When trying to think of a name for our look at Asus’s new Z87 mainstream motherboard options I went through countless bad jokes and Bond Goldmember comments. I came to the conclusion that much like Asus I would let the boards speak for themselves. Today we are going to take a look at the Asus Z87 Pro and Z87 Plus, both what they call Channel boards. In other words this is Asus’s standard lineup. In the past I have been extremely impressed with what Asus had to offer in their standard lineup; hopefully they can keep that up. Let’s see what they have to offer.
Product Names: Asus Z87 Pro and Asus Z87 Plus
Review Sample Provided by: Asus
Written By: Wes
Pictures by: Wes
Specifications
Model |
Z87-PRO |
Z87-PLUS |
CPU Socket |
LGA1150 socket for 4th Gen. Intel® Core™ i7/i5/i3, Pentium®/Celeron® Processors |
LGA1150 socket for 4th Gen. Intel® Core™ i7/i5/i3, Pentium®/Celeron® Processors |
Chipset |
Intel® Z87 Express Chipset |
Intel® Z87 Express Chipset |
Memory |
Up to DDR3 2933 (OC) |
Up to DDR3 2933 (OC) |
VGA Output |
DP, HDMI, DVI, RGB |
mDP, HDMI, DVI, RGB |
DIP version |
Dual Intelligent Processors 4 with 4-Way Optimization |
Dual Intelligent Processors 4 with 4-Way Optimization |
CPU Power |
DIGI+ 12-phase |
DIGI+ 8-phase |
DRAM Power |
DIGI+ 2-phase |
DIGI+ 2-phase |
PCIex16 Slots |
3 |
3 |
PCIex1 Slots |
4 |
2 |
Multi-GPU |
CrossFireX / SLI |
CrossFireX / SLI |
Gbit LAN |
1 (Intel) |
1 (Intel) |
Wireless Connection |
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n |
None |
Audio |
Realtek 1150 8-ch HD (High quality 112dB SNR stereo playback output ), DTS |
Realtek 892 8-ch HD, DTS |
Storage |
8*SATA 6Gb/s |
8*SATA 6Gb/s |
USB |
8*USB 3.0 (6 ports at back panel, 2 ports at mid-board) |
8*USB 3.0 (6 ports at back panel, 2 ports at mid-board) |