Intel’s Haswell architecture displaces Ivy Bridge in its desktop line-up, bringing with it yet another new CPU interface. We tested six motherboards that claimed to be ready for your overclocking efforts, and included the five survivors in today’s review.
There's hardly a bad time to upgrade an old, slow PC. We only get skittish a few days before and a few days after a major technology launch, when vendors start jockeying for position with their prices and the newest stuff might end up pricier than where it'll eventually settle. Intel tends to replace the products in its stack with comparably-priced offerings, though. So, any level of improvement, no matter how small, could (and probably should) make Haswell-based processors better values than the outgoing models built on the Ivy Bridge architecture.
In case you missed it, we reviewed the flagship desktop CPU in The Core i7-4770K Review: Haswell Is Faster; Desktop Enthusiasts Yawn. The title makes it pretty clear: Chris wasn't particularly impressed with the incremental improvements Haswell brings to the desktop space, acknowledging that this architecture has bigger aspirations in mobility. If you already own a Core i7-3770K, there's probably little reason to upgrade. If you made an investment in Sandy Bridge-E, again, there's probably little reason to upgrade. But if your machine employs a Core i7-2700K or older, it might be time to start thinking about something new.
Fortunately, Intel's 8-series platform controller hubs give us platform-oriented guys something to get excited about. Intel got rid of the Z77’s four SATA 3Gb/s ports in favor of additional SATA 6Gb/s connectivity, creating a more SSD-friendly storage foundation. The company also increased USB 3.0 port count by 50%, again bringing the total to six. And with only one generation of processors to support, Intel was able to guarantee the ability to split the on-die PCI Express 3.0 controller's 16 lanes into two x8 links, or a x8 and two x4 slots. Surely that's big news for anyone who read The GeForce GTX 770 Review: Calling In A Hit On Radeon HD 7970? and is considering three 770s for less than the price of two 780s.

That’s not to say the new chipset is perfect. Its ancient DMI 2.0 interface still limits us to the bandwidth of four USB 3.0 ports. Or four-lane PCIe 2.0 devices. Or barely more than three SATA 6Gb/s drives. Intel gets away calling this its top-end mainstream solution only because we've grown to expect fairly little from south bridges.
Well-informed readers might even point out that this is the same DMI interface used in Intel’s last two platforms, and Intel’s own documents confirm that Z87 Express can be used with its older LGA 1155 interface. But you probably aren't going to see many Z87-based boards with last generation's socket because motherboard manufacturers know that intermediate parts confuse the market. We’ve been there and written about that. It appears that power pin assignments for the new architecture, which employs integrated voltage regulation, were the only snag that required Intel to adopt yet another interface.

| LGA 1150 ATX Motherboard Features | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASRock Z87 Extreme6 | Asus Z87 Pro | ECS Z87H3-A2X Extreme | Gigabyte Z87X-UD4H | MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming | |
| PCB Revision | 1.06 | 1.02 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.1 |
| Chipset | Intel Z87 Express | Intel Z87 Express | Intel Z87 Express | Intel Z87 Express | Intel Z87 Express |
| Voltage Regulator | 12 Phases | 12 Phases | 12 Phases | 16 Phases | 12 Phases |
| BIOS | M1.21D (05/17/2013) | 1007 (05/17/2013) | 30514 (5/14/2013) | F5 (05/16/2013) | V1.1 (04/26/2013) |
| 100.0 MHz BCLK | 99.97 (-0.03%) | 99.94 (-0.06%) | 99.77 (-0.23%) | 99.77 (-0.23%) | 100.01 (+0.01%) |
| I/O Panel Connectors | |||||
| P/S 2 | 1 | 1 | None | 1 | 1 |
| USB 3.0 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| USB 2.0 | 2 | None | 2 | None | 2 |
| Network | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| eSATA | 1 (Shared w/SATA) | 1 | 2 | 2 (Shared w/SATA) | None |
| CLR_CMOS Button | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Digital Audio Out | Optical | Optical | Optical | Optical | Optical + Coaxial |
| Digital Audio In | None | None | None | None | None |
| Analog Audio | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Video Out | DVI-I, DisplayPort, HDMI | HDMI, DisplayPort, VGA, DVI-D | DisplayPort, HDMI | VGA, DVI-I, HDMI, DisplayPort | VGA, DVI-I, HDMI |
| Other Devices | HDMI-In (Pass-through) | 802.11n / Bluetooth Combo | 802.11n, Bluetooth | None | None |
| Internal Interfaces | |||||
| PCIe 3.0 x16 | 3 (x16/x0/x0, x8/x8/x0, x8/x4/x4) | 2 (x16/x0, x8/x8) | 3 (x16/x0/x0, x8/x8/x0, x8/x4/x4) | 2 (x16/x0, x8/x8) | 3 (x16/x0/x0, x8/x8/x0, x8/x4/x4) |
| PCIe 2.0 x16 | None | 1 (x4/x1 shared w/3x x1) | None | 1 (x4/x1 shared w/x1) | None |
| PCIe 2.0 x1 | 1 | 4 (3 shared w/x4) | 1 | 3 (2 shared w/x4) | 4 |
| USB 3.0 | 2 (4-ports) | 1 (2-ports) | 1 (2-ports) | 2 (4-ports) | 1 (2-ports) |
| USB 2.0 | 2 (4-ports) | 4 (8-ports) | 1 | 3 (6-ports) | 3 (6-ports) |
| SATA 6Gb/s | 10 (1-shared w/eSATA) | 8 | 7 | 8 (2-shared w/eSATA) | 8 (1-shared w/mSATA) |
| SATA 3Gb/s | None | None | None | None | None |
| 4-Pin Fan | 2 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| 3-Pin Fan | 4 | None | 2 | 1 | None |
| FP-Audio | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| S/PDIF I/O | None | Output Only | Output Only | Input And Output | None |
| Internal Buttons | Power, Reset, CMOS selector | Power, DirectKey, MemOK, BIOS Flashback, TPU, EPU | Power, Rest, Backup ROM, Quick OC, 8OP Switch | Power, Reset, CLR_CMOS, CMOS IC/Mode selectors | Power, Reset, OC Genie, Go2Bios, OC-Switch, BIOS Switch |
| Diagnostics Panel | Numeric | Numeric | Numeric | Numeric | Numeric |
| Other Devices | Mini PCIe x1, Dual PCI, Serial | TPM | mSATA, PCI, Serial | TPM, Serial, PCI | mSATA, TPM, Serial |
| Mass Storage Controllers | |||||
| Chipset SATA | 6x SATA 6Gb/s | 6x SATA 6Gb/s | 6x SATA 6Gb/s | 6x SATA 6Gb/s | 6x SATA 6Gb/s |
| Chipset RAID Modes | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 |
| Add-In SATA | 2x ASM1061 PCIe 4x SATA 6Gb/s 1x eSATA 6Gb/s | ASM1061 PCIe 2x SATA 6Gb/s | 2x ASM1061 PCIe 2x SATA 6Gb/s 2x eSATA 6Gb/s | 88SE9172 PCIe 2x SATA 6Gb/s or 2x eSATA 6Gb/s | ASM1061 PCIe 2x SATA 6Gb/s |
| USB 3.0 | ASM1074 Hub (4-ports) | ASM1074 Hub (4-ports) | ASM1042 PCIe (2-ports) | 2x PD720210 Hub (8-ports) | None |
| Networking | |||||
| Primary LAN | WGI217V PHY | WGI217V PHY | 8111G PCIe | WGI217V PHY | Killer E2205 PCIe |
| Secondary LAN | WGI211AT PCIe | None | 8111G PCIe | None | None |
| Wi-Fi | None | AR9462 PCIe Combo, 802.11a/b/g/n Dual-Band | AR9271 USB 2.0 802.11b/g/n Single-Band | None | None |
| Bluetooth | None | AR9462 BT 4.0 | AR3011 BT 3.0 (USB) | None | None |
| Audio | |||||
| HD Audio Codec | ALC1150 | ALC1150 | ALC1150 | ALC898 | ALC1150 |
| DDL/DTS Connect | DTS Connect | DTS Connect | None | None | None |
| Warranty | Three Years | Three Years | Three Years | Three Years | Three Years |
Rather than split its input voltage across multiple rails externally, Intel's LGA 1150 uses a single input voltage and splits it via an internal voltage regulator. That would apparently allow motherboard manufacturers to simplify their PWM designs, but the firms still use a similar number of power phases to assure voltage stability across quickly-shifting loads. We’ll note this effect in the BIOS descriptions of each product before testing to see how far these boards can push our CPU.
- Haswell: Is Now The Best Time To Build?
- ASRock Z87 Extreme6
- Z87 Extreme6 Firmware
- Z87 Extreme6 Tuning Software
- Z87 Extreme6 Applications
- Asus Z87-Pro
- Z87-Pro Firmware
- Z87-Pro Tuning Software
- Z87-Pro Applications
- ECS Z87H3-A2X Extreme
- Z87H3-A2X Extreme Firmware
- Z87H3-A2X Extreme Tuning Software
- Z87H3-A2X Extreme Applications
- Gigabyte Z87X-UD4H
- Z87X-UD4H Firmware
- Z87X-UD4H Tuning Software
- Z87X-UD4H Applications
- MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming
- Z87-GD65 Gaming Firmware
- Z87-GD65 Gaming Tuning Software
- Z87-GD65 Gaming Applications
- Test Settings And Benchmarks
- Results: 3DMark And PCMark
- Results: SiSoftware Sandra
- Results: Audio And Video Encoding
- Results: Adobe Creative Suite
- Results: Productivity
- Results: File Compression
- Power, Heat, And Efficiency
- Overclocking
- Picking Our First Z87-Based Winner
Could we see some MBs around the $130-$140 mark? They're the interesting ones IMO, and would toast most of these in terms of value.
Could we see some MBs around the $130-$140 mark? They're the interesting ones IMO, and would toast most of these in terms of value.
Yes, the CPU comes from Intel. Almost certainly it was cherry-picked. But this is why we didn't rely on these CPUs for our launch coverage--it makes a lot more sense to go to a source with hundreds of boxed processors on the bench to get a real sense for what Haswell will do in the wild. At least for this round-up, the variable changing is the motherboard. So, we derive as much meaning as possible with a review sample that hits 4.7 GHz on one board and 4.5 GHz on another.
OTOH, the launch coverage said that was at 1.2V, while this is 1.3V, so I guess a few hundred MHz extra is reasonable.
Lot more variation than on IB's review: http://media.bestofmicro.com/X/O/335580/original/image019.png
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i7-4770k-haswell-review,3521-9.html
If you have one of the affected drives and can't be bothered to reconnect it when it goes offline, wait a couple weeks and buy a board from the new batch.
The differences between boards in today's review are overclocking, power consumption, and onboard features. None of those things will change with the new PCH batch, and firmware updates should improve both batches equally.
Can you guys please test 6 SSD in Raid 0 on these mobos ? this is the only Advantage of upgrading to a Haswell over ivy/sandy bridge.
Can you guys please test 6 SSD in Raid 0 on these mobos ? this is the only Advantage of upgrading to a Haswell over ivy/sandy bridge.
Haswell does have another pair of USB3.0 ports... I agree though, it's kind of disappointing.
Edit: ASRock has a 3 year warranty as I see now. Still happy with my choice when looking around the interwebz and seeing how people seem to really like the MSI board.
now only 2 things left to do:
1. wait a few months to wait for the C2-revision to proliforate so that I don't have weird USB3.0 annoyance
2. wait for a review on the high-end: z87 delux, sniper, M-power max, ROG extreme etc. just to see whether it's worth the price difference (at least to me )
UPDATE:
well, was hoping for slightly more out of MSI's gaming board, but it seems it can't fully satisfy the overclocker in me. still a damn nice board though. all in all it looks like once again ASUS and ASrock come out as the top players for this range. looking forward to seeing if a ROG Extreme is what I ultimately need/want
Since Haswell uses the same DMI2.0 bus between the CPU and chipset, total IO performance is capped to ~2GB/s... the equivalent of 4x USB3 ports or 3x SATA3 or one x4 PCIe 2.0 device.
From what I read, the z77 and z87 chipsets are interchangeable - a motherboard manufacturer could pair z77 with Haswell or z87 with SB/IB if they wanted to. The main thing that prevented Intel from reusing LGA1155 is FIVR.
This is simply not true. Desktop Richland has not yet launched. Desktop Richland drops into FM2, just like Trinity. So, when it does launch, we can revisit the FM2 market to see if there's a reason for another round-up. In the meantime here's a round-up of motherboards that'll support Richland: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/socket-fm2-motherboard-review,3337.html. Hope you enjoy!
Chris
Can you guys please test 6 SSD in Raid 0 on these mobos ? this is the only Advantage of upgrading to a Haswell over ivy/sandy bridge.
But most users (even in the enthusiast market) don't do that anyway. There are very few "storage enthusiasts" in the general "performance enthusiast" market. And for most of us, having more than two SATA 6Gb/s ports simply means our storage drives won't use up the SATA 6Gb/s port needed for our system drive.
I'd still like to see our storage guy add this controller to his next big article
It seems to me Asus teased something about a driver that would visually identify the location of sound sources on screen with [one of] their Z87 boards. Can you shed any light on this?
This is simply not true. Desktop Richland has not yet launched. Desktop Richland drops into FM2, just like Trinity. So, when it does launch, we can revisit the FM2 market to see if there's a reason for another round-up. In the meantime here's a round-up of motherboards that'll support Richland: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/socket-fm2-motherboard-review,3337.html. Hope you enjoy!
Chris
I don't know who dropped the ball but the launch of Richland was today. It is available for sale on multiple retail sites including Newegg, Aria, and Microcenter.
I didn't answer this earlier because I'm not a CPU editor. But since you're going on about bias, listen up: This was a motherboard review. Your comment has nothing to do with the topic, unless you can show me a new chipset upon which I can justify a roundup. Otherwise, the motherboard roundup you're requesting was published 8 months ago...http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/socket-fm2-motherboard-review,3337.html
Now, if we can find a group of guys with a high interest in an FM2 update, that would create a market for the new motherboard article. Does anyone else want to chime in with their opinions on an FM2 update?