ASUS Z97 PRO Wi-Fi AC Motherboard Review

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    ASUS Z97 PRO Wi-Fi AC Motherboard Review

    [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Motherboard we are checking out today is one of the ASUS Z97 Series the ASUS Z97 Pro Wi-Fi AC, take note this is the Wi-fi version of the ASUS Z97 Pro there’s really no huge difference between the two. Both have the same Gold metallic brush finish design.

    [section label=”Packaging” anchor=”packaging”]

    Packaging

    Included in the box is the Rear I/O panel shield,2T2R Dual Band Wi-Fi,2 in 1 Q-Connector Kit, DVD driver, User Manual, Feature Guide Manual, SLI Bridge, 4 pcs of SATA 6GB/s cable which is a elbow and flat type connectors plus the motherboard itself.

    [section label=”Visual Inspection” anchor=”visual”]

    Visual Inspection

    First stop is the signature Gold,silver and black color is implemented with this motherboard similar with the other Z97 series. It has a gold power delivery heatsinks and circular styled chipset heatsink.

    Hover to the circles to check the parts of the motherboard

    [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][cq_vc_hotspot icontype=”dot” fonticon=”fa-hand-o-right,fa-image,fa-coffee,fa-comment” position=”6.779661016949152%|38.69375744934446%,9.573622881355933%|49.19547079856972%,18.726827330508474%|67.73316448152562%,10.805084745762713%|70.17282479141835%,7.415254237288135%|32.61509237187127%,9.36175847457627%|54.32061978545888%,38.43021716101695%|50.450685339690104%,48.09322033898305%|60.280095351609056%,8.050847457627118%|23.914258045292016%,7.03125%|66.12038140643624%,45.209878177966104%|74.05020858164481%,19.06779661016949%|71.36471990464838%,65.67796610169492%|28.44345947556615%,7.243114406779661%|61.4719904648391%,38.43021716101695%|73.2158820023838%,37.92372881355932%|67.55065554231227%,9.745762711864407%|18.43154052443385%,15.50582627118644%|31.674612634088202%,31.014962923728813%|72.50074493444578%,12.5%|46.69249106078665%,18.008474576271187%|17.716403456495826%,30.33633474576271%|32.032181168057214%,53.47259004237288%|75.00372467222884%,49.57627118644068%|13.557806912991657%” iconbackground=”rgba(0,0,0,0.8)” circlecolor=”#ffffff” ispulse=”yes” pulsecolor=”pulse-white” opacity=”1″ tooltipstyle=”shadow” trigger=”hover” tooltipanimation=”grow” custom_links_target=”_self” maxwidth=”240″ isdisplayall=”” image=”38168″][hotspotitem]ATX Power Connector 24-pin EATXPWR[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]CPU Fan[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]T_Sensor Connector[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]System Panel Conector[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]CPU_FAN connector[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]SATA Express[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]PCI Express 3.0 / 2.0 16x[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]PCI, PCI Express 1x x 3[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]Mem OK! Button and EZ XMP Switch[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]ASMedia Serial ATA 6GB/s[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]Thunderbolt header,Power-on Button[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]Chasis Fan[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]Rear I/O Panel[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]SATA 1–4 6GB/s[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]Bios Flashback Button[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]Q-Code LEDs[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]CPU Over Voltage Jumper 3-pin CPU_OV[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]DDR3 DIMM 4x Slots[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]USB 3.0 Connector 20–1 pin[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]USB 3.0 Connector 20–1 pin[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]CPU Fan 4-pin CPU_OPT and 4-pin CPU_FAN[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]LGA-1150 CPU Socket[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]Front Panel Audio connector[/hotspotitem]
    [hotspotitem]ATX pwoer connector 8-pin[/hotspotitem][/cq_vc_hotspot][vc_column_text]

    SizeATXCPU InterfaceLGA-1150ChipsetIntel Z97Memory SlotsFour DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 32 GB
    Up to Dual Channel, 1333–3200 MHzVideo OutputsVGA (1920×1200 at 60 Hz)
    DVI-D (1920×1200 at 60Hz)
    HDMI (4096×2160 at 24 Hz or 2560×1600 at 60 Hz)
    DisplayPort (4096×2160 at 24 Hz or 3840×2160 at 60 Hz)Onboard LANIntel I218-V
    Broadcom 802.11ac 2T2ROnboard AudioRealtek ALC1150 (DTS)Expansion Slots2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 (x16 or x8/x8)
    1 x PCIe 2.0 x4 (Shares bandwidth with USB3_E12 and PCIe x1_4)
    4 x PCIe 2.0 x1 (PCIe x1_2 shares bandwidth with PCIe x1_3)Onboard SATA/RAID6 x SATA 6 Gbps (PCH) (two shared with SATAe)
    2 x SATA 6 Gbps (ASMedia)
    1 x SATAe x2 (PCH) (shared x2 and SATA with M.2)
    1 x M.2 x2 (PCH, SATA and PCIe) (shared x2 and SATA with SATAe)USB 3.06 x USB 3.0 (PCH) (2 back panel, 2 headers)
    2 x USB 3.0 (ASMedia) (2 back panel)Onboard8 x SATA 6 Gbps
    1 x SATAe
    1 x M.2
    2 x USB 3.0 Headers
    2 x USB 2.0 Headers
    1 x TPM Header
    6 x Fan Headers
    1 x TB Header
    EZ XMP Switch
    DirectKey Button
    MemOK Button
    TPU Switch
    EPU Switch
    USB BIOS Flashback Button
    Front Panel Header
    Front Audio Header
    Two Digit Debug
    Power ButtonPower Connectors1 x 24-pin ATX
    1 x 8-pin CPUFan Headers1 x CPU (4-pin, DC+PWM)
    1 x CPU_OPT (4-pin, DC+PWM)
    4 x CHA (4-pin, DC+PWM)IO Panel1 x PS/2 Combination Port
    VGA
    DVI-D
    HDMI
    DisplayPort
    1 x Intel I218-V NIC
    4 x USB 3.0
    2 x USB 2.0
    WiFi Go! Module
    Audio JacksWarranty Period3 YearsProduct PageLink

    Here is closer look the parts of the motherboard

    The BIOS Interface is similar with the other ASUS Motherboard but this time they made a consistent design in terms of color and font. Here is a closer look at the BIOS, there are lots of features and this can be tweak using the keyboard or mouse which is really convenient. there is an Easy Mode and Advance mode for tweaking the interface, but if you’re into Overclocking and want to start optimizing the motherboard immediately you might want to use the EZ System Tuning which gives a quick optimization in just a few clicks.

    CPU fan speed can also be adjusted manually using the easy graph guide. The icon on the lower left shows how fast the Fan spins.

    In terms of software ASUS includes tons of application for monitoring the motherboard from Performance,Wi-Fi, LAN, Notifications, Remote Access using smartphone and many more. all of this applications are user friendly. My favorite is the Wi-Fi Go which lets the user control their Desktop using mobile and even access the remote files using just the smartphone or other pc / laptop devices.

    Since this is a Wi-Fi capable motherboard it can also be used in AP Mode so it will act as an Extender of your Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi has a great signal but for the bluetooth it takes a while to connect but still both are great additional functionality included in the motherboard.

    USB Charger+: Quick charging of a single device via USB 3.0 by disabling data transfer and increasing power delivery.
    USB 3.0 Boost: adds additional speed for Windows 7 USB 3.0 devices by implementing an updated driver on-the-fly.
    USB BIOS Flashback: A quick setup tool to prepare a USB stick for flashing the BIOS without a CPU, DRAM or GPU connected.
    EZ Update: Software to allow updates to the system, primarily drivers, software and BIOS.
    Wi-Fi Engine: Set up the system as an access point for a home network.
    Wi-Fi Go!: Use the Wi-Fi on the system with the Android/iOS app to give remote desktop access via a smartphone or tablet, along with file transfer, cloud storage and remote keyboard/mouse control.

    [section label=”Performance Test” anchor=”performance”]

    Performance Test

    Before we get started here is the rundown of the Test system specification

    CPUIntel Core i5 4590 ProcessorMOTHERBOARDASUS Z97-PRO WiFi ACCPU COOLERStock Intel CPU FanMEMORY8GB 1333MhzGRAPHICS CARDASUS STRIX GeForce GTX 970INT. STORAGESandisk 240GB and WD 1TBPSUAcbel 560DISPLAY22″ AOC E2250Swdn + Coocaa LED TVOSMicrosoft Windows 8.1 Pro 64bit
    All drivers and software are updated to the latest build to ensure accurate results.

    [section label=”Benchmarks” anchor=”benchmarks”]

    Benchmarks

    Aida 64 is a streamlined Windows diagnostic and benchmarking software for home users. We’ll use the built-in CPU benchmarking tools of the AIDA64 to determine the system’s CPU performance.

    [visualizer id=”38226″]

    [visualizer id=”38225″]

    CINEBENCH is a real-world cross-platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON’s award-winning animation software CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Iron Man 3, Oblivion, Life of Pi or Prometheus and many more.

    [visualizer id=”37593″]

    CompuBench is the first professional OpenCL and RenderScript benchmark to test and compare the parallel compute performance of CPUs, GPUs and accelerators of desktop and mobile devices.
    [visualizer id=”37594″]

    DiskBench is an application that Benchmarks copy transfer speed

    wPrime is a benchmark similar to Super Pi in that it forces the processor to do intense mathematical calculations, but the difference is this application is multi-threaded and represents dual core wPrime 32M time

    [visualizer id=”38229″]

    [section label=”Gaming Performance” anchor=”gaming”]

    Gaming Performance

    Medal of Honor: Warfighter is a first-person shooter video game developed by Danger Close Games and published by Electronic Arts. It is a direct sequel to 2010’s series reboot Medal of Honor and the fourteenth installment in the Medal of Honor series.

    [visualizer id=”37614″]

    Resident Evil Revelations 2 / Biohazard Revelations 2 is an action adventure zombie shooting game developed by capcom and the a sequel of the highly popular Resident evil installments.
    [visualizer id=”37615″]

    Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II — Retribution is the stand-alone second expansion to Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, part of the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War series of real-time strategy computer games. Set in Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 fictional universe, the single player campaign is playable with multiple races.
    [visualizer id=”37617″]

    [section label=”Verdic” anchor=”verdic”]

    Verdict

    The ASUS Z97 Pro Wi-Fi is one of the motherboard you won’t resist, it’s like a beast of a machine that can almost do anything, I really like the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth feature but I hope the bluetooth pairing time can be enhanced but with its performance and features it comes with a higher price tag of Php11,990 but with its optimization features and applications that they put into it. I think it’s worth the buck. The One Click Optimization is a big plus and it has a top-notch performance there’s really lots of things that can be done with this motherboard and it comes with a 3 year warranty directly from ASUS.

    Easy BIOS update, LED indicator and build in buttons for easy troubleshooting and not only that its future proof, if you’re planning to buy a USB 3.1 its fully compatible by just updating the firmware and you’re good to go.

    Overall a good combination of Graphics Card and Processor with this beast of a motherboard, productivity and gaming will be a total joy. And with that I’m giving it the recommend badge and Top notch performance 🙂

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    We will be happy to hear your thoughts

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