ASUS Z97-A LGA 1150 Motherboard Review @ [H]

ASUS Z97-A LGA 1150 Motherboard Review - While ASUS is usually known for motherboards like the Maximus and Rampage Extreme series’ or even feature rich solutions like the Z97-Deluxe it is motherboards like the Z97-A that are ASUS’ bread and butter. Shopping for an inexpensive motherboard doesn’t have to mean accepting poor quality feature stripped solutions.

I wonder if the cheaper Z97-K will perform as good as the -A

why the PS/2 port with a UEFI bios?
is any one still using a PS/2 keyboard or mouse still?

Gamers.

If this board is anything like my z97-p ($110 board) it will do well with overclocking and general usage. Mine overclocked a Pentium quite high, 4.7 GHz 1.375V, and now it's holding a 4690k (stock for now) since I sold it to my friend as an upgrade over his A10. Asus has done very well in the z97 lineup I say, from what I can tell ALL of there boards have digital based controllers for the VRM's, even my $110 z97-p board has 4 phases (digital mind you) with slightly better mosfets over the competition in its price bracket.

Elios said:

why the PS/2 port with a UEFI bios?
is any one still using a PS/2 keyboard or mouse still?

Click to expand...

ps/2 keyboards dont need rollover, they arent polled like USB, so there is no ghosting.

because of this they are the keyboard of choice for pro gamers.

Skylinestar said:

I wonder if the cheaper Z97-K will perform as good as the -A

Click to expand...

Probably, but with a few fewer features I don't see a digital out, fewer audio headers or TPU switch off the top of my head. Links:

Z97-A

Z97-K

I've had the Z97-A for two weeks now, love it. Damn close in price too.

You can do some comparisons here, seems they have added a few more boards to the list.

For the few bucks difference I liked the "A"

Oh, either way, GET GOOD COOLING

Oh, I got mine from Amazon, I figured less chance of an open box issue....

The Mac said:

ps/2 keyboards dont need rollover, they arent polled like USB, so there is no ghosting.

because of this they are the keyboard of choice for pro gamers.

Click to expand...

PS/2 and PCI need to die in a fire along with ISA, PATA, Parallel and serial ports

way to much legacy stuff still floating around

Elios said:

PS/2 and PCI need to die in a fire along with ISA, PATA, Parallel and serial ports

way to much legacy stuff still floating around

Click to expand...

Unfortunately people still have need of these things. Though rarely in the markets you'd see this motherboard used in. I've seen proprietary security systems, door control systems, PBX hardware etc. all requiring PCI. Replacing these things isn't in the same vein as a home user. While the home user can easily ditch an old PCI audio card or PS/2 keyboard if they want to a business may not be able to as it can cost tens of thousands of dollars and may have larger repercussions from doing so. Now businesses generally shouldn't be buying DIY hardware like this but it does happen.

I had the "USB overpowered warnings" on mine as well. Workaround was to disable all the usb2 ports and then it was resolved with a BIOS update. I guess any shipping now have the later BIOS on them...

Aside from that, it has been solid, running an i7-4790k at 4.6GHz and _is_ prime95 stable. Needed a delid and clu to control temps for prime though. My cpu pulls ~150W running that.

One thing I would love to see in a motherboard review is testing of the onboard power supply. All we get are specs on a box (e.g. Digi+, 8 phases) but I have no idea if any of that is worth paying for...
The other thing missing is audio quality tests, since that is another area many mobo's claim to differentiate themselves.
Typical benchmarks are pretty uninteresting and really just a way to confirm things are working properly. They should all benchmark the same if the cpu, memory & settings are the same.

Mine is rock solid on Devils Canyon at 4.8, no delid.

I ordered mine and it comes on Wed along with a 4790k.....can't freaking wait!!!

same pieces i got, i love it.