ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer Motherboard

On Board Peripherals

The Intel Z87 chipset is a single-chip solution, which is also known as a PCH (Platform Controller Hub). This chip has six SATA-600 ports, supporting RAID (0, 1, 10, and 5). The ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer offers those six ports, as shown in Figure 4. There are no eSATA ports.

Figure 4: Six SATA-600 ports controlled by the chipset

The Intel Z87 chipset supports 14 USB 2.0 ports and six USB 3.0 ports. The ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer offers eight USB 2.0 ports, four located on the motherboard’s rear panel and four available through two headers located at the motherboard; and six USB 3.0 ports, four available on the motherboard’s rear panel and two available through a header.

The ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer does not support FireWire ports.

This motherboard supports 7.1 audio format, i.e., eight channels. On this motherboard, the audio is generated by the chipset using the Realtek ALC1150 codec, which is an excellent audio codec, providing 115 dB signal-to-noise ratio for the analog outputs, 104 dB signal-to-noise ratio for the analog inputs, and up to 192 kHz sampling rate for both inputs and outputs, with 24-bit resolution. These specifications are good even for the user who wants to work professionally by capturing and editing analog audio (e.g., converting LPs to CDs or MP3, converting VHS to DVDs or any other digital format, etc.)

The codec chip is shielded against electromagnetic interference, and the audio interface is equipped with a TI NE5532 amplifier for the frontal headphone output. The analog audio outputs are independent only if you use a 5.1 analog speaker set. If you install a 7.1 analog speaker set, you will need to use the “line in” jack.

Figure 5: Shielded audio codec

The portrayed motherboard has one Gigabit Ethernet port controlled by an Atheros Killer E2200 chip, a high-performance Gigabit Ethernet controller. Like the codec, this chip is also shielded, as you can see in Figure 6.

Figure 6: Killer E2200 chip

A very interesting feature is an HDMI input. Through a programmable hotkey, you can switch from the CPU video output to an external HDMI source, like a laptop, cable TV receiver, or console, using only one monitor for two devices with no need to change cables.

In Figure 7, you can see the motherboard’s rear panel with a PS/2 keyboard/mouse connector, VGA output, DVI-D output, HDMI output, HDMI input, four USB 2.0 ports, four USB 3.0 ports, one Gigabit Ethernet port, optical SPDIF output, and analog audio connectors.

Figure 7: Motherboard rear panel