Z87-Plus Software
Rather than copy whole sections from our Z87-Pro review or re-create those previous descriptions using identical screen shots, I spent a couple hours with the Z87-Plus software suite looking for differences and verifying that its bundled software works properly.
Application menus remain, but some are reduced to reflect the Z87-Plus’ lower-cost feature set. For example, references to the Z87-Pro’s Wi-Fi controller are missing from the Z87-Plus, which doesn't include wireless networking.
The TPU menu remains fully capable of altering CPU and DRAM clocks and voltage levels. I took the above screen shot after dropping the multiplier from 46x to 45x, increasing the core voltage from 1.25 to 1.277 V, and increasing the base clock to 101 MHz.
Also present (but not detailed in the previous software overview), Asus Boot Setting offers a DirectBIOS toggle for rebooting to UEFI mode, in addition to Fast Boot settings. Similar in function to the DirectKey on-board button, the software applet is particularly handy in a closed-up build running Windows 8.
Asus also gets its own skin for Realtek HD Audio Manager.
Other programs include Asus WebStorage Agent, Asus Disk Unlocker for large-capacity drives on older operating systems, a customized version of CPU-Z that doesn’t read core voltage correctly, Daemon Tools virtual optical drive, Intel’s network and RAID utilities, and various other freeware/shareware/trial-ware.