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ASUS unveils Z87 Lineup

Tradeshow & OC events by leeghoofd @ 2013-05-17

A while back Europes' media was invited to visit the lovely city of Amsterdam. At the Club Excellence, right in the heart of the popular neighborhood, the ASUS team unveiled it's new Intel 4th generation motherboard lineup. Based on Intel's Z87 chipset, the mainstream motherboard lineup got a complete overhaul in the looks department. Gold is the brand new 2013 theme, while being promoted as original, we have seen this color scheme before on several competitors boards. Look wise it seems a missed opportunity, but luckily there's more below the surface. The ROG lineup get's a new addition in the shape of the HERO version. Similar with the TUF series, were the Gryphon mATX which sees the daylight. Sadly we are still under NDA, so remaining pretty limited to disclose most of the new innovative features. All we can do is list the basic specifications and leave you with some first impressions and event pictures.

ROG Z87 series

The Republic of Gamers (ROG) motherboards remained loyal to the red and black colour scheme. Currently three models will be available at launch date: the MAXIMUS VI EXTREME, GENE and a new cost friendly version: the HERO.

The MAXIMUS VI EXTREME, made for extreme gamer environments and extreme overclockers remains any enthusiast dream. 4 Way SLI and Crossfire X ( x8/x8/x8/x8 are possible ) thanks to the four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots coupled via a 3.0 X48 bridge chip. Two gigabit Ethernet and ten SATA 6GB/S ports top it all off. No more OC Key, but something totally and radical to OC the hell out of your setup will be featured in the package. At first glance no more Supreme FX end onboard sound chip spotted on the PCB of the VI Extreme version.

The cost friendly HERO board is ASUS new motherboard, to lure the gaming community away from the competitions offerings. Being more affordable then the Extreme and the yet to be announced Formula boards, it still is equipped with most innovative ROG features. Included are a 12 phase DIGI+ III CPU power supply, three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots ( x16/NC/NC or x8/x8 or x8/x4/x4 ) and eight SATA 6GB/s ports. Look at the HERO as a souped up version of the GENE board.

The mATX MAXIMUS VI GENE, with a 12 phase DIGI+ III CPU Power supply and two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots ( x16/NC or x8/x8 ) is hopefully a good successor of the uber benchable Maximus V Gene.

There will be some new software and bios additions for the VI ROG series, but most stuff is still under NDA. The new improved CPU PWM seems up to the task to withstand heavy abuse. While the audio setup and software bundle might revolutionise the gaming experience.

Comment from Teemto @ 2013/05/17

I see some familiar faces

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