ASUS Gryphon Z87 or ASUS Z87-A for gaming?

blazs91 · May 12, 2014

Hi everyone!

I'm building a gaming pc, and I've already chosen an Asus gtx 780 and an i5 4670k.
My question is the mobo!

1. ASUS Gryphon Z87
2. ASUS Z87-A

I did some research, and the gryphon provides 5 years warranty, so it seems to be really durable. But the Z87-A got the dual intelligent processors (EPU and TPU), which could be useful i want to OC my CPU. Does the gryhpon has any automatic OC function?
So if You were me which one would you chose? Size doesn't matter!

Thx for the answers!

EasyLover · May 12, 2014

Gryphon is a military grade mobo (mATX) with so called advanced cooling and DIY flexibility etc. Better stick with Z87-A as it is a full ATX mobo with more functionality.

EPU/TPU will play limited role in overclocking because their four way optimization is based on their research into their variables and mobos/CPUs along with profiles. It may give you a decent amount of OCing (For beginners, it is a great start to learn) but at the end manual OCing will come in handy.

Read the review of Z87-A

http://www.ocaholic.ch/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=1120&page=2
http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/motherboards/1305727/asus-z87-a

photonboy · May 12, 2014

I recommend the Gryphon which I just ordered though I didn't get the Shield/backplate kit. I did a lot of research and own a Z77 Sabertooth as well.

It does have an auto-overclock though it's not as obvious as some boards. That's why you have a manual though.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7720/asus-tuf-z87-gryphon-review/3

"The automatic overclock settings are found in the OC Tuner option of AI Tweaker in the BIOS. Selecting this gives two further options to select: Ratio First and BCLK First.... "

On my Z77 Sabertooth I got 4.1GHz as the clock, but then manually changed it to 4.2GHz for each core (x42 multiplier). It crashed at x43, but I didn't go higher for two reasons:
a) The gaming benefits are almost zero, and
b) The temperature would go up quite a bit once I start changing the Voltage which breaks the optimal power savings setup.

HEAT:
Haswell CPU's are very power efficient, however they do have local heat issues as you've likely heard. There are two reasons:
1) choice of TIM versus solder, and
2) Voltage regulators on the CPU board (adds up to 7W heat)

So if you aggressively overclock you need a very good cooler. I do recommend sticking at about 4.2GHz at least initially.

Other:
If overclocking is important to you, consider getting the equivalent Devil's Canyon Haswell CPU (coming soonish) and a compatible Z97 1150 motherboard (not Z87) such as the Asus Z97 Gryphon.

Dark Lord of Tech · May 12, 2014

I would go with the ASUS Hero.

blazs91 · May 12, 2014

Thx for all the answers! It's good to hear that the gryphon has auto-OC function. Anyway, OC is a little important for me, I wanna reach only about 4 - 4.2 Ghz with my CPU. And I'm sure the Devil's Canyon Haswell CPU's will be beasts, but I need a PC ASAP

And one more question: If I go for the gryhpon, will it cause any problem that the componets (gpu, cpu, ram) will be closer to each other? I mean, will it be harder to cool them? There may will be worse airflow which generates more heat?

EasyLover · May 14, 2014

If there is a proper air flow inside the case and CPU is cooled properly then there would not be any problem. Better use liquid cooling solution for CPU like H100i or any AIO cooler that is supported on the mobo and the CPU.

blazs91 · May 19, 2014

Thanks for the answers! All of them were really useful!

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ASUS Gryphon Z87 or ASUS Z87-A for gaming?

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