Asus leader in the manufacture of motherboard, graphics cards, laptops, peripherals and compact equipment has sent us to one of its great novelties for the LGA 1150 socket, the Asus Z97-PRO GAMER. A base plate designed for gamers who do not want to shell out more than € 200. Want to know more about her? Read on for our review. Enjoy!

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Main improvements of the Z97 chipset to its predecessor Z87

There are hardly any differences between the Z87 and Z97 chipset on paper. We have few such as the incorporation of the SATA Express block with 10 Gb / s of bandwidth (40% faster) compared to the 6Gb / s of the classic SATA 3. How is there so much improvement? It is because they have taken one or two of the PCI Express lanes, so be careful when doing dual configurations or with multiple graphics cards. One of the most important improvements is the incorporation of the M.2 connection with NGFF support natively, thus replacing the well-received mSATA ports. This technology is the future of computing, since it will allow us to connect large, fast storage devices without occupying places in our box. During this year and 2015 we will see the increase in sales of this connection. Finally, we see the possibility of overclocking RAM memories up to 3300 mh. Well, this reaches the limit of mhz that we can reach with DDR3 memories.

Frequently asked questions to consider

- My heatsink is compatible with socket 1155 and 1556. Is it compatible with socket 1150? Yes, we have tested different motherboards and they all have the same holes as in socket 1155 and 1156. - Is my power supply compatible with Intel Haswell or Intel Devil Canyon / Haswell Refresh ? There are no Haswell certified power supplies. Most of the manufacturers have already released the list of compatible sources: Antec, Corsair, Enermax, Nox, Aerocool / Tacens and Thermaltake. Giving 98% absolute compatibility.

Technical characteristics

ASUS Z97 PRO GAMER FEATURES
CPU	LGA1150 socket for 4th and 5th generation Intel® Intel® Core ™ i7, Core ™ i5, Core ™ i3, Pentium® and Celeron® processors. Supports 22nm Intel® CPUs. Supports Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0. * Intel® Turbo Boost 2.0 technology support depends on CPU type. See www.asus.com for the list of supported CPUs.
Chipset	Intel ® Z97 Express Chipset
Memory	4 x DIMM, Max. 32GB, DDR3 3200 (OC) / 3100 (OC) / 3000 (OC) / 2933 (OC) / 2800 (OC) / 2666 (OC) / 2500 (OC) / 2400 (OC) / 2200 (OC) / 2133 (OC) / 2000 (OC) / 1866 (OC) / 1600/1333 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered. * Dual channel architecture. Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP).
Multi-GPU Compatible	Supports integrated graphics on Intel® HD Graphics processors. Multi-VGA output support: HDMI / DVI-D / RGB ports: Supports HDMI with max. resolution 4096 x 2160 @ 24 Hz / 2560 x 1600 @ 60 Hz. DVI-D compatible with max. 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz resolution. RGB compatible with max. 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz resolution. Maximum shared memory of 512 MB. C supports Intel® InTru ™ 3D, Quick Sync Video, Clear Video HD Technology, Insider ™. Supports up to 3 screens simultaneously. Multi-GPU support: NVIDIA® Quad-GPU SLI ™ compatible. Supports AMD Quad-GPU CrossFireX ™ Technology. Expansion slots: 2 x PCIe 3.0 / 2.0 x16 (x16 Single a, Double x8 / x8). 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (max in x4 mode, black). 2 x PCIe x1. 2 x PCI.
Storage	Intel® Z97 chipset: 1 x SATA Express port, compatible with 2 SATA 6.0 Gb / s ports. 1 x M.2 Socket 3, with M key, supports 2260/2280 type storage devices (both SATA and PCIe mode). (*one) 4 x SATA 6Gb / s, gray. Supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 10. Supports Intel® Smart Response Technology, Intel® Rapid Start Technology, Intel® Smart Connect Technology.
USB and extras	Intel® Z97 chipset: 6 x USB 3.0 / 2.0 (4 at back panel, blue, 2 at mid-board). Intel® Z97 chipset: 8 x USB 2.0 / 1.1 (2 at back panel, black, 6 at mid-board).
Net	Intel® I218V, 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller (s), with GameFirst II.
Bluetooth	Do not.
Audio	SupremeFX 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC: Supports jack detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel MIC reassignment of jack tasks. High quality 115 dB SNR sound reproduction. High fidelity audio OP AMP (s). Audio Features: SupremeFX Shielding ™ Technology. ELNA premium audio capacitors. Rear S / PDIF optical output port. Sonic Radar II.
BIOS	ASUS UEFI BIOS EZ Mode with friendly user interface. BIOS: 64 Mb Flash ROM, UEFI BIOS AMI, PnP, DMI 2.7, WfM 2.0, SM BIOS 2.8, ACPI 5.0, Multilingual BIOS, ASUS EZ Flash 2, CrashFree BIOS 3, F11 EZ Tuning Wizard, F6 Qfan control, F3 My Favorites, Quick Note, Last Registry Update, F12 PrintScreen function, F3 shortcut function, and ASUS DRAM SPD (Serial Presence Detect) memory information.
Format.	ATX format: 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm

Asus Z97 PRO GAMER

Asus presents its Z97 PRO GAMER motherboard in a normal size box that is perfectly protected with cardboard and plastic. On its cover we find the large letters of this first PRO GAMER model with the most important certificates acquired: SLI, CrossFire, 4th Generation Intel, Windows 8.1, DTS…

The bundle is made up of:

Asus Z97 PRO GAMER motherboard. Instruction manual, drivers and quick guide. SATA, SLI cables and back plate.

At first glance, the Asus Z97 PRO Gamer is a motherboard with an ATX format of 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm and which is dominated by an elegant design with a black PCB and small red details. The motherboard supports the LGA 1150 socket with Intel Haswell / Haswell Refresh and Intel Devil's Canyon processors of the fourth-generation Z97 chipset.

On the components used we have an 8 + 2 digital phase power design. The rest of the components are the cataloged "Gamer´s Guardian" which are made up of ESD protection, Digi + VRM, over voltage protection in RAM, 10K Black Metallic capacitors and the rear connectors have extra chrome to increase the longevity of the same. Regarding RAM memory, it incorporates 4 DDR3 sockets with a maximum capacity of 32GB capable of reaching a speed of 3200 Mhz (With OC) and compatible with XMP profiles.

Regarding the feeding, it is worth highlighting its great efficiency both in the feeding, mosfets and south bridge phases due to its size and excellent design. It is also supported by a 24-pin ATX power supply and an 8-pin auxiliary.

On the layout of the PCI Express connections we have 3 PCI connections to x16, the first of them in PCI 3.0, two classic PCI connections and two PCI to x1. The result is an excellent layout, by being able to install a QUAD WAY SLI / CrossFireX configuration .

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We also have an M.2 interface . that makes more sense every day with the high-speed Samsung XP941 units. Why is it faster than a traditional SSD? because its bandwidth reach up to 10 Gb / s.

The sound card is the famous SupremeFX with Realtek chipset. This comes with a special package and a red line with shielding that separates the sound components from other components and their interferences. It accepts 300Ω amplifier headphones, has an EMI cover that isolates the chipset from electromagnetic interference, and uses Premium ELNA capacitors.

In the lower area of the board we find the control panel, USB 2.0 connections, fan connectors and COM connection.

In SATA 6 Gb / s connections we have six and one of them is shared with the SATA Express connection. For me a detail because in the ROG series she forgets about it… at least in the first three "most basic" versions. I like!

Finally, we stop at the rear connections that have:

1 x PS / 2.2 x USB 2.0.1 x DVI and D-SUB. 4 x USB 3.0.1 x HDMI. 1 LAN Gigabit Killer. 1 x SupremeFX Sound Card.

Test bench and tests

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	Intel i7 4770k
Base plate:	Asus Z97 PRO GAMER.
Memory:	G.Skills Trident X 2400mhz.
Heatsink	Noctua NH-14S
HDD	Samsumg 840 250GB
Graphic card	Asus GTX780 Direct CU II.
Power supply	Antec HCP 850

To check the stability of the processor and the motherboard we have used a high-end processor: i7 4770k. Since it does not allow us to overclock, we have passed the tests with the stock values.

TESTS
3dMark Vantage:	P49115
3dMark11	P14662 PTS
Crysis 3	48 FPS
CineBench 11.5	9.3 fps.
Resident Evil 6 Lost planet tomb Raider Meter	1322 PTS. 135 FPS. 66 FPS 60 FPS

Final words and conclusion

The Asus Z97 PRO GAMER is an excellent mid-range motherboard with high-end features and brushstrokes. It incorporates high quality components, you just have to see that it has 8 + 2 digital phases and all the most important protections. As it is the Z97 chipset, it supports any 4th generation Intel processor (Haswell and Devil Canyons) and 32 GB of DDR3 memory at 3200 mhz.

Regarding the layout of the PCI Express connections, we can install up to a Quad SLI or CrossFireX in the first two PCI Express 3.0 x16 ports. Regarding storage, we are doing quite well with 6 SATA connections and the possibility of installing a SATA Express or M.2 natively.

Regarding performance we have used our well-known i7-4770k at 4500 mhz with a high-end heatsinks. The results have been quite good with a cinebench at 9.3 Points.

In short, if you are looking for a quality motherboard around € 136 and with SupremeFX sound quality and a Killer network card, the Z97 PRO Gamer is one of the best solutions on the market.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ COMPONENTS.	- ONLY 6 SATA PORTS.
+ DEBUGGED BIOS.
+ SATA EXPRESS AND M.2 CONNECTIONS.
+ OVERCLOCK CAPACITY.
+ RED KILLER CARD.
+ GOOD QUALITY / PRICE RATIO.