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 * 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 * 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) |
VGA |
Integrated Intel® Graphics Processor - Intel® HD Graphics support |
Multi-GPU Support |
Supports NVIDIA® Quad-GPU SLI™ Technology |
LAN |
Intel® I217-V Gigabit LAN Controller(s) |
Storage |
Intel® Z87 Express chipset: * These functions will work depending on the CPU installed. |
Audio |
Realtek® ALC892 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC |
USB |
Intel® Z87 Express chipset - supports ASUS USB 3.0 Boost UASP Mode.* * 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 ENGINE" Power Design "SAFE and Stable!" Guardian Angel |
Rear Panel I/O Ports |
1 x DVI-D port |
Other Special Features |
- USB 3.0 Boost featuring speedy USB 3.0 transmission |
Internal I/O Connectors |
1 x 19-pin USB 3.0/2.0 connector supports additional 2 USB ports (moss green) |
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 |
Form Factor |
uATX Form Factor: 9.6" x 9.6" (24.4cm x 24.4cm) |