Contents

The sheer number of goodies that come with the ASUS Z97 DELUXE (NFC & WLC) is truly staggering. Up top, I found three add-on devices, two mysterious black boxes that make up the NFC and WLC parts, and an add-in Thunderbolt card. Under those are a ton of wires and such, all packed away nicely before traveling a few thousand miles and getting to my door.


There are a couple wires for the Thunderbolt card and several for the NFC and WLC parts, your standard Wi-Fi antenna, SLI bridge, front panel cable plugs, and, finally, no less than six SATA 6 Gb/s cables. I also found three different manuals, three different support discs, and one quick-guide.


The rear I/O cover is of ASUS's standard padded variety, complete with good labeling and not as many sharp metal bits to cut your knuckles on when you place the board into your case. I do wish it was black and not silver, though.


The WLC and NFC boxes include a little yellow NFC key fob you can use to secure your PC for when you are not around.


The receiver features a rounded profile with dual USB 3.0 ports on one side and a single USB 3.0 port in the rear. The latter connects to the ASUS Z97 DELUXE.


I added a picture of the box's bottom for you to see the label. The WLC box features the same profile, but uses a mini-USB plug in the rear. It features QI wireless charging technology, supported by a growing list of devices you can find HERE


The WLC device also has a label on the back. It lists some information, like the version number so you know which devices it works with. Cables for the WLC box and receiver are obviously included in the box.


The bundle ThunderboltEX II/DUAL card almost does not match the rest of the Z97-DELUXE, with its shiny silver EMI cover over the top and a shiny black high-gloss PCB.


The top of the card has a header that connects to the Z97-DELUXE or other ASUS-brand motherboards that have the proper connector on the PCB. On the business end are dual Thunderbolt ports and dual DisplayPort inputs, so you can add video to the Thunderbolt chain through a discrete VGA, or two.


Removing four screws allowed the cover to come off, which exposed the inner workings of the device consisting of a single Thunderbolt controller and the header and activity LED.