If you are looking for a low priced Z97 system you could do worse than base it off of the ASUS Z97-P. It is a trimmed down ATX board, only 21.3cm wide which unfortunately leads to a relatively crowded CPU socket and you would be wise to double check the size of the cooler you intend to use. You will also be limited to a single GPU as only one of the PCIe slots is 16x Gen3, the other 16x slot is in fact a 2x though that does leave enough lanes for the board to sport an M.2 slot. There are sacrifices made on the board but the general high quality of ASUS firmware ensures you get stable performance and, in The Tech Reports' opinion, justifies the slightly higher cost when compared to some of the other budget Z97 boards on the market.
"Asus' entry-level Z97 board is the Z97-P. Does the P in the model name signify that all it can hope for is a passing grade compared to its straight-As brother, the Z97-A? Read on to find out."
Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
- GIGABYTE GA-Z97N-WIFI @ [H]ard|OCP
- Gigabyte X99M Gaming 5 @ Modders-Inc
- Asrock X99E-ITX-ac @ Legion Hardware
- GIGABYTE X99-UD4 Motherboard Review @ Techgage
- Gigabyte X99 SOC Champion: 8Pack world record interview @ Kitguru
- ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+ Motherboard @ Hardware Secrets
These smaller than ATX boards
These smaller than ATX boards are annoying. If it isn’t 12 × 9.6 inches, then IMO, it technically isn’t an ATX board.