ASUS Z87-A Motherboard
On Board Peripherals
Contents
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). This motherboard doesn’t have any additional SATA ports. The SATA ports are installed on the motherboard edge and rotated 90°, so the installation of video cards won’t block them.
Figure 4: The 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 ASUS Z87-A offers eight USB 2.0 ports, two located on the motherboard rear panel and six available through three headers located on the motherboard, and six USB 3.0 ports, four available on the motherboard rear panel and two available through a header.
The ASUS Z87-A doesn’t support FireWire ports.
This motherboard supports 7.1+2 audio format, i.e., eight channels plus two independent channels for audio streaming. On this motherboard, the audio is generated by the chipset using the Realtek ALC892 codec, which is a decent audio codec for the average user, providing 97 dB signal-to-noise ratio for the analog outputs, 90 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 for the average user, but if you want to work professionally capturing and editing analog audio (e.g., converting LPs to CDs or MP3, converting VHS to DVDs or any other digital format, etc.), you should pick a motherboard with a codec that offers a signal-to-noise ratio of at least 97 dB SNR at its analog input.
The analog audio outputs are independent and the motherboard also comes with an on-board optical SPDIF output. It also has a two-pin header labeled “SPDIF_OUT”, where you can install an adapter to have a coaxial SPDIF output or to connect a cable to older video cards that required a physical connection to have audio on their HDMI outputs.
The portrayed motherboard has one Gigabit Ethernet port, controlled by a Realtek RTL8111GR chip.
In Figure 5, you can see the motherboard rear panel with a shared PS/2 connector for keyboard and mouse, two USB 2.0 ports, Mini DisplayPort output, optical SPDIF output, HDMI output, VGA output, DVI-D output, four USB 3.0 ports, one Gigabit Ethernet port, and the analog audio jacks.
Figure 5: Motherboard rear panel