ASRock Z87E-ITX Review: Motherboard Juxtaposition
by Ian Cutress on November 6, 2013 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- ASRock
- Mini ITX
- Haswell
- Z87
ASRock Z87E-ITX Conclusion
ASRock is definitely making progress on their product lines, in almost all areas: specifications, functionality, software and pricing. ASRock are very aggressive when it comes to pricing, perhaps at the expense of a few aesthetics compared to some other boards. The next step up for ASRock is going to be the creation of their own tools in terms of hardware – their competitors are looking to daughter boards for VRMs, for sound, and for extra features on the Rear IO.
At AnandTech we have previously reviewed the Z87I in the Z87 mini-ITX Haswell arena. Compared to this review, the ASRock is $10 more, has two more SATA 6 Gbps ports, dual band 802.11ac rather than single band 802.11n, only one NIC rather than two but comes with an ALC1150 not an ALC892. The ASRock has a more aesthetically pleasing BIOS than the MSI, they trade blows in software (ASRock has XFast, MSI has Live Update), ASRock has more in-the-box, overclocks further, fundamentally better USB speed but is a bit short on some CPU benchmarks. If I had an extra $10, I would be going with ASRock in that battle.
$150 for a mini-ITX, 802.11ac enabled motherboard, giving good overclock performance but a little down on the CPU out-of-the-box unless you can change a single BIOS setting. It still performs toe-to-toe in gaming benchmarks, with six SATA 6 Gbps, six USB 3.0 ports and a nice BIOS/software package that ASRock has been working on for several generations.
Users wanting a motherboard at $140-160 have a fair few choices as of 11/4:
$140 – MSI Z87I, ASUS Z87-C, MSI Z87-G43 Gaming, GIGABYTE Z87X-D3H
$145 – ASRock Z87 Extreme4, ASUS Z87-A
$150 – ASRock Z87E-ITX
$160 – ASUS Z87-PLUS, GIGABYTE Z87X-UD3H, MSI Z87-G45 Gaming
And other Z87 mini-ITX are available:
$135 – GIGABYTE Z87N-WiFi
$190 – ASUS Z87I-Deluxe
$220 – EVGA Z87 Stinger
$225 – ASUS ROG Z87 Impact
Actually, since I started this review, the Z87E-ITX has a current price drop to $140, putting it right in the mix with the Z87N-WiFi. I have the two ASUS ITX boards as well as the EVGA ITX motherboard in to test over the next few weeks, so stay tuned for those reviews.
However overall I am pleased with the ASRock Z87E-ITX: it surpassed my high expectations in a few important areas (SATA ports, audio codec, overclock performance, 802.11ac) and is well deserving of a recommended award. Another fan header or two, and perhaps an adjustment of that 8-pin CPU power connector might see it hit a full award.
Recommended: ASRock Z87E-ITX at $140
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
43 Comments
View All Comments
IanCutress - Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - link
I've already covered the Z87M OC Formula, and I have the Gryphon in for review, as well as a gaming mATX. I hope to get to them by the end of the year :) You have two options for WiFi: USB device, or PCIe x1 card.althaz - Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - link
Also, I can assure you that the 290 is not quiet enough. It almost doens't matter what for, if you have to ask about the noise, it'll probably bother you, IMO.Aikouka - Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - link
I've been looking at this board for a while, so it was a nice treat to see the review pop up this morning. The main use that I have for this board is for HTPCs. I like using the Streacom cases (Ganesh reviewed one for Anandtech), and the cases require very little obstruction from the top of the motherboard to the CPU. Unfortunately, a lot of Mini-ITX boards put the memory or 24-pin power connector up there. Also, most boards don't have mSATA ports on them, which is nice because forgoing a 2.5" drive helps to reduce the cable clutter in a really small case.All that said, it's good to see that the board received some praise! I just need to wait for Perfect Home Theater to get the short Streacom heat pipes in stock first since the CPU socket is a lot closer to the top than on most motherboards.
vykos - Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - link
Actually, the cheapest board with 802.11ac is Gigabyte's FM2+ mITX board for $110 on Newegg: GA-F2A88XN-WIFIhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
IanCutress - Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - link
I just got wind of this via email. It seems fairly new - it doesn't show up on various searches either. So that makes it Gigabyte cheapest on AMD, ASRock on Intel. This means good things: 802.11ac should be ubiquitous up and down the product stack and single band 2.4 GHz should not see the light of day.Ian
popej - Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - link
Quote from review: "the dynamic range is low for an ALC1150".For typical codec a loop-back test actually measures line-in performance, since AD converters are usually worst then DAC. And results are in perfect accord with ALC1150 data sheet, which states typical ADC dynamic range -104dB and THD+N -80dB.
Line-in performance is maybe not the most interesting parameters for a motherboard, but at least measurement have proved, that codec implementation is correct.
lekzero - Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - link
I believe this mb is used in "Steam Box prototype", I believe I also saw a power supply Silverstone's ST45SF-G also in SBox.Hrel - Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - link
I just built a new computer using this board, in a Fractal Design Node 304 case. Core i5 4570S, 8GB of DDR3 1866 and my old GTX460 768MB GPU. Pretty happy with it. Put some velcro stickies on a slim external DVD burner and put it on top of the case, looks good, is quiet, and is fully functional. Pretty happy I can finally build a small form factor computer without having to give up anything.The newegg video on the case says long graphics cards could conflict with modular PSU's. This wasn't the case for the Seasonic G...something. 550W hybrid fan PSU I put in it. Just fyi. The modular ports sit below the GPU, so it is tight, but a GTX780 should fit in there just fine.
BernardP - Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - link
Could someone explain what are the uses for the onboard WiFi? This has been puzzling me for some time.I already have a wireless router at home. What could this onboard WiFi add?
DanNeely - Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - link
The same thing as the wifi on your laptop, tablet, and phone; it lets you connect to the router without running an ethernet cable.