Intel Z97 Express: Five Enthusiast Motherboards, $120 To $160

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Z97-A Software

Asus Ai Suite still provides familiar voltage, fan, and power controls, but many of its tweaks are limited by the multiplier-locked nature of Intel’s new Core i7-4790 CPU.

Anyone with the patience to optimize a network will find a plethora of settings within Asus’ Turbo LAN application.

The Z97-A also includes a media streaming application.

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Summary
  1. Gaming Raises The Mainstream
  2. ASRock Z97 Extreme4
  3. Z97 Extreme4 Software
  4. Z97 Extreme4 Firmware
  5. Asus Z97-A
  6. Z97-A Software
  7. Z97-A Firmware
  8. Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 5
  9. Z97X-Gaming 5 Software
  10. Z97X-Gaming 5 Firmware
  11. L337 Gaming Z97-Machine
  12. Z97-Machine Software
  13. Z97-Machine Firmware
  14. MSI Z97 Gaming 5
  15. Z97 Gaming 5 Software
  16. Z97 Gaming 5 Firmware
  17. Test Hardware And Benchmark Configurations
  18. Results: 3DMark And PCMark
  19. Results: SiSoftware Sandra
  20. Results: 3D Games
  21. Results: Audio And Video Encoding
  22. Results: Adobe Creative Suite
  23. Results: Productivity
  24. Results: File Compression
  25. Power, Heat, And Efficiency
  26. Overclocking
  27. Picking A Value Leader
About the author
Thomas Soderstrom

Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.

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67 comments
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  • onover
    The table detailing the motherboard features on page 1 ... Is it just me, or is the text a bit small?
  • makishima
    Quote:
    The table detailing the motherboard features on page 1 ... Is it just me, or is the text a bit small?

    I find it small
  • Someone Somewhere
    I'd like to see a review on the significance of the 'killer' NICs... I highly doubt they have any difference besides branding.
  • SteelCity1981
    so intel it seems doesn't have much faith in their own thunderbolt considering there is no thunderbolt ports on this new chipset!
  • H4X3R
    The Asrock one is better. Not everyone will be using XSplit, and as tradesman1 (a moderator on this site) said "I myself won't touch MSI mobos due to the poor QC".
  • Crashman
    409959 said:
    so intel it seems doesn't have much faith in their own thunderbolt considering there is no thunderbolt ports on this new chipset!
    READ PAGE ONE to find out why this chipset has the same features as the previous chipset.
  • H4X3R
    Good review :) I am looking forward to the best price:features motherboard review though (extreme6). I have a quick question crashman: Do asrock still use Capxxon caps (or just crappy caps in general). I would like to know the company of the caps if possible, once again, thank you :)
  • Crashman
    1386521 said:
    Good review :) I am looking forward to the best price:features motherboard review though (extreme6). I have a quick question crashman: Do asrock still use Capxxon caps (or just crappy caps in general). I would like to know the company of the caps if possible, once again, thank you :)
    I wish I knew. It appears that they get their caps custom-wrapped to get the gold color, and that the custom wrapping only has specifications (no branding).
  • tarkhein
    Quote:
    I'd like to see a review on the significance of the 'killer' NICs... I highly doubt they have any difference besides branding.


    Not exactly the most comprehensive review, but here is Asus' take on NICs: http://rog.asus.com/312772014/labels/guides/tried-and-tested-why-intel-ethernet-is-still-better-for-gaming/
  • Someone Somewhere
    Of course, they're testing throughput, and latency is what is generally considered to matter.
  • tarkhein
    Quote:
    Of course, they're testing throughput, and latency is what is generally considered to matter.

    Latency is down the bottom of the page if you didn't realise.
  • Someone Somewhere
    Hmm, I missed that.

    It looks like they're testing at 10Mb/s though, which sort of invalidates all the latency results.
  • ubercake
    Z97-Z in the last paragraph on page 5 (should be Z97-A).
  • airborn824
    I am upgrading my 965BE this week to a 4770k. Looking at the MSI Gaming 3 what does evryone think? i am keeping my SSD HDD and Saphire HD6950 for now. Any suggestions for a Z97 board under $180
  • Amdlova
    dooooooo the itx test :) everyone want small cages now. asrocks have better value better power and better desing!
  • sincreator
    Usually when games are tested on motherboards the results are virtually identical. Strange that the MSI board came up as far ahead as it did in this case. Any ideas on why this happened Crash?
  • H4X3R
    I wish I knew. It appears that they get their caps custom-wrapped to get the gold color, and that the custom wrapping only has specifications (no branding).


    Well, then i guess i'll have to hunt that info down because i do not like investing in mobos with cheap components, no matter how many features it has.
  • Onus
    I had to replace a cap on a cheap ASRock mobo that I knocked off myself with too-aggressive cable management. What appeared to be an exact replacement was a Nichycon, which is a good Japanese brand.
    As to MSI, I wouldn't touch their cheap boards, but their Z77A-GD65 Gaming board really surprised me over how nice it is, and how cool the VRMs stay under load. If my primary were full ATX, I'd be using it there.
  • geok1ng
    After reading about the total mess that is adding SATA Xpress and M2 to a chipset starving for PCIe lanes, my upgraditis will wait for Haswell-E and X99. X97 feels like a notebook chipset.
  • palitusa
    Great Review! MSI should be better than Asrock but then again Asrock price is pretty damn good!
  • junkeymonkey
    how far back should you be to make this upgrade worth wile if not coming off from AMD ?
  • g-unit1111
    Wow! Asrock and MSI beat out Gigabyte and Asus! Never thought I'd see that one coming!
  • logainofhades
    Hopefully we shall see more M.2 SSD's soon, since it seems to be the successor to M-SATA. I like the thought of less cables to deal with. I want a Mini-ITX rig and M.2 or M-SATA is perfect for one, imo.
  • coastie65
    1386521 said:
    The Asrock one is better. Not everyone will be using XSplit, and as tradesman1 (a moderator on this site) said "I myself won't touch MSI mobos due to the poor QC".

    I never recommend MSI. Too many issues with those things.
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