board with strong features, if it doesn't look the part? This is a question that Gigabyte asked themselves and decided to go with a radical new design and while a lot of consumers will be quick to judge that they've copied the Asus ROG or MSI Gaming series boards, we can say from first-hand, it looks nothing like them and is actually quite subtle, in a "slap you round the face" kind of way, and that's a good thing, as it allows the board to appeal to many different markets.
For those wanting a mid-range board with strong features and great potential, we think that the UD4H could be a real contender, and there is only one way to find out, so follow us as we delve into this review.
As usual, we will be taking a look at the box and any added accessories that come bundled with the UD4H before we take a look at the board and its funky new style from a close-up view. Once this is out of the way, we can focus directly on the performance of the board with our Haswell i7 4770k at the heart of it, and of course we will be seeing how far we can push the system by overclocking, and then testing at those speeds too, so lets get straight into it, shall we?
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