Intel DZ87KLT-75K 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). This motherboard has two additional SATA-600 ports, controlled by an ASMedia ASM1061 chip. All eight ports are installed on the motherboard edge and rotated 90°, so the installation of video cards won’t block them.

The Mini PCI Express slot is connected to one of the SATA-600 ports controlled by the chipset, but the technical documentation provided on Intel’s website does not say which.

Figure 6: The two SATA-600 ports controlled by the ASMedia chip (gray) and 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 Intel DZ87KLT-75K offers eight USB 2.0 ports, two located on the motherboard’s rear panel and six available through three headers located on the motherboard; and eight USB 3.0 ports, two available through one header and connected directly to the chipset, and six located on the motherboard’s rear panel and connected to two USB 3.0 ports of the chipset by the way of two Genesys Logic GL3520 hub chips.

The Intel DZ87KLT-75K comes with two FireWire ports, one on the motherboard’s rear panel and available through a header. Both are controlled by a Texas Instruments TSB43AB22A chip.

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 ALC898 codec, which is an outstanding solution, providing an impressive 110 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. This means you are able to capture and edit analog audio (e.g., converting LPs to CDs or MP3, converting VHS to DVDs or any other digital format, etc.) with this motherboard without adding any background noise.

The analog audio outputs are independent if you use a 5.1 analog speaker set. If you use an analog 7.1 speaker set, you must use either the “line in” (blue) or the “mic in” (pink) jacks for the two additional speakers.

The motherboard comes with an on-board optical SPDIF output. It also has a three-pin header labeled “SPDIFO,” 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.

One of the highlights of this motherboard is the presence of a Thunderbolt port, which is controlled by an Intel DSL4410 chip. This port also works as a Mini DisplayPort connector.

The portrayed motherboard has two Gigabit Ethernet ports, one controlled by an Intel i210 chip (“6K467101JW”) and the other controlled by an Intel I217-V chip.

In Figure 7, you can see the motherboard’s rear panel with shared PS/2 connector for keyboard and mouse, two USB 2.0 ports, external “clear CMOS” button, FireWire port, six USB 3.0 ports, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, HDMI output, optical SPDIF output, the analog audio jacks, and the Thunderbolt port.

Figure 7: Motherboard’s rear panel