Asus Z87-K Motherboard Review – £100 budget friendly

Rating: 9.0.

When Intel launched their new range of Haswell processors at the start of June we reviewed a handful of new Z87 motherboards, including the high end Asus Sabertooth priced around the £200 mark. Not everyone can afford a £200 motherboard, so today we look at the budget Asus Z87-K motherboard priced around the £100 sweet spot. Can an inexpensive Z87 board really keep a discerning enthusiast user happy?

On paper, the Asus Z87-K ticks quite a few boxes. It has the latest user adjustable UEFI BIOS configuration with simplified or advanced menus, depending on your skill level. Thanks to the latest Z87 Intel chipset, all the SATA ports are 6Gbps rated. If you are building a system with very limited funds, there are VGA, HDMI and DVI-D ports on the rear I/O panel to use integrated Intel graphics.

Asus have incorporated ‘5K hour Solid State Capacitors' which ‘assure a 5,000 hour lifespan, equivalent to 2.5 times longer than traditional capacitors'. Of course competitors such as MSI, Gigabyte or ASRock no longer use traditional capacitors either, but we can't knock ASUS for making this a focal point. All of the major manufacturers are guilty of touting a ‘new' feature, which often is just comparable to a competitor implementation.

Asus Z87-K Highlights:

• ASUS 5X Protection – All-round protection provides the best quality, reliability, and durability
• New UEFI BIOS – Friendlier, easier, and more intuitive with helpful info added
• Fan Xpert 2 – Comprehensive controls for the perfect cool and quiet balance
• USB 3.0 Boost (UASP Support) – 170% faster transfer speeds than traditional USB 3.0
• Ai Suite 3 – One-stop access to innovative ASUS features

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