ASUS Z97I-PLUS mini-ITX Motherboard Review

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by Rob Williams on July 24, 2014 in Motherboards

“Big things come in small packages” might be cliche, but it applies well to mini-ITX motherboards – especially those like ASUS’ Z97I-PLUS. Featuring 802.11ac wireless, an M.2 slot, a common-sense design, and a fantastic software package, this is one board well worth considering for that next ITX build.

Page 3 – A Look at the EFI

An archive including all of these screenshots and more can be downloaded here (.ZIP, 3.6MB).

I’m going to sound like a broken record when I say this, but it is what it is: I love ASUS’ EFIs. Since the first release a couple of generations ago, it was clear that ASUS favored functionality and ease-of-use above all – despite even the first-gen EFI having good looks. At the same time, most of ASUS’ competitors seemed to have the opposite mindset, favoring aesthetics above all. In a way, it’s not that hard to understand where they were coming from. EFI was new, after all, and it allowed them to pretty up their interfaces. From an ease-of-use standpoint, though, what we were given wasn’t ideal.

Fortunately, all board vendors have improved their EFIs over time (though I think some could still use some TLC), and that includes ASUS – because after all, just because something is good, it doesn’t mean it can’t be made better.

I’ve explored ASUS’ EFIs in depth before, and because we’re not dealing with what I’d consider a vast overhaul with the Z97 series, I’m not going to be redundant here. Instead, I’m going to talk about the updated design and other features I findĀ notable, or should be talked about again. If you’re interested in digging deeper, I recommend checking out the EFI pages from my Z87-EXPERT and P9X79 PRO reviews.

ASUS’ ‘EZ-MODE’ makes a return here, and it’s no surprise. Its goal is to help most users configure the basics without having to enter the full-blown interface. It’s also useful to those simply needing a quick gauge of temperatures, or to change the boot priority. The color scheme might not be to everyone’s taste, but it’s certainly easy on the eyes.

ASUS Z97I-PLUS - EFI EZ Mode

It’s not new functionality, but one of my favorite features of EZ-MODE is the XMP selector. From a simple drop-down, you can select between any of the available profiles your memory offers. Because it’s hard to tell the difference between XMP #1 and XMP #2, the spec of that particular profile will be listed to the right as soon as one is chosen. All motherboards should offer quick access to this option.

ASUS’ motherboards have had robust fan-tuning capabilities for some time, but its Z97 line packs a surprise. After clicking on the “Manual Fan Tuning” option from the EZ-Mode, you’ll be brought here:

ASUS Z97I-PLUS - QFan Tuning

This screen does exactly what you think it does. You’re able to select preset configurations, or create your own. With AiSuite, this functionality isn’t that impressive anymore, but it certainly is impressive here given it’s inside the EFI. There’s really not much to be said here that’s not blatantly obvious, except that this is a great addition.

After entering the “Advanced Mode”, a couple of differences over last-gen ASUS boards can be immediately seen. For starters, the right side of the EFI is dedicated to monitoring various clock speeds and temperatures, as well as voltages. At the bottom is another, more subtle feature: “Last Modified”. On Z87 ASUS boards, changing something in the EFI and then restarting it would pop-up a prompt to show you exactly what’s been changed. This board still has that functionality, but what’s new is being able to see what you changed last time. So, if you happen to make a change that somehow didn’t behave like you expected, you can refer to this list and undo what you need to.

ASUS Z97I-PLUS - Advance Mode

With this screen up, I’ll point your attention to a little feature called “ASUS MultiCore Enhancement”. A couple of generations ago, ASUS changed its boards to auto-OC your CPU if you changed any number of performance variables. For example, if you equipped an XMP profile, the board considered it an overclock and applied a boost to the processor. As a hardware reviewer who likes apples-to-apples comparisons, this wasn’t ideal, but I could understand ASUS’ viewpoint. As a consumer, I’d be personally fine with that mechanic; it’s not as though the CPU was is cranked to unreasonable levels.

For this generation, that mechanic is now tied to the ASUS MultiCore Enhancement feature. If you choose an XMP preset, or some other performance variable, and don’t want the board to overclock your CPU, you can simply disable this option. For the sake of testing this board as it’ll be used by most people who buy it, I left that option enabled. This will skew the performance versus boards that don’t OC the processor automatically, but I have to sum that up as “it is what it is”. It’s just another little thing I’ll have to mention on the performance page.

Another not-new-but-still-interesting feature is “My Favorites”. With it, you’re able to pick and choose exactly which options you want to be featured on a special page in the Advanced Mode. For testing, I simply chose an assortment of things:

ASUS Z97I-PLUS - My Favorites

Somewhat similar to this feature is “Quick Note”, an in-EFI notepad of sorts that lets you write things down in the event you don’t have pen and paper handy. You won’t want to write that next best-selling novel in here, though, as it will be wiped each time the EFI is flashed. It’s for quick notes only.

Another established ASUS EFI feature that’s earned an upgrade is EZ Tuning Wizard. This is a one-stop shop for those who want to boost their CPU performance but don’t want to fiddle with all the knobs. What’s new about this is that it’s not a one-size-fits-all kind of tuning; you’ll be questioned about your PC use (everyday, or content editing), as well as the type of cooling you have. When I told the tool that I had a tower cooler, it projected an overclock of about 28%. In all likelihood, whatever overclock it sets is going to be completely stable; just be sure to pick the proper cooling method, and don’t cheat by choosing water when you’re running a stock Intel fan.

ASUS Z97I-PLUS - EZ Tuning Wizard

Before wrapping-up, I think “Qfan Control” deserves a bit of a mention. Earlier, I showed you that it was possible to tune your fan settings in a very robust way from inside the EFI. With QFan Control, a lot of the values can be determined automatically, as the EFI will spin up each fan, one at a time, to gauge its plot lines. This is a killer feature for someone like me, who doesn’t want to spend time fine-tuning things to such a degree. I’d rather write about that kind of tweaking than doing it!

If you’re curious about other key options in the EFI on this board, or simply want to kill some time by flicking through some images, I’d recommend downloading the ZIP archive at the top of this page, which featuresĀ 32 images in total.

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Rob Williams

Rob founded Techgage in 2005 to be an 'Advocate of the consumer', focusing on fair reviews and keeping people apprised of news in the tech world. Catering to both enthusiasts and businesses alike; from desktop gaming to professional workstations, and all the supporting software.

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