ASUS Z97I-PLUS (LGA 1150) Motherboard Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

In North America the ASUS Z97I-PLUS currently retails for $159.99 at Newegg and $179.99 at Amazon. In the UK it sells for £114.99 on Amazon, £110 at Scan Computers and £115 at Overclockers UK. The ASUS Z97I-PLUS comes with a three year manufacturer warranty.

Overview

Having already reviewed the ASUS Z97-A motherboard the similarities between that and this motherboard are pretty evident. Both motherboards share the same ALC 892 audio codec, the same Intel I218V gigabit ethernet controller, both use on the Z97 chipset for SATA, M.2 and USB provision, both use brown PCBs and both offer broadly similar performance at a very similar price. Of course the ASUS Z97I-PLUS loses a lot of the extra PCIe connectivity just out of the sheer size but in essence the ASUS Z97I-PLUS is just a “boiled down” or “condensed” version of the ASUS Z97-A. This is a very good thing because we absolutely loved the ASUS Z97-A and so naturally we’re also very fond of this motherboard too. I think the “ASUS advantage” with a motherboard like this comes from the comprehensiveness of the complete ASUS package. Not only do you get a great performing motherboard at a reasonable price with solid specifications but you also get what is probably the best software suite out of all the motherboard vendors. While motherboard software has a bit of a bad reputation you really need to experience the ASUS Z97 motherboard software to see that it actually adds useful and new features that make you go “wow I didn’t know my motherboard could do that”. I think the ASUS HomeCloud software is particularly exciting because it makes all that connectivity (WiFi, ethernet and Bluetooth) come in useful for something. On that note that’s also one of the “bonus features” this motherboard has that you really wouldn’t expect for the price point – the WiFi AC and Bluetooth 4.0 combo card.

I won’t even bother going on a witch hunt with this motherboard trying to find things I didn’t like because to be honest most of the issues are a result of the motherboard’s size, which can’t really be helped. ASUS have already done an excellent job in cramming so much in: I think for me discovering the M.2 port underneath the motherboard was the icing on the cake. However, because I want to offer a balanced viewpoint I will bring up a few of my concerns. Firstly, I think ASUS should have opted for the higher quality Realtek ALC 1150 codec, even if it meant adding a little extra to the cost. Secondly, I think the WiFi module should have had the antenna ports built into the rear I/O, instead you have to connect the cables to the antenna and to the mPCIe card inside and feed those cables through a pop-through hole in the I/O shield which is hardly ideal. Thirdly, the heatsinks get very hoty under load, again this is a result of the size particularly for the PCH heatsink which is absolutely tiny (but has to be to fit in such a tight space). Finally, the TPM header seems like a waste of space. I’d much rather ASUS ditched that in favour of more fan headers or just more of something else that people might actually use. I can’t remember the last time I heard of anyone ever using a TPM header but maybe that’s just me living in some kind of bubble.

Pros

• Excellent software suite
• Full ATX-level performance
• Impressive pricing
• Miraculous M.2 inclusion
• WiFi and Bluetooth combo card

Cons

• Rear I/O needs better antenna placement
• Audio could be improved with ALC 1150
• TPM header seems like a waste of space
• Heatsinks get quite hot, especially under overclocking

“The world of mini-ITX motherboards is still fairly niche but ASUS have demonstrated that there is always room for innovation and improvement in this exciting form factor. The ASUS Z97I-PLUS raises the bar for mini-ITX motherboards yet again and it does so at a surprisingly affordable price point.”

Thank you to ASUS for providing this review sample.