ASUS Z97-A (Intel LGA 1150)

cadaveca · May 24, 2014

Looking for an affordable, yet highly-featured Z97 board? ASUS has the board for you! The ASUS Z97-A is ASUS' mainstream Z97 product, yet you might wonder about whether ASUS made a mistake with the price once you get one and see what it packs. The $120 Z97-A definitely offers more than you would expect.

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MakeDeluxe · Sep 17, 2014

Either I'm too fast and the images haven't been uploaded yet or something is borken

W1zzard · Sep 17, 2014

MakeDeluxe said:
Either I'm too fast and the images haven't been uploaded yet or something is borken

Fixed

floop · Sep 17, 2014

10fps in metro from MSI Gaming 5?
:O

dj-electric · Sep 17, 2014

This board is nice, i like more what they did with the AR version.

erixx · Sep 17, 2014

Great reading DAve, thanks. And why is this in the Negatives of your conclusion: "Makes you wonder why you would need to spend any more"...?

SmokingCrop · Sep 17, 2014

Too bad this board starts at 130 euros in Netherlands.
The MSI Z97 Gaming 5 starts at 121,50 euros at the moment so the asus one is too pricey here.

edit:
On 17th of September the USA price for the Gaming 5 starts at 140$ and 139$ for the Z97-A. ($133 w/o shipping)
Where did you get that 120$ from?

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-z97a

erixx said:
Great reading DAve, thanks. And why is this in the Negatives of your conclusion: "Makes you wonder why you would need to spend any more"...?

As a laugh x)

BorisDG · Sep 17, 2014

@cadaveca - when we can see review of some of the new LGA 2011-3 boards? Like R5E or X99 Deluxe?

BiggieShady · Sep 17, 2014

Brown PCB?

Hilux SSRG · Sep 17, 2014

Dave you're on the money - Asus should really consider releasing a blacked out version for $10 bucks more, maybe $5.

That brown pcb brought back Pentium III Katmai memories.

cadaveca · Sep 17, 2014

BorisDG said:
@cadaveca - when we can see review of some of the new LGA 2011-3 boards? Like R5E or X99 Deluxe?

Coming soon...

floop said:
10fps in metro from MSI Gaming 5?
:O

Default on MSI is higher-speed turbo profile, as you'd expect from a gaming board. The settings I use for Metro make it more of a CPU bench than anything else.

SmokingCrop said:
Too bad this board starts at 130 euros in Netherlands.
The MSI Z97 Gaming 5 starts at 121,50 euros at the moment so the asus one is too pricey here.
edit:
On 17th of September the USA price for the Gaming 5 starts at 140$ and 139$ for the Z97-A. ($133 w/o shipping)
Where did you get that 120$ from?
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-z97a
As a laugh x)

It was probably on sale when I wrote the review. Prices of PC parts continually fluctuate, that's why I nearly always say "around" when it comes to price. Actually ,seems all Z97 board have taken a recent price hike, maybe retailers gouging a bit in preparation for the upcoming GPU releases...

GreiverBlade · Sep 18, 2014

i almost got that one ... but 179.90chf for a VII Ranger or 159.90 for a Z97-A, the choice is easy ... unless i absolutely need SATA-Express ofc...

but that Z97-A get good review

cadaveca said:
It was probably on sale when I wrote the review. Prices of PC parts continually fluctuate, that's why I nearly always say "around" when it comes to price. Actually ,seems all Z97 board have taken a recent price hike, maybe retailers gouging a bit in preparation for the upcoming GPU releases...

well in Switzerland they did stay stable ... they where higher than $ MSRP since the beginning :roll:

nice review @cadaveca

Jeffredo · Sep 21, 2014

Have this paired with an i5-4690k for about a month now. Great board.

Phreedom · Oct 6, 2014

The AR version looks so much nicer with it's black PCB and silver heatsinks...

Jeffredo · Oct 6, 2014

Always use a windowless case - never understood concern over hardware aesthetics.

tonito · Oct 6, 2014

I got this MB paired with a 4690K and 8GB Kingston beast RAM. Didnt try overclock yet because i am on stock cooling, by now.
Cant wait to get a Ninja3 cooler and try my luck with this 4690k

xorbe · Mar 21, 2015

No comment on why the top 4 boards here are posting huge gains over the others? 230 vs 306 is not normal!

cadaveca · Mar 21, 2015

xorbe said:
No comment on why the top 4 boards here are posting huge gains over the others? 230 vs 306 is not normal!

Perfectly normal when some boards run default Turbo profiles, and others run custom turbo profiles with all multipliers at 39 on my 4770K. This does make some performance compares irrelevant, and as such, my reviews present "out-of-the-box" performance numbers. I could easily adjust each BIOS manually to exact settings, but most users will not so I don't take the time to do so either.

Caring1 · Mar 22, 2015

It should also be noted the ECS Gank was designed as a balls out board with the lot, in an effort to appeal to gamers.
It is their top of the range atm.

RDSWY4 · Oct 23, 2015

Just bought one of these for a home theater build. Pairing with an i5-4690. Don't plan on any overclocking and it will be inside a Cooler Master Silencio case so no one will see just how ugly this build is gonna be. Haha. Thanks for the nice review of this board. I actually have higher expectations and more confidence in this board than I have seen most have across the web. Thanks again

System Name	Grand Aniki
Processor	Ryzen 7 1700X
Motherboard	AsRock B450m Pro4
Cooling	Phanteks PH-TC14PE
Memory	GSkill FlareX 16 GB 3200MHz
Video Card(s)	Asus DUAL RX 480 8 GB
Storage	Seagate Barracuda 1 TB, WD Blue 3 TB, Kingston HyperX Savage 240 GB
Display(s)	Dell U2515H & Zowie XL2411P
Case	Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar DGX
Power Supply	Cooler Master V750 SM
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Cooler master Masterkeys Pro M

Processor	Ryzen 7 5700X
Memory	48 GB
Video Card(s)	RTX 4080
Storage	2x HDD RAID 1, 3x M.2 NVMe
Display(s)	30" 2560x1600 + 19" 1280x1024
Software	Windows 10 64-bit

Processor	Ryzen 2600
Motherboard	MSI B450 Gamin Carbon Pro AC
Cooling	Corsair h100x
Memory	16GB DDR4 Corsair LPX 3000mhz
Video Card(s)	Vega 56 Sapphire Pulse
Storage	SSW WD Blue 500GB
Case	iTek lunar 23r2
Audio Device(s)	Asus Strix Raid Pro
Power Supply	EVGA 750W BQ
Mouse	Razer
Keyboard	Coolermaster Devastator
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64

Processor	Intel Core i7-9700K
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Ultra
Cooling	Corsair Hydro H150i Pro
Memory	2x Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB 3000 Mhz
Video Card(s)	Inno3D iChill GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo 1TB
Display(s)	Asus RoG PG279Q Swift
Case	Fractal Design Define S2 Gunmetal
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar Essence STX II (Sennheiser HD 650)
Power Supply	Corsair HX750i
Mouse	Logitech G903
Keyboard	Corsair K70 (Black)
Software	W10 x64

System Name	Black Knight \| White Queen
Processor	Intel Core i9-10940X \| Intel Core i7-5775C
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Rampage VI Extreme Encore X299G \| ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark S (White)
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black \| Xigmatek Dark Knight SD-1283 Night Hawk (White)
Memory	G.SKILL Trident Z RGB 4x8GB DDR4 3600MHz CL16 \| Corsair Vengeance LP 4x4GB DDR3L 1600MHz CL9 (White)
Video Card(s)	ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4090 OC \| KFA2/Galax GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Hall of Fame Edition
Storage	Samsung 990 Pro 2TB, 980 Pro 1TB, 850 Pro 256GB, 840 Pro 256GB, WD 10TB+ (incl. VelociRaptors)
Display(s)	Dell Alienware AW2721D 240Hz, ASUS ROG Strix XG279Q 170Hz, ASUS PA246Q 60Hz\| Samsung JU7500 48'' TV
Case	Corsair 7000D AIRFLOW (Black) \| NZXT ??? w/ ASUS DRW-24B1ST
Audio Device(s)	ASUS Xonar Essence STX \| Realtek ALC1150
Power Supply	Enermax Revolution 1250W 85+ \| Super Flower Leadex Gold 650W (White)
Mouse	Razer Basilisk Ultimate, Razer Naga Trinity \| Razer Mamba 16000
Keyboard	Razer Blackwidow Chroma V2 (Orange switch) \| Razer Ornata Chroma
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64bit

ASUS Z97-A (Intel LGA 1150)

cadaveca

My name is Dave

MakeDeluxe

W1zzard

Administrator

floop

dj-electric

erixx

SmokingCrop

BorisDG

BiggieShady

Hilux SSRG

cadaveca

My name is Dave

GreiverBlade

Jeffredo

Phreedom

New Member

Attachments

Jeffredo

tonito

xorbe

cadaveca

My name is Dave

Caring1

RDSWY4

New Member

System Name	Windows 10 64-bit Core i7 6700
Processor	Intel Core i7 6700
Motherboard	Asus Z170M-PLUS
Cooling	Corsair AIO
Memory	2 x 8 GB Kingston DDR4 2666
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
Storage	Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB, Seagate Baracuda 1 TB
Display(s)	Dell P2414H
Case	Corsair Carbide Air 540
Audio Device(s)	Realtek HD Audio
Power Supply	Corsair TX v2 650W
Mouse	Steelseries Sensei
Keyboard	CM Storm Quickfire Pro, Cherry MX Reds
Software	MS Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

System Name	Current Rig
Processor	AMD 7800X3D
Motherboard	MSI x670e Tomahawk wifi
Cooling	Artic Freezer II 360
Memory	G.Skill 32gb ddr5 6000mhz
Video Card(s)	AMD 7900XTX 24 GB
Storage	Samsung SSD 980 PRO 2TB
Display(s)	Alienware 3420DW 120 Freesync
Case	LianLi Lancool III white non-rgb
Audio Device(s)	Onboard ALC
Power Supply	Corsair Shift 1000W
Mouse	G502 Hero
Keyboard	Ducky Shine 5
Software	Win 11 64bit
Benchmark Scores	The second best!

System Name	main/SFFHTPCARGH!(tm)/Xiaomi Mi TV Stick/Samsung Galaxy S23/Ally
Processor	Ryzen 7 5800X3D/i7-3770/S905X/Snapdragon 8 Gen 2/Ryzen Z1 Extreme
Motherboard	MSI MAG B550 Tomahawk/HP SFF Q77 Express/uh?/uh?/Asus
Cooling	Enermax ETS-T50 Axe aRGB /basic HP HSF /errr.../oh! liqui..wait, no:sizable vapor chamber/a nice one
Memory	64gb Corsair Vengeance Pro 3600mhz DDR4/8gb DDR3 1600/2gb LPDDR3/8gb LPDDR5x 4200/16gb LPDDR5
Video Card(s)	Hellhound Spectral White RX 7900 XTX 24gb/GT 730/Mali 450MP5/Adreno 740/RDNA3 768 core
Storage	250gb870EVO/500gb860EVO/2tbSandisk/NVMe2tb+1tb/4tbextreme V2/1TB Arion/500gb/8gb/256gb/2tb SN770M
Display(s)	X58222 32" 2880x1620/32"FHDTV/273E3LHSB 27" 1920x1080/6.67"/AMOLED 2X panel FHD+120hz/FHD 120hz
Case	Cougar Panzer Max/Elite 8300 SFF/None/back/back-front Gorilla Glass Victus 2+ UAG Monarch Carbon
Audio Device(s)	Logi Z333/SB Audigy RX/HDMI/HDMI/Dolby Atmos/KZ x HBB PR2/Edifier STAX Spirit S3 & SamsungxAKG beans
Power Supply	Chieftec Proton BDF-1000C /HP 240w/12v 1.5A/4Smart Voltplug PD 30W/Asus USB-C 65W
Mouse	Speedlink Sovos Vertical-Asus ROG Spatha-Logi Ergo M575/Xiaomi XMRM-006/touch/touch
Keyboard	Endorfy Thock 75% <3/none/touch/virtual
VR HMD	Medion Erazer
Software	Win10 64/Win8.1 64/Android TV 8.1/Android 13/Win11 64
Benchmark Scores	bench...mark? i do leave mark on bench sometime, to remember which one is the most comfortable. :o

System Name	Modest Box
Processor	i5-4690K @ 4.7 Ghz
Motherboard	ASUS Z97-C
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15
Memory	G.Skill Ares DDR3-2400 16GB
Video Card(s)	Colorful GTX 950
Storage	OCZ Vertex 460A 480GB
Display(s)	HP w2558hc
Case	Cooler Master Stacker 830
Audio Device(s)	Onboard Realtek
Power Supply	Gigabyte 750W Gold
Mouse	Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer
Software	Windows 10 64 Bit

System Name	Vrrrum machine
Processor	Intel Core i5 10600k
Motherboard	MSI Z490-PRO
Cooling	Scythe Mugen MAX
Memory	HyperX Beast 16GB DDR3 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit
Video Card(s)	MSI GeForce GTX 1060 ARMOR 6G, 6GB
Storage	Samsung 840PRO 128
Display(s)	Acer XG270hu
Case	Antec P280
Power Supply	Seasonic G450
Mouse	Steelseries Kinzu v2
Keyboard	Asus Strix Tactical PRO
Software	Windows 10 Professional x64

System Name	msdos
Processor	8086
Motherboard	mainboard
Cooling	passive
Memory	640KB + 384KB extended
Video Card(s)	EGA
Storage	5.25"
Display(s)	80x25
Case	plastic
Audio Device(s)	modchip
Power Supply	45 watts
Mouse	serial
Keyboard	yes
Software	disk commander
Benchmark Scores	still running

System Name	Black Box
Processor	Intel Xeon E3-1260L v5
Motherboard	MSI E3 KRAIT Gaming v5
Cooling	Tt tower + 120mm Tt fan
Memory	G.Skill 16GB 3600 C18
Video Card(s)	Asus GTX 970 Mini
Storage	Kingston A2000 512Gb NVME
Display(s)	AOC 24" Freesync 1m.s. 75Hz
Case	Corsair 450D High Air Flow.
Audio Device(s)	No need.
Power Supply	FSP Aurum 650W
Mouse	Yes
Keyboard	Of course
Software	W10 Pro 64 bit