As Intel moves more and more core components to their CPU we are seeing an interesting shift in motherboard design. The manufacturers are all realizing that the performance difference between them are narrowing. The days of seeing a massive difference in benchmark scores are almost gone. However, instead of just pushing out a bunch of cookie cutter boards some motherboard makers are looking for new ways to differentiate their boards. Asus is one of these makers and we will be taking a look at a board that has more than a few departures from the normal motherboard design philosophy. This is the Asus Z97-A. So without too much more delay, let’s dive in and see what Asus has given us.
Features -In the current market motherboard (and indeed almost all component) performance is very close. The days of a large performance advantage between boards using the same chipset are long gone. That is unless someone makes a HUGE mistake (like runs traces completely wrong). Now, the thing that differentiates different products is the features. These are things like power management, extra slots, better audio CODECs etc. It is these items that R&D teams work so hard to drop into what are really identical pieces of hardware at their most basic level.
Excellent – Intel LanM.2 SATASATA ExpressOne Click OptimizationTubo AppSegmented AudioCPU Socket ProtectionDigi + VRM
This list is actually quite impressive for where the Z97-A is positioned. Normally this list of feature is something you would see on a much higher-end board. The audio separation and quality and design is an especially welcome change. Normally at this level you are looking at audio that is “good enough”. Asus has taken the extra step to give you a better audio experience along with features to make allow any user to get the most out of this board.
In the middle (sort of good) -SLITPU (Turbo Processing Unit)EPU (Energy Processing Unit)Fan Xpert 3EZ-XMP
I have listed these as sort of good features for a couple of reasons. They are all good features, but they are lost on many more advanced users and EPU is not used when overclocking so if you are looking to push your CPU on this board then it is a non-item. Still they are features that will improve the performance you get out of the Z97-A. We listed the EZ-XMP here as it will only give you the primary XMP profile. This could end up setting you at a much lower speed than anticipated.
Floor Mats -USB (3.0 and 2.0)
These items had better be on the board you buy these days or it should not even be sold.
5-Way Optimization -5-Way optimization is the name given to a combination of feature that include the TPU, EPU, Digi+ VRM, Fan Xpert 3 and Tubo App. TPU (Turbo Processing Unit) allows you to automatically find the sweet spot on your CPU for overclocking. Asus claims that their auto tuning can get you to 95% of the CPUs OC potential (something we will certainly be checking). Next up is the EPU (Energy Processing Unit), this handy little option allows you to set up power profiles to get the best performance/ power efficiency. Digi+ VRM is what Asus calls their digital power regulation. It is a very mature system now and does a solid job of feeding your CPUs power needs whether it is stock or overclocked. Fan Xpert3 is a system and can automatically detect and optimize your system fans or apply a custom profile to them. The last on the list is Turbo App. Turbo App is really nothing more than an API that lets you apply certain predefined overclocking profiles to individual applications (like games) so that as soon as you launch the application you get the benefit of the OC, but it is not running all the time. This can improve component life.
This is not a bad feature set all on their own, but we still have to make sure they work as advertised.
