INTRODUCTION

GRYPHON Z87 is the first TUF Series mATX motherboard, aimed at users who demand guaranteed system stability in a more compact form-factor. GRYPHON Z87 is the best choice in this niche, and like all other TUF Series offerings, delivers smart cooling management features and extra-reliable TUF components. With heavy duty alloy chokes, MOSFETs, and Black Metallic capacitors with five times the lifespan of generic capacitors, Gryphon withstands even the most demanding usage for greater system reliability and longevity. The GRYPHON Z87 is ASUS’s answer to this vast growing demand in the M-ATX form-factor with TUF ultimate protection armor kit and further enhanced cutting edge technologies.



Product Link:
Motherboard : ASUS GRYPHON Z87
Armor Kit : GRYPHON ARMOR KIT

Suggested Retail Price:
ASUS GRYPHON Z87 = RM729
ASUS GRYPHON ARMOR = RM159
ASUS GRYPHON Z87 + GRYPHON ARMOR KIT = RM849

Specification of ASUS Gryphon Z87 Motherboard



Specification of ASUS Gryphon Armor KIT



This post has been edited by shah93: Jul 23 2013, 03:50 PM

Unboxing

On this section the unboxing will be done in 2 part, ASUS Gryphon Z87 motherboard and Gryphon Armor Kit. Like any other TUF Series motherboard, ASUS still maintains the yellow-grey scheme colour which is meant to deliver a “tough” and military-standard image.


ASUS Gryphon Z87 Motherboard side view. As you can see on the front box, the TUF actual mean is The Ultimate Force.


At the back of box is the list of features supported by the board.


The board itself is wrapped in an anti-static bag.


Upon taking out the motherboard from the box, you will be able to find a compartment for accessories.


There are plenty of accessories and bundles here to get you started.
+ User guide;
+ 5 year warranty notice;
+ Certificate of reliability;
+ Driver and software DVD;
+ Back panel I/O Shield;
+ SATA 6 GB/s cables (4 pcs);
+ Flexible SLI bridge;
+ ASUS Q-Connectors;

This post has been edited by shah93: Jul 23 2013, 04:28 PM

The motherboard packed with military-grade components.


To maintain TUF Ultimate Protection, ASUS has equipped this board with heavy-duty alloy chokes, MOSFETs, and Black Metallic capacitors that boast five times longer lifespan compared to generic capacitors.


There are four DIMM slots with dual channel support. Each supports DIMMs of up to 8 GB in density.


The PCI-Express/PCI slot layout which supports
+ 2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8)
+ 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4 mode, black)
+ 1 x PCIe 2.0 x1


BIOS flashback is recovery feature. Even if the current BIOS is corrupted and system won't boot, you can download and save the BIOS image to a USB stick, insert it to the board and use the BIOS_FLBK button.
DirectKey button can be used for entering BIOS after reset, bypassing the conventional 'Del' key method.


MemOK! Button to quickly ensure memory boot compatibility. This remarkable memory rescue tool requires a mere push of a button to patch memory issues.


6 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), brown that support Raid 0, 1, 5 and 10.


I/O back panel of ASUS Gryphon Z87 motherboard:
+ 1 x DVI-D
+ 1 x HDMI
+ 1 x LAN (RJ45) port(s)
+ 4 x USB 3.0 (blue)
+ 4 x USB 2.0
+ 1 x Optical S/PDIF out
+ 6 x Audio jack(s)

This post has been edited by shah93: Jul 23 2013, 03:54 PM

Now it’s time for Gryphon Armor Kit unboxing. Introducing the TUF Fortifier kit for ASUS Gryphon Z87 motherboard. The innovative TUF Thermal Armor has evolved to the third generation design.


The front look of the Armor KIT for Gryphon Z87 board.


Back view of the box showing the features and information of the kit.


Inside it containing the slot cover for I/O back & front panel and SATA dust cover.


Under it is the front armor for ASUS Gryphon Z87


3rd layer containing the installation guide and thermal probe. This set of slot covers also includes two for empty memory slots


Finally, the TUF Fortifier for the back panel protection of ASUS Gryphon Z87 motherboard.


All the accessories and bundles in the box.
+Thermal Armor
- 1 x Assistant Fan (35mm)
- 1 x Adhesive Sponge for 35mm Fan
- 1 x 40mm I/O Cover fan lid
+TUF Fortifier
+Dust Defenders
- 2 x DIMM slot dust covers
- 3 x PCIe x16 slot dust covers
- 1 x PCIe x1 slot dust cover
- 1 x Connector cap set (compose of LAN, DP, HDMI, DVI, and Front USB 3.0 dust covers)
- 6 x Audio connector caps
- 10 x Onboard USB 2.0 connector caps
- 9 x SATA/eSATA connector caps
- 1 x Back IO Dust Filter (with 1 x Back IO dust frame and 1 x Back IO dust grid)
- 1 x bag of screws
- 1 x Philips screwdriver
- 3 x Thermistor cables
- 1 x Installation Guide

This post has been edited by shah93: Jul 23 2013, 03:57 PM

ASUS Gryphon Z87 motherboard with thermal armor kit.


Back view of the board, TUF Fortifier strengthened back plating to prevent PCB bending or bowing due to heavy components.


Thermal armor of the mosfet heatsink cover.


2 ram slot cover given with the bundle.


Back I/O panel with dust defenders and assist fan.


SATA port with dust defenders.

This post has been edited by shah93: Jul 23 2013, 03:59 PM

Test Bench





Too bad for this review there will be no overclocking test as I want to focus more on Bios and the
NEW AI Suite III.

BIOS Walkthrough

The GRYPHON Z87 features a BIOS that has a slightly different skin which is mostly aesthetic than other ASUS board. Besides that, it comes with pretty much all the same features.


The EZ mode of the UEFI BIOS displays important information such as fan speed, CPU temperature and voltage and CPU speed all at a glance for the users.


Advanced mode for the experienced user. On the main tab: BIOS, CPU, Memory, System Time and Date details.


ASUS made new features on the UEFI BIOS, allows users to add their “Favorite” settings in the My Favorites tab for fast and easy access.


The AI Tweaker, where the most overclocker spend their time in tweaking the setting for overclocking.


Memory timings tweaking is found in the DRAM Timing Control option under Ai Tweaker.

This post has been edited by shah93: Jul 23 2013, 04:14 PM

On the Advanced tab, Various CPU options is available.


All the information of CPU and MB temperature, voltage and fan speed can be found on this tab.


User also enable to control the fan speed.


All major booting configuration is found in Boot tab. The USB Support is set to Partial Initiation to avoid booting to flash drives.


ASUS EZ Flash 2 Utility to update BIOS.


User can easily save their O.C. Profile in the BIOS.

This post has been edited by shah93: Jul 23 2013, 04:17 PM

AI Suite III

The full integration of all ASUS applications in one single package AI Suite III, eliminating the trouble of having to install each application one by one. Moreover, the capability to install only the desired modules also allows user to have a more flexible use of this application. ASUS totally redesigned and re-imagined the interface is for this generation of hardware from the previous version of AI suite II software.


Main menu of AI Suite III allow to access on all the features of the software.


TUF Z87 motherboards include Thermal Radar 2 smart real-time temperature detection. Thermal tuning function optimizes the system’s cooling solution.


Thermal Status tab at the top for a real-time report on the temperature status of the two key temperature zones. (CPU Zone and VGA Zone). Assessment button at the bottom to benchmark the CPU thermal solution to provide the data about the CPU temperature level during system load.


Thermal Radar 2 comes with a user-friendly utility that enables detailed fan speed adjustments as well as one-click fan performance tuning for optimal cooling in every scenario.


DIGI+ Power Control - CPU and DRAM Power setting.


USB 3.0 Boost - Boost up your transfer rate with USB 3.0 Enabled with Turbo mode.

This post has been edited by shah93: Jul 23 2013, 04:23 PM

Network iControl provides two types of network management functionalities, where the network packets going to and from the system will be reprioritized to allow priority applications to run smoother.


USB BIOS Flashback allows users to:
+ Easily distinguish if the boot failures can be healed with BIOS update.
+ Update BIOS without a supported processor, ideal for new processor support.
+ Software-free, yet eliminates the need to look for BIOS update options.
+ Easy to operate, yet guarantees perfect success.


Allow user to manage and update latest ASUS motherboard drivers, software and BIOS.


Access to Motherboard, CPU and memory information.


USB Charger+ allows fast mobile charging up to 3x speed.


With the introduction of Remote GO!, users will be able to access:
+ Cloud Go!
+ Remote Desktop
+ DLNA Media Hub
+File Transfer


This post has been edited by shah93: Jul 23 2013, 04:23 PM

CONCLUSION

Over the years, the DIY users constantly look for the best possible processing performance over cost solution while choosing motherboards. This has always been the case until recently, when modern computing gradually reaches the performance bottleneck beyond the reach of the current human knowledge. Users now look for a DIY build that outperforms ordinary product in the aspect of effortlessness, compatibility, and of course durability. The GRYPHON Z87 is ASUS’s answer to this vast growing demand in the M-ATX form-factor.

Finally, I would like to thanks ASUS Malaysia for the opportunity to test the ASUS Gryphon Z87 with Armor KIT.

Overall score
Performance: 4/5
Materials: 5/5
Specifications: 5/5
Appearance: 5/5
Performance/Price Value: 4/5

Pros
+ mATX form factor of TUF features
+ Longest warranties of any board of other brand ( 5 years warranty
+ Optional of GRYPHON Armor kit
+ New excellent and fully functional of UEFI BIOS
+ AI Suite continues to impress
+ Controllable of all fans
+ Decent accessories with the package

Cons
- Turbo V Evo not included
- No Intel Thunderbolt
- Colour scheme used may not appeal and compatible with other hardware colour(GPU, Fan and ect)


This post has been edited by shah93: Jul 23 2013, 04:23 PM

RESERVED

Lovely, thanks for this awesome review

sempoi beb..GOOD JOB

eyegasm

nice review bro!

epic....nice review n mobo...

terbaik la bro...cantik review

so fast become expert reviewer. now become my sifu dy...

Sweet, though this doesnt seem like a 'mini' review

nice review bro!

excellent review... btw the back panel should be over do right? already hav front ARMOR lol