Introduction

On the corner of my desk (in a spot meant for my third monitor), sits my motherboard test bench, and the system build on that test bench changes every week. I have released reviews of two completely new products on the market these past two weeks--a Dragon and a tank with ARMOR plating as part of the design; but that ARMOR doesn't come in the same box the Tank does. The Dragon came from MSI, a company I am relatively new in dealing with as a reviewer, and the tank came from ASUS, a significant long-time supporter of TPU's motherboard reviews (and, as such, me). However, MSI and ASUS aren't the only brands out there, and other companies have completely new products too. So what about those other OEMs?

Since I'm situated in Edmonton, Alberta, I'm obviously in North America but not the U.S., so dealings are mainly with reps in Taiwan because Canada's market is too thinly spread over the country's wide geography for individual offices of these tech companies, and U.S. reps also don't seem to realize Canada even exists. This is an issue I have identified to exist across the entire industry. Sign up for game accounts with numerous game developers and you'll find country listings you can add to your profile with those companies, but Canada is rarely an option. In my dealings with ASRock, ASUS, G.Skill, and others that have given me reps to deal with in Taiwan, I have learned many things, but one thing that stands out to me is how much personal pride these reps take in what they do. If it had not been for Canada's lack of attention from these companies, I'd have not had these great relationships with reps the world over, and there will always be a special place in my heart for the reps in Taiwan. Not that there is anything wrong with my U.S. reps, far from it, as they are very much people who could live next door, but communicating with reps from a different global region definitely raised my cultural awareness.

As I sat at my desk in an attempt to work things out for the launch of this platform, arranging meetings for Computex and working on plans for content in the coming months, my mind once again wandered to the Taiwanese reps and that feeling of genuine confidence and pride I picked up on, and it occurred to me that right there, likely in those same offices as my reps, are the hardware designers and engineers that make all these tech products we spend so much time playing with. In my test bench and on the peripherals of my vision sat Gigabyte's latest new product, the Gigabyte GA-Z87X-OC, a design that clearly had a specific focus in mind, especially when compared to the other products Gigabyte is releasing for Intel's Haswell CPUs. So I contacted my Gigabyte rep and asked her if she could take a moment to walk down the hall and ask the lead designer of the Gigabyte GA-Z87X-OC what this board is all about. Here's the response I got:

“We’ve tried to evaluate the experience of overclocking from as many different angles as possible in order to adapt features and design considerations that not only make it as easy as possible to push your hardware to its absolute max, but to also make sure you are having a great time doing it,” commented Hicookie, Chief Overclocking Evangelist, GIGABYTE Motherboard Business Unit. “As an overclocker myself, these are the motherboards I would rely on to break world records.”

As I read the words, a smile appeared on my face. Overclocking, indeed. There can be no mistake, the Gigabyte GA-Z87X-OC is built for OC through and through, with a bunch of features that focus on taking your parts to the limit and beyond. Such functionality has normally been reserved for high-end boards stuffed to the frills with features that might not truly benefit overclocking but appeal to the same crowd for 24/7 use. We all saw Gigabyte's Z77X-UP7 with the best on-board audio I've heard yet, a killer VRM section, and a PLX PEX8747 to add Quad-SLI support to Intel's Z77 Express platform. However, all those high-end features cost ''high-end'' money, and not all overclockers can afford to spend such money. So what we have here is what I affectionately refer to as the Racer, a stripped-down overclock dyno machine that's light on the wallet but heavy on OC ability, with just the right mix of features to match.

Specifications

Intel Z87 Chipset

New and fresh on the scene for June of 2013 is Intel's latest Socket 1150 platform, with Intel's Z87 chipset taking the top-tier spot in chipset functionality and for performance options on this platform.


Most of the basic functionality offered by Intel's new Z87 chipset is quite similar to what was offered with Intel's Z77 Express, but there are more USB 3.0 ports, and they are faster too. All of the SATA ports provided offer SATA 6 Gb/s functionality. Intel's Z77 Express only had two ports at those speeds. There are also new power-saving features to keep power consumption at a bare minimum, and Z87 also includes all the features of the Intel Z77 Express. The chipset offers PCIe speeds of up to 5 GT/s for fast access to peripheral devices and networking with up to eight PCI Express 2.0 x1 ports that can be configured to act as x2-, x4-, or x8 ports. Intel's functionality diagram for the Z87 chipset is shown above.


The new 4th Gen Intel Core CPUs are 64-bit, multi-core chips built on a 22nm process; pairing with the Intel Z87 chipset enables the performance-tuning features of "K"-SKU CPUs, allowing independent changes to core-, graphics-, "ring"-, and memory frequencies. This allows you to clock up one part of the chip while running any other part of the chip at stock speeds, which is extremely useful for enthusiasts that like to overclock, as each part can be clocked and tested independently for the absolute most out of your chip if the time is taken to test everything fully. Users who prefer the simpler approach of past platforms can use it instead, ensuring everyone's needs are met. For PCIe connectivity, Intel Z87-based platforms allow the processor's PCI Express 3.0 port to be configured into three different configurations: 1x16, 2x8, or 1x8 and 2x4. The third x8 and 2x4 configuration is primarily meant for use with Intel Thunderbolt Technology but can be used to support other devices as well.

Other TPU reviews will cover the CPUs themselves in more detail. We will also separate reviews into each covering either GPU- or CPU performance.

Packaging

This is one of the best box designs I've seen in some time. The front is simple, with the board's name in large letters across the front. The rear points to the special features fantastically by really highlighting what the Gigabyte GA-Z87X-OC is all about. Just reading it got me pretty excited about firing the Z87X-OC up.


The board is hidden under a bleached cardboard flap, wrapped in an anti-static bag. The accessories can be found in divided partitions below the board.

Contents

There are quite a few accessories here to get you started. A full list is below:

• 1 x User guide
• 1 x Software manual
• 1 x I/O shield
• 4 x SATA 6 Gb/s cable
• 1 x SLI bridge
• 1 x Crossfire bridge
• 1 x Gigabyte case badge
• 1 x Driver disc
• 12 x Probe headers
• 1 x OC brace kit

The included case badge is pretty basic, but the blacked-out multi-GPU bridges are a nice treat. There's one each for SLI and Crossfire.


The rear I/O plate has clear labels and comes with a padded back instead those silly tabs that stick out to make contact with the board I/O towers. There's also a bag of probe cables that attach to the read points on the board; one for every port that's on the board. That is a total of twelve simultaneously connected multimeters.