Asus Z87 Gryphon and Armor Kit

Details: Category: Motherboards; Published: Friday, 07 June 2013 22:41

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title After what feels like months of prepping, testing, photography, videos, and writing are finally reaching the end of our Haswell launch motherboard coverage and I think we may have saved the best for last. We haven’t covered one of Asus’s TUF Series of motherboards official although we do have one in our cooling test bench and we have seen countless boards in our reader’s rigs. So to finish things off we are going to take a look at Asus's new Micro ATX TUF Series Z87 Gryphon. Its smaller form factor is a first for the TUF line and I am very excited to see what the fuss has been about.

Product Name: Asus Z87 Gryphon and Armor Kit

Review Sample Provided by: Asus

Written by: Wes

Pictures by: Wes

Specifications
CPU	LGA1150 socket for 4th Generation Intel® i7 / Intel® Core™ i5 / Intel® Core™ i3, Pentium®, Celeron® Processors Supports 22nm CPU Supports Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0* * The Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 support depends on the CPU types.
Chipset	Intel® Z87 Express Chipset
Memory	4 x DIMM, max. 32GB, DDR3 1866 / 1600 / 1333 / 1066 MHz Non-ECC, un-buffered memory Dual Channel Memory Architecture Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) * Hyper DIMM support is subject to the physical characteristics of individual CPUs.
Expansion Slots	2 x PCI Express 3.0/2.0 x16 slots (single at x16, dual at x8/x8 mode) 1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot (max. at x4 mode, compatible with PCIe x1 or x4 devices) 1 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 slot
VGA	Integrated Intel® Graphics Processor - Intel® HD Graphics support Multi-VGA output support : DVI/HDMI port Supports HDMI with max. resolution 4096 x 2160 @ 24 Hz / 2560 x 1600 @ 60 Hz Supports DVI with max. resolution of 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz Supports Intel® InTru™ 3D, Intel® Quick Sync Video, Intel® Clear Video HD Technology and Intel® Insider™ Supports up to two displays simultaneously Maximum shared memory 1024MB
Multi-GPU Support	Supports NVIDIA® Quad-GPU SLI™ Technology Supports AMD® Quad-GPU CrossFireX™ Technology
LAN	Intel® I217-V Gigabit LAN Controller(s)
Storage	Intel® Z87 Express chipset: - 6 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s)(brown) with RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 support - Supports Intel® Smart Response Technology, Intel® Rapid Start Technology, and Intel® Samrt Connect Technology* * These functions will work depending on the CPU installed. ** These SATA ports are for data hard drives only. ATAPI devices are not supported.
Audio	Realtek® ALC892 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC - Absolute pitch 192khz/24bit true BS lossless sound - BD audio layer content protection - Supports jack sense, multi-streaming and font panel jack-retasking - Optical S/PDIF out ports at rear I/O
USB	Intel® Z87 Express chipset - supports ASUS USB 3.0 Boost UASP Mode.* 6 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports (2 ports at mid-board, 4 ports at rear panel) 8 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (4 ports at mid-board, 4 ports at rear panel) * The USB 3.0 ports support Windows® 7 or later version. UASP standard only supports Windows® 8.
Exclusive TUF Features	"Ultimate COOL!" Thermal Solution - TUF Thermal Radar 2 "TUF ENGINE" Power Design - 8+2 Digital Phase Power Design - TUF Components (Choke, Ti-Cap & MOSFET; certified by military-standard) - ASUS DIGI+ Power Control Utility "SAFE and Stable!" Guardian Angel - ESD Guards - MemOK! - Anti-surge
Rear Panel I/O Ports	1 x DVI-D port 1 x HDMI port 1 x Optical S/PDIF out port 1 x LAN (RJ45) port 4 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports (blue, 1 supports USB BIOS Flashbck) 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports 8 Channel Audio I/O ports
Other Special Features	- USB 3.0 Boost featuring speedy USB 3.0 transmission - USB BIOS Flashback wiht USB BIOS Flashback Wizard for EZ BIOS download scheduling - USB Charger+ featuring quick-charging function for all smart devices - ASUS UEFI BIOS EZ Mode featuring friendly graphics user interface - AI Suite 3 - ASUS Q-Connector - ASUS Q-Shield - ASUS Q-LED (CPU, DRAM, VGA, Boot Device LED) - ASUS Q-Slot - ASUS Q-DIMM - ASUS O.C. Profile - ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3 - EZ Update - Disk Unlocker - ASUS EZ Flash 2 - ASUS MyLogo 2 - Multi-language BIOS
Internal I/O Connectors	1 x 19-pin USB 3.0/2.0 connector supports additional 2 USB ports (moss green) 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 connectors support additional 4 USB 2.0/1.1 ports 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (brown) 1 x 4-pin CPU Fan connector (black) 1 x 4-pin CPU Optional Fan connector (black) 4 x 4-pin Chassis Fan connectors (black) 1 x 3-pin Assistance Fan connector (white) 1 x Front panel audio coneector (AAFP) 1 x S/PDIF out header 1 x Thunderbolt header 1 x 24-pin EATX Power connector 1 x 8-pin EATX 12V Power connector 1 x System Panel (Q-Connector) 1 x USB BIOS Flashback button 1 x MemOK! button 1 x Clear CMOS jumper 1 x Directkey button 1 x DRCT (Directkey) header 3 x Thermal Ssensor connectors 1 x TPM header
BIOS Features	64 Mb UEFI AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.7, Multi-language BIOS, ASUS EZ Flash 2, ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3, My Favorites, Quick Note, Last Modified log, F12 PrintScreen, F3 Shortcut functions, and ASUS DRAM SPD (Serial Presence Detect) memory information
Manageability	WfM 2.0, DMI 2.0, WOL by PME, PXE
Support DVD Contents	Drivers Anti-virus software (OEM version) Network iControl ASUS Utilities
Form Factor	uATX Form Factor: 9.6" x 9.6" (24.4cm x 24.4cm)

Posts in discussion: Asus Z87 Gryphon and Armor Kit

garfi3ld replied the topic: #31371 08 Jun 2013 03:18

Before the weekend we have one last Z87 review for you guys. Today I take a look at Asus's new Micro ATX motherboard in their TUF Series of motherboards. Have a great weekend!

Arxon replied the topic: #31372 08 Jun 2013 03:51

Is the armor metal or plastic. Didn't see it in the review.

Hasbeen replied the topic: #31374 08 Jun 2013 04:53

Arxon wrote: Is the armor metal or plastic. Didn't see it in the review.

I think the back plate is metal and the front armor is some sorta plastic, but that is based on a newegg review video on youtube I watched earlier this week. It would certainly be nice if that front armor was more than just a fancy plastic shell desiged to channel air to specific locals around the board.

garfi3ld replied the topic: #31375 08 Jun 2013 05:17

yeah as he said the backplate is metal and the cover is plastic. I have a feeling the board would be to heavy if they were both metal. Not to mention the top shell would be REALLY hard to make out of metal and it would look very basic.

L0rdG1gabyt3 replied the topic: #31376 08 Jun 2013 05:55

The I/O port covers and RAM slot fillers are a wonderful idea to help keep dist and other stuff out. I had to purchase a few dust covers for my computer.

james.yjh replied the topic: #31402 10 Jun 2013 17:10

Can't seem to find any mention of the TPU or "TurboV Processing Unit" on the ASUS product pages. Also, shouldn't the TPU be an option in the AI suite 3?

www.asus.com/sg/Motherboards/SABERTOOTH_Z87/
www.asus.com/sg/Motherboards/GRYPHON_Z87/

Used the comparison function on the site and still couldn't find anything TPU. What did I miss?

I'm a newbie to overclocking so this is a major deal breaker if it's as you said, there being no TPU for the Gryphon..

garfi3ld replied the topic: #31404 10 Jun 2013 21:33

There isn't a TPU or any automatic overclocking options on the Gryphon.