Bundled Applications
Included Applications
- ASUS AI Suite 3
- ASUS Dual Intelligent Processors 5 with 5-Way Optimization
- TPU (Turbo Processing Unit)
- EPU (Energy Processing Unit)
- DIGI+ Power Control
- Fan XPert 3
- Turbo App
- USB 3.0 Boost
- AI Charger+
- USB Charger+
- Disk Unlocker
- ASUS Wi-Fi GO!
- Sonic Radar II
- GameFirst II
- DAEMON Tools Pro Standard
- ASUS WebStorage
- Norton Internet Security
AI Suite 3
The AI Suite 3 application is a bundling mechanism for all the included ASUS designed utilities, providing a centralized panel from which to access and run the applets. The other applets can be accessed by clicking on the tile icon in the upper right corner of the window. The AI Charger+ and USB Charger+ applets configure the USB port for optimized fast-charging of Apple-specific or generic USB-based devices. The USB 3.0 Boost applet supercharges your USB 3.0 ports, allowing for enhanced read and write performance with the amount of performance gain based on the USB 3.0 device in use.
The main app opens to the Dual Intelligent Processors 5 page, organized into separate sections for each of the five 5-Way Optimization features. The overclocking settings are housed in the TPU section. The EPU section houses power saving related settings. The DIGI+ Power Control section houses settings specific to the board power circuitry, and the Fan Xpert3 section contains fan controls. The Turbo App section houses application specific performance, network priority, and audio settings. Along the bottom of the app are real-time monitoring display settings.
5-Way Optimizations Wizard start page, TPU section
5-Way Optimizations Wizard start page, TPU and EPU sections
5-Way Optimizations Wizard start page, Fan section
5-Way Optimization Wizard in progress, TPU test
5-Way Optimization Wizard in progress, TPU test continued
5-Way Optimization Wizard in progress, Fan Xpert3 test
5-Way Optimization Wizard in progress, EPU test
5-Way Optimization Wizard in progress, DIGI+ VRM test
5-Way Optimization Report, TPU and EPU sections
5-Way Optimization Report, Fan section
TPU, CPU Frequency settings page
TPU, CPU Strap settings page
Fan Xpert3 page
DIGI+ Power Control, CPU settings page
Turbo App page
EPU page
Finally a black and red z97
Finally a black and red z97 board that isn’t stabbing you in the eyes with the amount of red. Simple splashes of color do wonders!
I still don’t get for a
I still don’t get for a ‘gamer’ board why there is all the display options. Also a PS2 port really? If it’s a gamer board, no one should be using on board gfx.
I still use PS/2 for an IBM
I still use PS/2 for an IBM Model M keyboard. It’s not completely unheard of, and they aren’t exactly running out of space anyway.
As for the display options, it can be nice to have a few additional ports in case your video card doesn’t have enough or enough of the right ones. (This works with multiple discrete cards but I’m not sure if this works with integrated GPUs – maybe someone can confirm?) Certainly it’s not the most important feature, but keep in mind that people may have different needs than you.
What is the target market for
What is the target market for a gamer board with PCI and VGA connectivity? I cant understand the PS2, but VGA and PCI? That is getting old even in the server space.
Some gamers still have their
Some gamers still have their favored PCI cards, including sound cards, that they've been using for years. As for the other video ports, its possible to use them for secondary/terciary monitors…
The two PCI slots are
The two PCI slots are positioned in such a way that if you are running SLI/crossfire they are both covered by duel slot cards anyway. And you still have access to 2 PCI-e 1X slots and the bottom slot. So while some people are still holding on to a soundcard or something they still want a PCI slot for, they are not going to make a difference to most people. And if you are using enough add in cards that they are a problem, you should probably be looking at a higher end board anyway.
As for VGA, there is probably some oddball case where someone wants to use an old monitor as an auxiliary display, but other than that I don’t know what self respecting gaming enthusiast is still using a VGA monitor, let alone plugging it into the motherboard. Still, I’d prefer to see some more HDMI/displayports and some more USB replace that DVI/VGA block.
With all the new technologies
With all the new technologies coming out I am putting on hold building a new gaming machine for 6 months.
m.2, u.2, and NVMe or not.
DDR3 or DDR4
Skylake?
Another round of GPU updates (or rebrands in AMD case)
USB3 or 3.1 type C
Gsync/Freesync
4K or not.
Windows 10
The only thing I can be certain of is my old mechanical hard drives can be ditched – perfect for a NAS (particularly in 6+TB per disk), no longer needed for desktop machine [do we really need all those SATA sockets?]
I am a firm believer in “you can never have too much memory” but I do not wish to break bank to afford it.
Monitors for gaming – bigger is better but hate proprietary standards, and refresh rate fixed at max 60 MHz sucks.
Never been a big fan of multi-GPU set ups though
And I watercool the CPU and GPU
I just bought me a new case
I just bought me a new case for my skylake build I am on z77 and will me moving to skylake. I just upgraded to a 970 from a 570 that was a huge perfomance improvement.