14 DAY TRIAL // Here's a motherboard that should tidy over pretty much anybody that is looking for a solid platform for their PC, but doesn't want to dabble too deeply into the arts of overpowered systems.
Which is to say, Supermicro has formally launched a motherboard that uses the full-ATX form factor but isn't exactly over-encumbered in terms of features.
This is an unusual event really, since Supermicro normally sticks to its rackmount server and workstation motherboards.
But we digress. The new platform, as is normal, uses 24-pin ATX, and 8-pin EPS connectors to receive energy from whatever PSU happens to be on hand.
The 22 nm-built Z87 Express PCH drives the C7Z87-OCE, and gets power through what looks like 6-phase digital PWM circuitry with driver-MOSFETs.
The motherboard also gets three PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots, which can work in one of three modes, depending on how many of them are populated at any given time: x16/NC/NC, x8/x8/NC, x8/x4/x4.
Then there's the multitude of storage ports. There are eight SATA 6.0 Gbps ports in total, six from the Z87 PCH, two from a third-party controller.
The USB 3.0 ports are the same in number, but four are available through headers and the others are located on the back panel.
Supermicro's C7Z87-OCE mainboard, naturally, possesses Gigabit Ethernet as well (two ports), a thunderbolt output (doubles up as mini-DisplayPort), dual-link DVI and D-Sub display outputs, and three close-ended PCI-Express 2.0 x4 crammed between the three PCI Express 3.0 slots we spoke of before.
Add to that 8-channel HD audio with optical SPDIF, AMI Aptio UEFI BIOS, and a classic keyboard-driven setup program, and you have a winning combo, assuming the price turns out reasonable. It hasn't been revealed yet.
For those wondering, the motherboard maker did the expected thing and installed four DDR3 DIMM slots on this thing.