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
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BernardP - Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - link
Thanks. I hadn't thought about this...Too simple, too obvious!jason11 - Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - link
With Bay Trail, I'm really hoping to see Nano-ITX and Pico-ITX boards come out. Hopefully some cases too but I'm fine with making a simple one myself.mdbusa - Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - link
please excuse my ignorance on this but I need some clarification on how the video ports would work on this. Currently I have a XSX 7750 driving 3 monitors.On this MB with a Haswell DH 4600 chip could I drive 3 monitors using the on board display port and other 2 video ports?? I don't use it for gaming so high performance is not mandatory.
Given the size of the board it looks like it might be difficult to plug in my XFX card
extide - Thursday, November 7, 2013 - link
Yes you can use your discreet card and the haswell integrated graphics at the same time, so 3 from the integrated + whatever is on your card.DaBean - Thursday, November 7, 2013 - link
"Both the Z87E-ITX and another 802.11ac mini-ITX motherboard I am currently testing have issues with DPC Latency: both hit peak values north of 200, and only when Bluetooth 4.0 is turned off."If I'm reading this correctly the DPC latency only hits high peak values when Bluetooth is off, so having Bluetooth on solves the problem? Seems counter-intuitive, could you explain what effect Bluetooth has, do you need to be using the bluetooth or just have it enabled?
AnandTech2013 - Thursday, November 7, 2013 - link
I have this board on my list but i was wondering which revision of the chipset is on the board and is it visible on the box. At this time i don't want a C1 anymore and i think the most are all C2 but ASRock makes no statement on this.ZoSo - Friday, November 8, 2013 - link
- 6 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, Intel® Rapid Storage Technology 12 and Intel® Smart Response Technology), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug (SATA3_5 connector is shared with the eSATA port; SATA3_4 connector is shared with the mSATA/mini-PCI Express slot)- 1 x eSATA connector, supports NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug
- 1 x mSATA 6.0 Gb/s connector (Solid-State Drive connector), supports NCQ, AHCI and Full-size mini-PCI Express modules
coolhund - Saturday, November 9, 2013 - link
This is an awesome mainboard. Its layout is almost perfect. Could use a few more USB ports on the back instead of the PS/2 or eSATA port, however.Also I wonder why this negligible "problem" with the 8-pin connector is mentioned, while the huge problem with picoPSUs isnt mentioned: The 24-pin connector is turned 180 degrees, which will make most picoPSUs touch the ram and actually pushes them to the side with quite a lot of force. Its a no-go using picoPSUs on this board because of that.
Why you would need more than one case fan in an ITX case is beyond me either. Also I actually like that the VGA and DVI compatibility is being maintained, else I wouldnt be able to use it.
MarkF - Friday, January 17, 2014 - link
I am using this board with a picoPSU-150-XT and it doesn't touch the RAM (Crucial 8GB - 4x2). The RAM sits straight up, not leaned over. There is a very small clearance between the the outer most DIM and the PSU circuit. My reality does not match yours. :-)Matman - Monday, November 11, 2013 - link
I was sold as soon as I originally saw the specs. No addon USB/SATA controllers. No wanky VRM/audio/wifi/mSATA riser cards. The Broadcom wireless ac isn't quite as good/stable/supported as the new Intel one but that's easily fixed by just swapping out the wireless card. Excellent storage flexibility. Excellent CPU cooler - GPU clearance.As far as I'm concerned this is the closest to high performance mini-ITX perfection anyone has come yet.