Haswell Z87 SFF motherboard list

Screes said:
Have you thought about just modifying the bracket?
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Oh course. But I would have to cut away quite a bit of plastic in multiple places on it to make it work - possibly jeopardizing its structural integrity. I wouldn't want it to break one of these days, popping the waterblock off the heatsink and causing damage.
 
I have an Asrock Z87E-ITX and I don't remember those chips interfering with anything. But I couldn't install my cooler because it wasn't Socket 115x compatible at all.
 
I really wanted to wait for the Asus Z87i-deluxe, but I can't really justify it anymore. Assuming a yearly refresh period, I've already waited for close to 1/6 of Haswell's availability.

So I'm looking at the Asrock Z87E-ITX, to put in a Node 304 with a Noctua NH-U14S. However, Noctua's website says the stock backplate is not compatible with the Asrock board because of backside components, and requires a special order from support.

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=compatibility_gen&products_id=64&lng=en

On the other hand, the NH-D14 doesn't have any such warning for that board.

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=compatibility_gen&products_id=34&lng=en

Looks like, even though they both supposedly have the same "secufirm2" mounting system, they come with different backplates. At least that's how it looks from looking at their installation manuals:

http://www.noctua.at/pdf/manuals/noctua_nh_u14s_manual_en.pdf
http://www.noctua.at/pdf/manuals/noctua_nh_d14_manual_en.pdf

From a picture of the backside of the motherboard (http://benchmarkreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/ASrock_Z87E-ITX_Motherboard_Rear_View.jpg), if I'm understanding it correctly, it looks like the D14's backplate is actually more likely to bump up against the electronic components than the U14S.

Anybody have any insight into this? I'd rather go with the U14S, but I'll use the D14 if it does in fact work. It just doesn't look like it will.
 
Someone asked if the RoG board supported 5.1.

The manual has been online for a while now. The board supports 5.1 using all three audio jacks in the back.

It also supports 7.1 using the three rear jacks + the front headphone jack.
 
And the Asus Z87 Deluxe is finally available at the Egg.

$190 + Shipping.

Its slightly cheaper than I expected. (region of 200-220)
 
jiany98 said:
And the Asus Z87 Deluxe is finally available at the Egg.

$190 + Shipping.

Its slightly cheaper than I expected. (region of 200-220)
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Price isn't bad at all. I'm guessing the z87-i pro variant, will be $10 cheaper.
 
tonyftw said:
Price isn't bad at all. I'm guessing the z87-i pro variant, will be $10 cheaper.
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I really wish the H87 version had wifi. I don't need over clocking or a fancy power daughter board, but i do need wifi.
 
Here's why ASUS H87i-plus won't work with H90:

009.jpg


No matter how you turn the bracket, and there are only 2 ways it can be mounted, these chips get in the way.

010.jpg
 
codeflux said:
Here's why ASUS H87i-plus won't work with H90:
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That's actually a reason why most aftermarket coolers with backplates won't fit. Bad idea from Asus, what were they thinking ? Probably that everyone getting the H87 isn't interested in better than stock cooling, so you're pretty much required to upgrade to the Z87.
 
If you don't mind modding the backplate, you could probably dremel the other bolt holes that won't be used, that would interfere with the PCB components.

37Xt5u4.jpg


Or use some spacers.
 
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Anybody have any hints on when the Z87 Stinger will be available? I've been looking around but could not find anything...

EDIT: Scratch that — I just returned to the EVGA forums and EVGA_WShelley posted that it should be available end of August.
 
_PixelNinja said:
Anybody have any hints on when the Z87 Stinger will be available? I've been looking around but could not find anything...

EDIT: Scratch that — I just returned to the EVGA forums and EVGA_WShelley posted that it should be available end of August.
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I hope the new bios is better than the last one.
 
As a heads up, the EVGA Z87 Stinger is now available at EVGA.com for the US. It should be available in September/October in the EU. Man I hope it comes out during the first two weeks of September. I've got components here waiting to be put together...
 
for an itx gaming machine: Asrock Z87E-ITX or Asus Z87I-DELUXE? I've always built with either Gigabyte or Asus... never trusted Asrock before but willing to be convinced.
 
The Asus Z87I has a better socket placement and arguably better VRM setup, the Asrock has a better sound card and mSATA.

I chose the Asrock because I wanted Haswell at launch but the Asus is also very interesting. Too bad about the very basic sound card though.
 
EVGA Stinger is available at the 'egg

220+shipping

IMO the board is pretty mediocre, especially for the price. It does have creative sound which might be alright, although only 6 channels. Only 4 SATA ports onboard and no integrated mSATA or M.2 SSD slot.
 
Smitty2k1 said:
EVGA Stinger is available at the 'egg

220+shipping

IMO the board is pretty mediocre, especially for the price. It does have creative sound which might be alright, although only 6 channels. Only 4 SATA ports onboard and no integrated mSATA or M.2 SSD slot.
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To my knowledge, there is an mPCI-E/mSATA port on the Z87 Stinger. It is located next to the chipset heatsink with the red EVGA logo.
 
_PixelNinja said:
To my knowledge, there is an mPCI-E/mSATA port on the Z87 Stinger. It is located next to the chipset heatsink with the red EVGA logo.
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Their specs page is a little too thin on detail to be certain but it looks like there's a single half length mPCIe/mSATA slot. Being half length rules out most mSATA drives.
 
matman said:
Their specs page is a little too thin on detail to be certain but it looks like there's a single half length mPCIe/mSATA slot. Being half length rules out most mSATA drives.
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You also need to make sure it's both mPCIe and mSATA. While a 1/2 length mSATA SSD might fit, you might end up with smoke. I almost blew up my MB (not this board) and SSD once, but I pulled the power before damage occurred.
 
looks like a couple of new MSI should be announced soon: MSI Z87I Gaming AC and MSI H87I AC

nothing official anywhere that I can see but they're listed on some stores in the EU e.g. komplett.se No details either but I think we can safely guess AC refers to the wireless spec and the Gaming will have the black/red dragon theme
 
Putting this here for future reference, as it will be lost in the Ncase M1 topic:

Current Z87 motherboards:

9PZxjwS.png

Gigabyte GA-Z87N-WIFI

tpM3fuT.png

MSI Z87I

usCeRnc.png

EVGA Z87 Stinger

QQAkpIR.png

Asus Z87i-PRO

G8iYOEK.png

Asus Maximus VI Impact

1vcH3Yz.png

Asrock Z87E-ITX
 
In regards to the Asus MAXIMUS VI IMPACT, it's a long read but well worth it......

http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?35981-NGFF-on-R.O.G-motherboards

What this guys says makes a lot of sense to me, i also see nothing but missed opportunities with it, in relation to unused PCIe lanes, and a very very dodgy implementation of the M.2 skt, not to mention that the NGFF (M.2) socket comes in 2 flavours, and no-one seems to mention which is used on the Impact, as is explained here
 
I believe the current Asus implementation of M.2 is low bandwidth, limited to PCIe 2.0 x1 or SATA 6GB/s (see Asus own specifications.) No sign of anything faster to be available very soon, maybe some boards will appear with the IvyBridge refresh, or Broadwell? I believe Z97/H97 will support SATA Express if reports from earlier in 2013 are accurate e.g. http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mainbo...m_to_Support_Serial_ATA_Express_Natively.html Hopefully then fast M.2 and NVMe will beome widely available.
 
yup, so basically right now, the M.2 socket is pretty useless, not only is it a poor restricted implementation, but it is also size restricted if i am not mistaken, making me think the mSATA on the back of the asrock board may be a better value option, given the price difference and options available for that
 
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As far as I can tell, the M.2 slot on the Impact will allow you to use any M.2 SSD out there that is 42mm long. It will have the same performance bottlenecks as traditional SSDs (and mSata SSDs) but of course, will have the added benefit of needing no cables, and virtually taking up no space.

So, is it perfect? No. Is it one of only two mITX motherboards to allow the use of a SSD plugged straight into the board with no cables? Yes.

I've got the Impact, and while I was hoping for a single M.2 SSD solution, I'm not sure if I will be able to find anything of a suitable capacity that is only 42mm long, so I may need a second SSD anyways, which does make me wish I had got the ASRock.

EDIT: I was wondering why this would only support 42mm long SSD like in the claim on the ROG forums. I looked in the owners manual, and it says it will support full length, 110mm cards. So why would someone on that forum make the claim?
 
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if you have the impact board, you should be able to check and measure physically, I could be wrong, but i think it is only a physical size restriction between the listed version sizes, there is no other difference (not withstanding the 2 flavour of connections) so if you have a card made to fit 42mm it will work just fine in sockets capable of taking 110mm cards, I think the only thing to stop you fitting a 110mm card in a 42mm socket is other components around limiting the space for the card, it is possible, that with it being a WiFi GO combo card, that they changed something to allow the larger cards to be fitted, and simply extend out the back of the plug in module, the 42mm reference might simply be to make it fit within the GO module.

I still think the disappointment is the utilisation of the low bandwidth implementation on a SFF board that under utilises the chipset feature set and abilities, i struggle to see the thinking behind it, by doing what they have, there is no advantage or incentive to use M.2 over regular and much cheaper SSD modules
 
Still waiting to see what MSI Z87 Gaming series m-ITX features. Has a place holder red silhouetted imaged with coming soon.

Is there any reviews of onboard audio of available models? As EVGA Core3D is only thing making me consider it, if it's better than Realtek ALC1150.
 
Tinkerer said:
Still waiting to see what MSI Z87 Gaming series m-ITX features. Has a place holder red silhouetted imaged with coming soon.

Is there any reviews of onboard audio of available models? As EVGA Core3D is only thing making me consider it, if it's better than Realtek ALC1150.
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The CPU socket indicated by the MSI website shows the socket jammed up against the PCIe slot... Similar to the existing MSI mobos?

Hopefully this silhouette is not indicative of the final product, and just one of the existing MSI boards, but we shall see.
 
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