In this review,i am more focusing on the daily usage features and the main focus of the motherboard can offer to its users.



ASUS Z97-K is a entry level Z97 chipset for Intel socket LGA1150,therefore one of the main focus you would want to find in this motherboard is the performance for the bucks if you still want the capabilities of Z97 instead of H97 without hurting your wallet too much.



It come with the usual package,the motherboard itself,manual books and sata cable.

Specification :
CPU Support : Supports 4th Gen Intel® Core™ / Pentium® / Celeron® processors for LGA 1150 socket
Chipset : Intel Z97
Memory Support : 4 x DIMM, Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)*
Multi-GPU Support : Supports AMD Quad-GPU CrossFireX™ Technology
Display Outputs Multi-VGA output support : HDMI,DVI and VGA
Expansion Slots : 1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 mode, gray),1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (max at x4 mode, black),2 x PCIe 2.0 x1,2 x PCI
Storage Intel® Z97 chipset : 1 x M.2 Socket 3, with M Key, type 2260/2280 storage devices support (both SATA & PCIE mode)*2,6 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), gray
Form Factor : ATX 12 inch x 8 inch


Features :

High-value Z97 ATX packed with M.2, high-clarity Crystal Sound 2 and endurant 5X Protection for enhanced performance and potent entertainment
Proven quality - 5X Protection. 1000+ compatible devices. 7000+ validation hours
Crystal Sound 2 - Flawless audio that makes you part of the game
Speed up your system with lightning-fast 10Gb/s M.2
Fan Xpert 3 - Advanced fan controls for ultimate cooling and quietness
Media-acclaimed UEFI BIOS with new EZ Tuning Wizard
ASUS HomeCloud - A digital PC hub perfect for sharing and home theater



Now that's done

let's go for the motherboard feature itself

This Z97-K overall looks taken from ASUS website itself


One of the Z97 feature which is PCIE M.2 is untested in this review as you can find those feature in H97 series as well and because i can't get my hand on a unit for the review

Setting up Z97-K

As this review focus on the performance that Z97 able to perform,the motherboard will be placed on open area instead of inside of the chassis.



Personally i love the black PCB and champagne-colored heatsinks on Z97-K

Alright for the processor

it will be Intel i7 4790K 4.00ghz



It will be cooled down with Cooler Master Hyper 412 Slim



For RAM,i decided to go with Avexir Blitz 1.1 2x4GB 2400mhz for this review



For storage and main drive,it will be powered by Intel 530 series 240gb solid state drive



and last but not least the beast for the graphic performance needs,ASUS GTX970 STRX 4GB



This post has been edited by Neo|ofGeo: Mar 20 2015, 01:43 AM

That's very much it for main part,
it is powered by Cooler Master G650M 80+ Bronze

and here's the final setup looks like



When it turn on


Now for the Z97-K UEFI BIOS and the features inside it

Here's is what you will get from Z97-K and as you can see it is easy to navigate and have alot of option for you make squeeze out the performance out of your hardware.


You may control your chassis fans speed up to your preferences here or let it on manual if you need that specific speed in each of every unique places


Boot selection on EZ Mode


here's the advance menu







Here's the option for the ASUS EZ Flash 2 ability where you can easily update your bios to the latest version with a simple step




Now that's done
the next test will be overclocking and a little bit of gaming,

Does the audio pcb seperation line glow?

I did couple of test and here's the result


On the stock clock






And here's when overclocked to 4.4ghz at 1.16vcore


and after some thinking i decided to push it abit higher but due to unlucky chip it seem need to push the Vcore quite high to reach 4.5ghz at 1.21vcore






The game i choose for this review is Far Cry 4




\


running no problem at 60 frame per second on full settings and no stuttering throughout the whole gameplay.


Conclusion : ASUS Z97-K is entry level Z97 chipset that ASUS introduce to the market,despite that it pack alot of feature and able to deliver what you would expect from Z97 chipset without any issues.
For the price and performance wise,if you are able to grab yourself a unlocked processor and looking for a performance boost without tearing your wallet,ASUS Z-97K is indeed one of the recommended motherboard from ASUS you should consider to be your next list in your own custom rig setup.

Thanks you for reading the review!


I would like to thanks ASUS Malaysia for providing the chance to review this motherboard

Regards
Neo|ofGeo

P/s: This is my first review here for motherboard so i hope you guys can leave couple of suggestion or maybe additional games or benchmark you guys would like to see in the next review!

This post has been edited by Neo|ofGeo: Mar 20 2015, 01:45 AM

Unfortunately the only sounds pcb line glow i seen is on ROG series so far in my experience.

Oh, okay

I have Z97M-PLUS

You should review the motherboard of it's connectors, pci-slots, numbers of usb header, Sata ports, pictures from various angle of the motherboard... back i/o panel... etc

seems like it's your first time...

dont forget the h81 and b85 "gaming" model that have red led along mobo too


i think not necessary to repeat whats already have from internet. but do provide the unexposed parts will be best

Yea... but non-rog that have separation audio pcb should have leds too.. i bet it will be awesome.

Nice Built

Is it worth upgrading from b85m-G?