Eldonko
Well-known member
Intel’s launch of the much anticipated Haswell microarchitecture and Lynx Point Z-series chipsets has finally come and gone. When the embargo lifted in at the beginning of June, we brought you a performance review of the i7-4770K & i5-4670K processors that included a comprehensive bundle of tests and comparisons. As always, along with new microarchitecture and chipsets comes a wide range of motherboards. The board we will be looking at in this review is the feature-packed ASUS Z87 Deluxe.
The tock of Intel’s current generation equation and built for a new socket (LGA1150), the Lynx Point Z87 chipset alone brings a host of exciting features to the Z87 Deluxe. There are six native USB 3.0 ports, six SATA 6G ports, full support for PCI-E 3.0 including 16 PCI-E lanes, SLI / Crossfire compatibility and new instruction set support. Add all the ASUS-specific features and we have a board that should appeal to everyone from a mainstream user, to overclockers, to gamers.
Wondering where the P8 at the beginning of the model number from previous generations went? ASUS decided to ditch it altogether in favour of simplicity (was there a point to it anyway?). Not only is the P8 gone, the board color scheme has changed from the usual blue and black to an all new black and gold color.
For novice overclockers there are a ton of auto overclocking options here as well, with the most robust being what ASUS calls 4-Way Optimization. With this clever utility your board will overclock itself as well as optimize fans and power saving with the click of a button. Fan Xpert II brings a new level of control and optimization for system fans and the UEFI has over 15 new features over previous gen boards. Also noteworthy with the Deluxe is Wi-Fi GO, a 16 phase DIGI+ power design, USB Charger+, and a DTS Ultra II PC advanced audio software suite.
Priced at the top of the mainstream board segment at about $300, the Z87 Deluxe comes with the ASUS standard 3 year parts and labour warranty and is available now at most retailers. However, for the time being, the Deluxe is nearly alone in its price segment. Gigabyte's UD5H comes in at $50 less while MSI's MPower Max is $40 less and the higher end overclocker boards tend to be significant more. So is the Deluxe's positioning a perfect move by ASUS or are lower priced alternatives the way to go? We're about to find out.
The tock of Intel’s current generation equation and built for a new socket (LGA1150), the Lynx Point Z87 chipset alone brings a host of exciting features to the Z87 Deluxe. There are six native USB 3.0 ports, six SATA 6G ports, full support for PCI-E 3.0 including 16 PCI-E lanes, SLI / Crossfire compatibility and new instruction set support. Add all the ASUS-specific features and we have a board that should appeal to everyone from a mainstream user, to overclockers, to gamers.
Wondering where the P8 at the beginning of the model number from previous generations went? ASUS decided to ditch it altogether in favour of simplicity (was there a point to it anyway?). Not only is the P8 gone, the board color scheme has changed from the usual blue and black to an all new black and gold color.
For novice overclockers there are a ton of auto overclocking options here as well, with the most robust being what ASUS calls 4-Way Optimization. With this clever utility your board will overclock itself as well as optimize fans and power saving with the click of a button. Fan Xpert II brings a new level of control and optimization for system fans and the UEFI has over 15 new features over previous gen boards. Also noteworthy with the Deluxe is Wi-Fi GO, a 16 phase DIGI+ power design, USB Charger+, and a DTS Ultra II PC advanced audio software suite.
Priced at the top of the mainstream board segment at about $300, the Z87 Deluxe comes with the ASUS standard 3 year parts and labour warranty and is available now at most retailers. However, for the time being, the Deluxe is nearly alone in its price segment. Gigabyte's UD5H comes in at $50 less while MSI's MPower Max is $40 less and the higher end overclocker boards tend to be significant more. So is the Deluxe's positioning a perfect move by ASUS or are lower priced alternatives the way to go? We're about to find out.
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