ASUS Z87-DELUXE Motherboard

Conclusions

The ASUS Z87-DELUXE is a motherboard targeted to the sophisticated user who wants to build a high-end computer using one of the new “Haswell” CPUs (fourth-generation Core i3, Core i5, or Core i7 processors) and wants all the bells and whistles possible, including support for the forthcoming IEEE802.11ac networking standard.

The highlights of this motherboard include the support for the coming IEEE802.11ac standard, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, Bluetooth 4.0, eight USB 3.0 ports, 10 SATA-600 ports, two PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots, a high-end voltage regulator circuit with 16 phases, the best audio codec available today (112 dB signal-to-noise ratio), and more.

Another important feature of this motherboard is the presence of a PCI Express switch chip, which makes it possible for the motherboard to have so many additional features and the ability to switch bandwidth automatically to the device that is requiring it.

Differently from all other socket LGA1150 motherboards we’ve seen so far, the third PCI Express x16 slot can be used on a CrossFireX configuration.

The only drawback we see with this motherboard is the way the USB 3.0 ports are configured. The Z87 chipset supports six USB 3.0 ports, but the manufacturer wanted to add eight. While four of them are connected independently to the chipset, the other four are connected to a single USB 3.0 port of the chipset, by way of a hub chip. If you use two or more ports that are actually connected to the same USB 3.0 port on the chipset at the same time, the performance will drop. Unfortunately the manufacturer doesn’t label which ports are shared.