JJ pays PC Perspective a visit!

JJ from ASUS stopped by the PC Perspective offices to show off the new line of Z87 motherboards from ASUS and give everyone tips for overclocking.

In case you hadn't heard, on June the 4th, (world famous) JJ Guerrero from ASUS stopped by the PC Perspective offices to help host a live stream focused on Z87 platforms and the Intel Haswell processor.  Since Intel decided to launch on a Saturday morning, you might have missed the boat: the Core i7-4770K was reviewed right here on PC Perspective and the results are pretty good. 

Motherboards, we got motherboards here!!

Along with Haswell though is the release of the new Z87 chipset and with THAT, about 100 different ASUS motherboards.  I exaggerate, but only a little.  In our live stream that aired for about 4.5 hours, JJ and I discussed about 20 different motherboard ranging from Mini-ITX options to the budget-minded Z87-A and even the ROG Maximus VI Extreme! 

Below you will find an on-demand version of the stream, broken up into five segments. 

 

ASUS Z87 Motherboard Segmentation

This first segment details the mindset ASUS had when creating the four different motherboard product lines: Mainstream, Workstation, TUF and ROG.  Why do they need all of these options and what features and quality points are common across the entire families? 

 

ASUS Mainstream Z87 Motherboard Lineup

ASUS' new mainstream line of motherboards with the z87 chipset range from the Z87-A to the Z87-Deluxe/Dual.  JJ talks about the features that are added as you move up the product stack so that you can find the option that fits your platform needs and budget.

 

ASUS WS + TUF + Mini-ITX + ROG Motherboard Lineup

While the mainstream boards are great, the ASUS-specific platforms are really impressive!  In this video we talk about the workstation boards, the TUF series of options including the Z87 Sabertooth and Gryphon, the mini-ITX options that so many people are excited about and of course, the ROG line.  With the Maximus VI Extreme, Hero, Gene, Formula and Impact, the ROG line is growing larger with even more impressive features and options. 

 

ASUS AISuite III + Overclocking + UEFI Features

Now that you know all about the hardware of the motherboards, JJ took some time to explain the new software features as well.  ASUS AISuite III is a new all-encompassing software package that integrates feature options and overclocking settings.  JJ demos the auto-overclocking feature that takes an air-cooled Haswell 4770K up to 4.9 GHz (!!).  Also included in this video is a jump into the new UEFI and details about new features including a Favorites tab, note taking and more!

 

ASUS UEFI Overclocking with Haswell + ROG RAMDisk + Sound Radar

Finally, rounding things up, JJ and I spend some time on a water cooled Maximus VI Extreme setup and run through the manual overclocking process through the UEFI.  If you are new to Haswell overclocking (and who isn't at this point?) then you should definitely watch this video as it is a good starting point for any user.  We also take a look at the ROG RAMDisk software and the new ROG Sound Radar technology that allows you to "see" audio in games.

 

I would like to thank ASUS and JJ for stopping by our offices and sitting down with us for the day and teaching us about their new products.  The dedication and commitment to doing this type of media discussion shows a lot of confidence inside ASUS about its Z87 lineup and feature set.  This is something that is becoming more and more important (and something consumers should pay attention to) as feature differentiation on motherboards becomes harder. 

We already posted reviews of the ASUS Maximus VI Extreme and Z87 TUF Gryphon motherboards but stay tuned to PC Perspective for many more Z87 reviews coming soon!