ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional Motherboard
Conclusions
Contents
The ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional is clearly targeted to the savvy gamer user who is building a top mid-range computer (or entry high-end, depending on your point of view) using one of the new “Haswell” CPUs (fourth-generation Core i3, Core i5, or Core i7 processors) and wants above-average features.
This motherboard has very strong features. This includes a terrific audio section based on the Sound Core3D controller, which provides CrystalVoice technology for improving the audio quality during audio chats and several other technologies for improving audio, with signal-to-noise ratios above 100 dB (i.e., professional-grade). It also has a high-end operational amplifier for analog headphones. The audio section is physically separated from the rest of the motherboard, so its theoretical signal-to-noise ratio can be achieved.
The third PCI Express x16 slot of the Fatal1ty Z87 Professional is controlled by the CPU and therefore follows the 3.0 specification and can be used to build CrossFireX arrays (the other two slots are also compatible with SLI). Other highlights include the presence of a Mini PCI Express slot (not compatible with mSATA devices); a 12-phase voltage regulator circuit (although it has only six “real” phases); the “Fatal1ty mouse port,” which allows you to manually configure its polling rate; an HDMI input; 10 SATA ports; eight USB 3.0 ports; one eSATA-600 port (but shared with one of the SATA-600 ports); and two BIOS chips.
There are two drawbacks with this motherboard. The most serious one is the way the external USB 3.0 ports are configured: they are connected to a single USB 3.0 port of the chipset, by way of a hub chip. If you use two or more of these ports at the same time, the performance will drop.
The second drawback we found on this motherboard is minor: there is no sticker identifying which USB 2.0 port is the “Fatal1ty mouse port,” and information about this important port is virtually non-existent on the product manual or product page on the manufacturer’s website.