Motherboard Intel DZ87KLT-75K Review

Intel has been a leading designer of multi-field CPUs and chipsets for many years on end. Nowadays it continues its operation, defining the mode of a global IT industry development. Being a guru in one field, the company has never been thought a major player in the motherboard segment for which its products are destined. The only people/structures that took benefit of its boards were system integrators; nonetheless, today Intel is trying to catch up with the segment of home users, now and then releasing top-tier products. DZ87KLT-75K is exactly such model. Let’s see what it has to offer.

Specifications

Motherboard Intel DZ87KLT-75K features the following peculiarities:
— form-factor: ATX (305x244 mm);
— chipset and socket: Intel Z87, Socket LGA1150;
— connectivity: one PCI Bus Master slot, three PCIe x1 slots, three PCIe x16 slots, a pair of FireWire ports IEEE1394 (main and additional), one Thunderbolt port, one external Wi-fi/Bluetooth v2.1 module, a couple of gigabit Ethernet controllers, 6x USB 3.0 and 8x USB 2.0 ports;
— graphics: support of Intel HD Graphics, Nvidia SLI and AMD CrossFireX due to PCIe x16 connectors;
— memory: four 240-contact SDRAM DIMM slots, the maximal capacity – 32 GB, support for DDR3 modules with 2400 MHz frequency, support for two-channel operational mode;
— storage: a single mSATA port, six SATA III 6 Gb/sec ports (run by Z87 chipset) and two SATA III 6 Gb/sec ports (run by ASMedia ASM1061 controller);
— power: main 24-contact ATX socket, additional 8-contact power socket;
— monitoring: CPU/chipset/memory/system temperature, voltage index, system fans speed control;
— delivery: brief user’s manual, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth modules with a cable, a mouse pad, and a rear panel plug.

Design and Layout

The DZ87KLT-75K is based on a classic black-and-blue PCB design with three PEG-slots. The latter support v3.0 bus specification. It should be noted that the board is equipped with a supplementary PCI Express PEX8606 bridge to provide for a more flexible PCIe line distribution. At the same time, an additional ITE IT8892E controller ensures PCI functionality, since Z87 chipset does not support this bus.

Hardware layout is elaborated without any reproofs: DIMM clips are not blocked by the first graphics card, whereas power sockets are located on the board’s edges. The model accommodates six 4-contact sockets for system fans; therein, fan speed is regulated by system monitoring.

Expansion Facilities

Thanks to Z87 chipset, this motherboard supports six SATA III channels. All the ports (blue) are located near the chipset and have a parallel to the PCB orientation. Right to them, one will find additional SATA ports (gray), monitored by ASMedia controller. The availability of mSATA port enables the installation of a small-sized expansion card or SSD.

To continue, Z87 supports USB 3.0 high-speed bus; six ports are located on the rear facet and the two other are connected by means of a dedicated plank. One should mind, that the chipset takes care only about six ports, while the other two are governed by GL3520M USB-hubs. Moreover, the board houses eight USB 2.0 ports. A pair of them might be found of the rear facet, while the other six are connected with dedicated planks (which are void in the delivery set).

Audio subsystem, governed by Realtek ALC898 controller, is responsible for the production of high-quality 7.1-channel sounding. Network facilities are introduced by two gigabit controllers: Intel i217V and Intel i210; they are connected to separate PCIe buses and feature the corresponding RJ-45 sockets. In addition, the board houses two FireWire ports, run under TSB43AB22A controller.

The I/O panel accommodates only one video port – HDMI. The list of other interfaces includes PS/2 port, Thunderbolt. The PCB also features Power/Reset buttons and POST-codes indicators.

UEFI

The major identifying peculiarity of Intel DZ87KLT-75K is the incorporation of an innovative BIOS. The interface is totally oriented on mouse manipulations. All basic functions are seen on two main screens. The main screen contains a scrollbar that is targeted at the CPU frequency adjustment, a list of drives (it’s possible to queue them for uploading), and info about BIOS version. The other main screen provides information about all system components, as well as about system monitoring results.