ASUS Z97-A (Intel LGA 1150)

[cadaveca]

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]

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

 

[W1zzard]

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

Fixed

 

[floop]

10fps in metro from MSI Gaming 5?
:O

 

[dj-electric]

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

 

[erixx]

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]

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

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]

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

 

[BiggieShady]

Brown PCB?

 

[Hilux SSRG]

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]

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

Coming soon...

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.

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]

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

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

nice review @cadaveca

 

[Jeffredo]

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

 

[Phreedom]

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

 

[Jeffredo]

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

 

[tonito]

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]

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

 

[cadaveca]

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]

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]

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