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ASUS Z97 Motherboards - Overview and Official Support Thread

Raja
Level 13
This thread is for the official support of the ASUS Z97 motherboard series.


Lots of feature changes over the older platforms - from software, UEFI and aesthetics.


Motherboard Info





A comparison table containing all ASUS Z97 motherboard features can be found here: http://www.asus.com/us/site/motherboards/Z97/comparison/



Key Features For ASUS 9 Series Motherboards







New UEFI Features






EZ Setup Screen - One-stop location for simple system setup..






The EZ mode screen allows quick setup of storage BOOT priority, XMP for memory, RAID, overclocking presets via wizards, system time, fan control and many more features.



















Fan Controls are now far more intuitive with a graphical interface for setting the fan slope with 3 control points (more than enough to configure any fan) in manual mode as well as 4 preset modes. Full PWM and DC support is present on EVERY fan header across all ASUS Z97 motherboards from the Z97-A to Deluxe, ROG and of course the TUF series.


We've also introduced the ability to map each fan to various temperature sensors on the board instead of having all system fans react to the CPU temp only. For example, the chassis inlet fans can be mapped to PCH temperature which allows the fans to react to temperature changes in that region - GPU environment temperatures for example.


A fan calibration routine has also been added to UEFI advanced mode. The calibration routine determines the minimum rotational speed of each fan and then sets the fan slope minimum value accordingly.


With these features, users can enjoy comprehensive fan control with any operating system as no software is required (although we still have Fan Xpert 3 in Windows - more on that later).









Major Software Changes





Graphically AI Suite 3 is the same as the Z87 series but there have been a lot of functionality refinements that take the software to the next level.








5-Way Optimization - Auto Tuning (Mainstream and WS Only)







Auto Tuning is an automated overclocking routine that tunes a system overclock for the end-user. We’ve had this feature for a few generations now and have been enhancing it year-on-year based upon end-user, media and our internal feedback.


Auto tuning works by running a Prime based stress test on the system. Previously, there was no control over the duration of the stress test. We ran a quick 15 second test and then increased processor clock frequency in steps. For Z97, we've added the ability to set stress test duration up to 1 hour at each step (we can extend this further via an update). Plus we've added a memory stress test to the mix for more stringent overclock testing.


Users can also target frequency or a temperature to tune to. Overall a far more comprehensive set of auto tuning parameters to help make overclocking easy for newcomers and help seasoned users evaluate the overclocking potential of a CPU effortlessly.










Turbo App







Turbo App is the 5th element of 5-Way Optimization. This nifty addition allows us to set dynamic overclocking profiles based upon the application being used.




The advantage of this is two-fold:


1) Overclocks no longer need to be limited by the hottest application we run on our system. Typically, we tune our maximum overclock to the hottest software we will run. With Turbo Ap, we can set higher overclocks for software/games that don’t load the CPU as heavily.


2) The overclock is applied dynamically in real-time as we switch through applications – no need to enter UEFI to change the overclock preset or navigate via various GUIs changing configurations. Turbo App also contains LAN priority and audio presets which will change to our desired setting when the application is active.



Turbo App is simple to use and setup and helps get the most out of each CPU.










Fan Xpert 3



While we have added a comprehensive set of fan control features in UEFI, there’s more on offer in Fan Xpert 3.






i) Full fan calibration for each fan connected to the motherboard.


ii) The ability to control fan spin up and spin down response.


iii) Setting lower speeds for fans that can spin at low duty cycles.


iv) Look up tables for each fan to show RPM versus power or duty cycle.


v) Renaming of each fan for easy reference.





With all of these options at our disposal, just about any fan con be configured to be quiet and react to system temperature changes. Between UEFI and Fan Xpert 3, the options on offer are the most comprehensive ever seen for motherboard fan control. In fact, there’s no reason to invest in a dedicated fan controller at all.







Push Notice







Push notice is an application that teams a mobile device such as a phone or tablet to the PC in order to send system event, sensor or user messages to the remote device. Once a device is paired to the app (requires client software – which is free to download and use) the alerts will work over a local network or via the internet. This means the messages will be received no matter where you are, provided internet access is available.

















System events such as configured restarts, system shutdown or sleep can be set and a message sent to the remote device at a user configured time before the event occurs.













Power supply voltage and CPU package temp warnings can also be set to trigger an alert message to the paired remote device.












Revised Audio deisgn (mainstream)







Mainstream motherboard audio has been revised for 9 series – physically similar layout techniques to the ROG boards to prevent crosstalk.


Other changes include a RTL circuit to prevent DC thump for all outputs while the Deluxe model gets a buffer amplifier to drive either the front headphone jack or rear output jack. The buffer is only needed when connecting hedphones with an impedance over 120 ohms or so to provide additional voltage gain and prevent excessive roll-off at frequency extremes.












Product Page Links







Z97-Deluxe : http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z97DELUXENFC_WLC/
Z97-PRO : http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z97PRO/
Z97-A : http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z97A/
Maximus VII Hero : http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VII_HERO/
Maximus VII Gene : http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VII_GENE/
Z97 Sabertooth Mk.1 :http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/SABERTOOTH_Z97_MARK_1/














Guides





5-Way Optimization User Guide


More guides on their way!
77,280 Views
76 REPLIES 76

jab383
Level 13
Good start, Raja.

Good stuff to know and I really like the looks of BIOS fan tuning.

Jeff

Will the new Z97 boards still have that double-booting feature ??
INTEL INSIDE
* Asus Maximus XI Hero * Intel i9 9900K CPU * HyperX 4000MHz Predator RGB 16Gb DDR4 Ram *
* ViewSonic VX3211 32" 4K Monitor * Intel UHD 4K Graphics * Samsung 970 EVO 1Tb NVMe.M2 *
* A-Jazz GTX USB Gaming Mouse * ROG SupremeFX 5.1 Audio * Cougar Vantar RGB USB Keyboard *
* Corsair Carbide 100R Silent Mid Tower Case * Corsair RM1000i Power Supply (100% Modular) *

Pentium4 wrote:
Will the new Z97 boards still have that double-booting feature ??



Certain controllers and functions will always need this. Should not worry about this at all.

jab383 wrote:
Good start, Raja.

Good stuff to know and I really like the looks of BIOS fan tuning.

Jeff

Hello

The fan control, especially the configuration options available in the UEFI, puts these boards on a completely different level compared to other manufacturers.

Raja
Level 13

drew134
Level 7
Greetings,
Our company is interested if there are any updates on M.2 SSD support being added to newer BIOSes for the Z97 boards. Any possible ETA? Any info greatly appreciated.

Edit: Looking to see if the M.2 PCIexpress versions such as the Samsung XP941 will be bootable soon to be more specific.

drew134 wrote:
Greetings,
Our company is interested if there are any updates on M.2 SSD support being added to newer BIOSes for the Z97 boards. Any possible ETA? Any info greatly appreciated.

Edit: Looking to see if the M.2 PCIexpress versions such as the Samsung XP941 will be bootable soon to be more specific.



The drives are BOOTable in UEFI mode (GPT). Legacy install is where these drives have issues on every vendor's board.


I am using the Plextor M6e here on the Z97-Deluxe with a GPT install I performed on this board with absolutely no problems. The M6e should work both ways.

Praz
Level 13
Z97 Deluxe
4770K
32GB G.Skill 2400MHz TridentX (2 kits - F3-2400C10D-16GTX)

Memory clocking seems to have improved with Z97 compared to Z87. Using the same memory and CPU with Z87 booting at 2133MHz with Command Rate set to 1T was a struggle. I have never been able to boot at 2400MHz/1T. With Z97 full stability is pretty much plug n' play other than adjusting voltages. I used XMP profile #1 and manually set the Command Rate to 1T. All other timings and memory voltage were left at the default set by the XMP profile. Adaptive voltage was used for both the CPU and Cache voltages. Bekow are screenshot of some of my testing.

RealBench - 2 hours
Memtest for Windows - 8 hours
3ds Max render - 7 hours 40 minutes


RealBench running
click for larger image



RealBench finished
click for larger image



Memtest for Windows
click for larger image



3ds Max running
click for larger image



3ds Max finished
click for larger image

Thanks John 🙂