Intel Z87 Motherboard Review with Haswell: Gigabyte, MSI, ASRock and ASUS
by Ian Cutress on June 27, 2013 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Intel
- MSI
- Gigabyte
- ASRock
- Asus
- Haswell
- Z87
- Shark Bay
- Lynx Point
MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming Conclusion
On the back of the Z77A-GD65 Gaming that we reviewed late into the Z77 lifespan, the Z87 take at the GD65 level is clearly an evolution on the concept. The features that MSI could not introduce due to time constraints / platform limitations are all put into place for Haswell CPUs.
A motherboard manufacturer at every price point has a linear scale with which to play – on the one hand they can offer the base chipset features and then increase the number of ports in each area, or they can add in a ‘knock-out’ feature (or two) that they can advertise over other motherboards in a similar price segment. The Z87-GD65 Gaming is pretty much in the latter segment, with the dragon styling and Qualcomm Atheros Killer network port (rather than a Realtek or an Intel).
Aside from the Killer NIC, we get Audio Boost which is MSI’s interpretation of the Realtek ALC1150 specifications, using headphone amplifiers for high impedance headsets and filter caps to improve signals. OC Genie gets an upgrade, now featuring two levels of overclock, and both the BIOS and software get an overhaul. The BIOS offers explanations for the options it now shows as well as Hardware Monitor and BIOS Explorer to improve fan controls and hardware detection respectively.
On the performance side of the spectrum, the MSI enables MultiCore Turbo as per standard and actually seems rather efficient from our testing. Unfortunately the DPC is a little higher than I would have liked by default (it seems Haswell DPC > Ivy Bridge DPC on the whole so far), and our dynamic range audio tests are a few dBA away from some of the other ALC1150 implementations. In the early BIOSes we have had trouble adjusting VRIN voltage for overclocks (this may be updated in a public BIOS), and users might be confused that the mouse and keyboard do not wake the machine up from sleep by default – you have to press the power button.
Overclock wise all seemed well from the MSI, with both OC Genie settings giving mid-range overclocks at reasonable temperatures, though the system still lacks an extreme overclock setting. Manually we were able to push our CPU to 4.6 GHz easily enough, and 4.7 GHz at a push as we hit 92C at load.
The sticking point will be whether users will want a motherboard with more of everything (SATA, USB 3.0), or that one ‘Killer’ feature. For a gamer, features like OC Genie and a Killer NIC on the MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming will be worth strong consideration.
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Timur Born - Saturday, July 27, 2013 - link
Balanced inputs would only help when the outputs to be tested offered balanced outputs, but you won't find these on mainboard solutions. Still a professional solution might be preferable, because don't just concentrate on listing theoretical spec numbers of the converter chips, but also make sure to get the most out of it in practical implementation.The English ASUS site lists little (and partly wrong) information about the Xonar Essence STX for example, there is much better information on the German site, though. Still they list frequency response at -3 (three!) dB points, while usually you would choose -0.5 dB or -1 dB points to give a real picture.
repoman27 - Thursday, June 27, 2013 - link
While the Intel block diagram for the DZ87KLT-75K does appear to show 20 lanes of PCIe 3.0 coming from the CPU, the 8 PCIe 2.0 lanes from the PCH are used for the GbE controllers (2 x1), Thunderbolt controller (1 x4), the PCIe mini card / mSATA slot (1 x1), and a "PCIe Hub" (1 x1). We can presume this is really a conventional PCIe switch, and the Marvell 88SE9172, the 3 x1 slots, and the PCIe to PCI bridge are all connected to that.What's the deal with FDI now that there are display connections coming directly from the CPU? The block diagrams still show FDI and the Thunderbolt controller being fed DisplayPort from the PCH. Are the CPU display outputs DP 1.2 and the PCH connections still DP 1.1a?
repoman27 - Thursday, June 27, 2013 - link
Sorry, I should have kept reading before commenting about the display interfaces.repoman27 - Thursday, June 27, 2013 - link
The article does however say, "leaving the VGA behind", which should read, "leaving LVDS and SDVO (like anybody cares) behind." The PCH does still support VGA via the FDI x2 link as long as those lanes aren't being co-opted by Port D for eDP.Also, I meant to point out in my original comment that the additional USB 3.0 ports on the Intel board appear to be provided by a pair of USB 3.0 hubs, not a discrete controller.
Jaaap - Thursday, June 27, 2013 - link
Great Review Ian.I'd also be very interested in the minimal power consumption of Z87 motherboards without videocards and a PSU efficient at low powers (a PicoPSU or a light Seasonic).
IanCutress - Thursday, June 27, 2013 - link
I think Anand hit 34W idle on his 4770K with IGP?http://www.anandtech.com/show/7003/the-haswell-rev...
I have 500W Platinums for mini-ITX reviews, but I that might be too much for IGP idle at sub-10%.
DanNeely - Thursday, June 27, 2013 - link
500W probably is too much for anything other than relative comparison scores. IIRC most of the 80+ standards only require specific efficiency levels between 20 and 80% loads.ex The 400W Seasonic X-400 2 is 89.5% efficient at an 86W load; but only 82.6% at 37W.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReview...
igxqrrl - Thursday, June 27, 2013 - link
Am I the only one confused by the video out options?I'm looking for integrated graphics that can drive 2x30" (2560x1600) or 2x27" (2560x1440) displays. Can any of these motherboards do that?
repoman27 - Thursday, June 27, 2013 - link
The Gigabyte, Asrock and Asus boards theoretically can, however in each case you'll need to drive one of the displays via the HDMI output. AFAIK there aren't a ton of displays that support 2560x1440 or 2560x1600 over HDMI.Earballs - Thursday, June 27, 2013 - link
The max resolutions are listed with typical refresh rates, but not max refresh rates. Just thought I'd throw that out there while talking about confusing video out options.