Asus Z97 motherboards

[phillyman36]

http://wccftech.com/asus-z97-mother...nger-z97-sabertooth-mark-z97-deluxe-pictured/

 

[phillyman36]

More images

http://wccftech.com/asus-z97-motherboards-legacy-z97deluxe-z97a-z97ws-z97i-mini-itx-detailed/

 

[MongGrel]

I love ASUS Mobos personally, have em in all three rigs.

But probably won't be upgrading soon, they look pretty tasty.

 

[phillyman36]

I thought Sata express wasnt going to be included on the z97 but several mobo have them.

 

[Dahak]

I thought Sata express wasnt going to be included on the z97 but several mobo have them.

Most likely a 3rd party chip. I remember the same thing when usb 3 was first introduced before intel release their chipset with it integrated

Think sata 3 was introed the same way. 3rd party first, then integration next, although it would be nice that if it is integrated

 

[Atreidin]

I wonder if the sabertooth model will have problems mounting huge CPU coolers and GPUs with big heatsinks.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I wonder if the sabertooth model will have problems mounting huge CPU coolers and GPUs with big heatsinks.

Depends on what you mean by "problems." I've mentioned in the past few months that the Sabertooth model-line does either of two things: It incorporates motherboard-ducting which some of our more extreme "modders" who abjured water-cooling may have tried [It works]; and it may give ideas to other folks not using Sabertooth to attempt the same thing with a few dollars spent on foam artboard or Lexan and glue.

Look again -- I think I noticed a Sabertooth in the linked pictures with a little 40mm fan on it. Imagine a slightly more comprehensive solution: on one end of the board, there's a small intake fan; the air wafts over the sinks (or even heatpipes) integrated to a mobo to cool VRM and other parts, and a second fan at the other end facilitates the same airflow through narrow spaces.

I rather doubt that the Sabertooth will present complications to a choice of coolers, though.

 

[bleucharm28]

OMG, I love Asus mobo's. Although, i'm not a big of the Gold and Black theme. What i would like to see in the future is to have a Black Edition of Z98 class or what ever they have coming after Z98. OR better yet, or a White Edition version.

 

[Maximilian]

Wonder if they will finally ditch the PCI/VGA/PS2 ports :\

 

[ddarko]

I had been looking forward to this board but am disappointed to see that the Deluxe only has 6 SATA ports. Next to the SATA ports is an SATA Express port. Correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding of SATA Express is that it has 2 SATA ports so while technically this board has 8 SATA ports, 2 of them won't be usable if you use an SATA Express device. I'm glad Asus is offering SATA Express, especially since the rumors were Intel was going to include it on the Z97 chipset but ultimately opted to go with an M.2 connector, but it's frustrating Asus forces you to give up 2 SATA ports to use SATA Express. I've already maxed out the 6 SATA ports on my current motherboard and want more but I guess I need to look elsewhere. I don't see the sense of paying the premium this board will command for SATA Express knowing I have to trade off standard SATA ports to use it. By way of comparison, the current Asus Z87 Deluxe has 10 SATA ports.

 

[BadThad]

I'm waiting for the reviewer tests. Seems it's taking a long time considering we're so close to launch.

 

[phillyman36]

Some reviews are up

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014/04/28/asus_z97_deluxe_lga_1150_motherboard_review#.U14fwvldX91

 

[tolis626]

Well, while the Hero looks fine and dandy, I've been set on getting the Formula for months (Mostly for its looks, although it does have some nice features I will use. Yes, I'm shallow). However, the fact that there wasn't a Maximus VII Formula and Extreme announcement worries me. I will probably buy a mobo at the end of June, so there is time, but still... Does anyone know anything?

 

[Deders]

Wonder if they will finally ditch the PCI/VGA/PS2 ports :\

Do some boards still have PCI slots? I'm struggling to find a card I feel good about replacing my PCI X-FI Xtreme Gamer card with that has all the same features.

I also have a nice PS2 keyboard.

 

[Maximilian]

Do some boards still have PCI slots? I'm struggling to find a card I feel good about replacing my PCI X-FI Xtreme Gamer card with that has all the same features.

I also have a nice PS2 keyboard.

Unfortunately yeah, a good chunk of boards from the midrange down have PCI and PS2.

Heres a list of better sound cards:
Anything from asus
Any of the creative Z series
Motherboard audio

 

[Deders]

Unfortunately yeah, a good chunk of boards from the midrange down have PCI and PS2.

Heres a list of better sound cards:
Anything from asus
Any of the creative Z series
Motherboard audio

Am considering Asus but am getting mixed opinions, I occasionally play games where Alchemy and EAX enhance the experience. Eax2 emulation just doesn't cut it. Plus people seem to have issues with the drivers. I'm also a bit anxious about losing the crystalizer.

From what I've heard about the Creative Z series, they seem great except for one important feature: when up-mixing a stereo source to 5.1 it uses a pseudo surround effect and not a clean upmix like the X-FI.

As for on board sound you have got to be kidding me, even if sound quality is up to par, I've yet to see anything that has all the features, plus they are far more prone to audio issues in games due to shoddy drivers.

 

[phillyman36]

Im still waiting for the first round of Sata express drives(reviews) to come out. Cant decide if I want to grab a z97 deluxe just for Sata express(or m.2 ssd for that matter).

 

[Maximilian]

Am considering Asus but am getting mixed opinions, I occasionally play games where Alchemy and EAX enhance the experience. Eax2 emulation just doesn't cut it. Plus people seem to have issues with the drivers. I'm also a bit anxious about losing the crystalizer.

From what I've heard about the Creative Z series, they seem great except for one important feature: when up-mixing a stereo source to 5.1 it uses a pseudo surround effect and not a clean upmix like the X-FI.

As for on board sound you have got to be kidding me, even if sound quality is up to par, I've yet to see anything that has all the features, plus they are far more prone to audio issues in games due to shoddy drivers.

Sorry man but EAX, Alchemy, all that jazz its dead. They're all dead and not coming back.

On old games that use EAX its probably best not to use it... getting old games working to begin with can be a pain without adding hardware accelerated sound on top of it.

If you must have that stuff for whatever reason the best bet is a titanium HD, its the last card to use the x-fi chip and it was the best one by far. Used they can be quite cheap.

 

[Bryf50]

Sorry man but EAX, Alchemy, all that jazz its dead. They're all dead and not coming back.

On old games that use EAX its probably best not to use it... getting old games working to begin with can be a pain without adding hardware accelerated sound on top of it.

If you must have that stuff for whatever reason the best bet is a titanium HD, its the last card to use the x-fi chip and it was the best one by far. Used they can be quite cheap.

Shrug. I've used Alchemy in a ton of old games on Windows 8.1 without issue. Yea its been dead for a while now but it's still a nice thing to have for older games.

 

[ZippyBanger]

ASrock's formula boards have been superior to the ROG boards for 2 generations now......Ill stick with the OC Formula line.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I hadn't looked into this matter much. So . . . apparently Broadwell is intended to be socket-1150 compatible? And the Z97 is an update to Z87 for current and "refresh" Haswell CPUs?

Nothing beats a mature motherboard design. Definitely a plus, especially if you were planning to update the processor to a compatible successor generation.

 

[Hdgamer]

Blew out my Asus Z77 ROG maximus board the other day. Now back on an old gigabyte z68 and have to say I'm missing some of the features. OC on this board is a pain, and no usb3.0. Looking forward to the new Z97 boards and may just have to finally upgrade the old 2500k...