Also intros the nearly identical Z97W mainboard

Feb 6, 2015 13:38 GMT  ·  By

Motherboards based on the X99 chipsets are the ones considered the most powerful on the market at present, but unless you are willing to pay the thousands of dollars it takes to build an overkill workstation, you're probably better off with a Z97-based platform.

There is only one reason why one would insist on the LGA 2011-3-equipped X99 PCs: DDR4 support. Only Haswell-E CPUs support it.

DDR3 is still more than up to the task of running every program you could think of, so the new GAMING Z97X motherboard from Biostar definitely deserves its title as “flagship” motherboard.

The platform has a 12-phase VRM (voltage regulation module) and about everything you would expect from a high-end piece of hardware.

The Biostar GAMING Z97X motherboard

Powered by 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors, the motherboard features four DDR3 memory slots (DIMM), three PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots, and three PCI Express 2.0 x1 slots.

The PCIe x16 slots work in electrical x16/NC/NC or x8/x8/NC or x8/x4/x4 configurations, depending on how many of them are in use at any time.

Qualcomm Killer E2200 Ethernet networking is supported, and there is a second Gigabit Ethernet port available, driven by an Intel controller.

Storage-wise, we have the regular array of SATA 6.0 Gbps ports, but also SATA Express which reaches 12 Gbps thanks to being (partially) wired through PCI Express.

Then there are the two USB 3.1 ports, which reach 10 Gbps compared to USB 3.0 5 Gbps, though there are six of those as well. In fact, a number of USB 2.0/1.1 ports are also included.

That leaves audio: 110 dBA SNR CODEC, a 600Ω headphones amp, ground-layer isolation.

Availability and pricing

Biostar hasn't expressly released the price tag, meaning that retailers will have to reveal it. Interestingly, a 5.25-inch front-panel “Gaming Commander” head-unit is included (amplifier control, diagnostic LEDs, a CPU temperature indicator, volume control and audio outputs).

A version of the Biostar GAMING Z97X with only two PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots and a 10-phase CPU VRM should be put up for sale as well. It is called GAMING Z97W.

Biostar GAMING Z97X (5 Images)

Biostar GAMING Z97X
GAMING Z97WGAMING Z97W top view
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