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Gigabyte mITX Z87N-WIFI Motherboard Review

Motherboards/Intel S1150 by leeghoofd @ 2014-02-21

That small doesn't always imply slow or less strong has been shown by the ASUS Maximus VI Impact board. Setting several records with an Intel's Haswell CPU in the socket, the little mITX board has proven it has nothing to fear from its normal sized brethren, however the biggest drawback is the insane price tag, which makes it far less interesting for those that want to build a HTPC or mini gaming PC on a budget. The market has evolved in favor of the mATX and mITX platforms; demands for small yet powerful mini PCs is drastically increasing. Gigabyte's Z87N-WIFI is a perfect example that including Intel's flagship Z87 chipset does not necessarily imply an exuberantly elevated price, however is a high end chipset a requirement for most users out there? Time to unravel some of the myths and start to explore the wonderful world of the Gigabyte Z87N-WiFi mITX.

Conclusion

The Gigabyte Z87N-Wifi is the company's flagship offering in the mITX lineup. By selecting the Intel Z87 chipset, this board shows immaculate performance in the MadShrimps test suite. Some performance flaws in early BIOSES were quickly corrected allowing the 2D and the 3D performance to get on par with its bigger sized Z87 brethren.

Of course the choice to opt for Intel's top Haswell chipset puts this nice board in an upper price class for mITX boards. A design decision that cuts on two sides: on one side you receive a solid board with great performance, adding the possibility for easy K skew processor overclocking; on the other side one main question has to be asked: does the higher price tag weigh up for the little performance boost over e.g. an H81 chipset motherboard ? An answer which will depend on the usage: if one utilizes the HD4600 and wants to maximize performance then yes a Z87 chipset board choice will be justified. However if the board is just used on a daily basis for standard HTPC usage, plus when running a non K skew processor or when running the setup with a discrete graphics card, then a lower end chipset with a far lower price tag might be a better bang for the buck option. Naturally Gigabyte also offers H81 powered boards, retailing at almost half the price of this Z87N-WiFi.

But back to the Z87N-Wifi now: it offers solid performance and good XMP memory compatibility. No matter what we threw at the Z87N mITX board, it remained right on the heels of the other Z87 Haswell boards we have tested. Secondly the dual LAN ports allows the user to setup e.g. a local server. The onboard Intel Centrino Wireless WLAN Bluetooth adapter opens the possibility to take advantage of Intel's Smart Connect and Wireless Display functionalities. To sum it up: The Z87N-WiFi is a great feature packed board that will be a reliable partner in all your multimedia endeavors ! This little board packs some great punch.

PROS:

Solid performer
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2230 adaptor
Memory compatibility
Dual LAN adapter
High end intuitive Bios
Price versus other Z87 mITX mobos

CONS:

Only two fan connectors

I wish to thank Bernice from Gigabyte for the Z87N-WiFi sample

Harry from Corsair for the Vengeance 16GB 2400C10 Pro kit

The Tones crew for the years of support

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