We have talked much about the IvyBridge CPUs of Intel and now they had launched their new generation of CPU to make full domination in the market. The SandyBridge and the IvyBridge CPUs made great money for Intel and also users are much pleased with the performance of the last two generations. This new platform also open the door for the Z87 based motherboard in the market as these 4rh Gen CPUs are based on new socket and chipset so every brand is launching its z78 based motherboard and one most important thing to mention here is that these Z87 systems will support more USB 3.0 ports than previous Z77 based systems. Today we are gonna review a Z87 based motherboard from one of the top brand in the motherboard market and especially gamers knows it, ASUS, and the motherboard on the review table is Asus Z87 Pro.
The Asus Z87 Pro has a royal looks of yellow, black and golden colors. The motherboard looks really professional in first sight. The Asus Z87 Pro supports 1150 socket so Intel 4th Gen Roswell CPU will run on this motherboard. The head sink/spreaders have golden color which give it perfect look. The black color is dominating. The Asus Z87 Pro standard 4 RAM slots, 3x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots and 3x PCIe x4 slots as well. There are 10x SATA and 6x USB 3.0 ports are available. The PCIe slots have a problem, using the lower slot in x4 mode requires that all the upper three PCIe X1 slots to be disable which is not a good thing to me and especially the gamers are not gonna like it. The Asus Z87 Pro has the latest UEFI BIOS which is usual these days and Asus also provide the overclocking/ optimization software with this motherboard as well. The Asus also provide BIOS Flash button accesses Asus’ USB BIOS Flashback ASIC to flash the firmware from a USB flash drive, even if other components (GPU, Processor etc.) are missing. So not talk too much and check out the benchmarks.
The Asus Z87 Pro is really a nice motherboard which give a great value for money with nice looks and 6x USB 3.0 ports at the rear which is not usual. There are more to add with header and not to forget 10x SATA ports as well. The Asus Z87 Pro is just not have good looks but also it has great features and performance which is shown in benchmarks. The problem is with PCIe slot so 3 ways SLI/CrossFire user are not gonna pleased this board’s performance but single or 2 way SLI/CrossFire is not a problem for Asus Z87 Pro. Overall Asus Z87 Pro is a nice motherboard.
- Great looks.
- Solid build quality.
- Performance.
- Features and connectivity.
- Overclocking.
- Reasonable Price.
- 3 Way SLI/CrossFire performance is inconsistent.
- Using lower PCIe x4 will disable upper three PCIe slots.
