ASUS motherboards guard your PC with 5X Protection. We use quality components like DIGI+ VRM digital power design for precise CPU power on demand, ESD units tested to strict standards that eliminate electrostatic interference, and resettable fuses around DRAM slots to prevent overcurrent and short-circuit damage. We also use corrosion-resistant back I/O shields, all examples of ASUS providing the best possible reliability and durability.
Media-renowned UEFI BIOS from ASUS provides the smoothest mouse-controlled graphical BIOS, and now features more intuitive functions to quickly take you to favorite BIOS pages and frequently-accessed settings through custom shortcuts. You can even write quick notes in-BIOS for future reference, view an activity log of setting changes and modifications, and rename SATA ports. EZ Mode has a whole new look, upgraded with extra-friendly capabilities like detailed fan controls, XMP profile settings, SATA information, and fast clock adjustment. Together, these perfect your BIOS experience.
Seeing an opportunity for more fine-tuned control, hardware-level ASUS Fan Xpert 2 featuring Fan Auto Tuning, providing an tailored fan speed setting for each fan with the exclusive, automatic fan speed detection to achieve the best balance of cooling performance and low noise. It even provides a "RPM Fixed Mode" for users who wish to reduce noise levels to near 0dB with a specific fan speed control.
ASUS USB 3.0 Boost technology supports UASP (USB Attached SCSI Protocol) in Windows 8. With USB 3.0 Boost technology, a USB device's transmission speed is significantly increased up to 170%, adding to already fast USB 3.0 performance. ASUS software automatically accelerates data rates for compatible USB 3.0 peripherals without any user interaction.
Even if you work with a smaller case, plugging in memory is easy with one-sided clips that are right at the edge of the board and always accessible. Just push down on the clip and push or pull RAM modules in or out – couldn’t be simpler!
Thanks to ASUS Windows 8 hardware optimization, ASUS Boot Setting provides better flexibility in customizing your PC’s startup process. You can shorten system boot-up time to 2-seconds* for a smoother user experience under Windows 8, and even previous versions of Windows. Also, you can enter the BIOS directly with one click through a user-friendly interface, and quickly select your preferred system boot up method: either get to the OS in seconds or opt for regular boot up. Whatever your choice, settings are saved and persistent, with no need to choose every time you power on.
ASUS AI Suite 3 offers a brand new user experience through a clearer and more attractive interface with support for larger monitors. It consolidates all exclusive ASUS features into one simple-to-use package, allowing you to supervise overclocking, energy consumption, fan speeds, voltages and more. This all-in-one app offers diverse and easy to use functionality, with no need to switch back and forth between different utilities.
Following up on popular 1080p full HD, 4K Ultra HD is the next big thing, and you’re ready for the upgrade thanks to integrated graphics that natively support up to 4096 x 2160 via HDMI or DisplayPort. That’s four times the pixel count of 1080p (1920 x 1080), offering incredible visual clarity, detail, and realism.
This motherboard supports Intel 4th generation Core i7/i5/i3/Pentium/Celeron processors in the LGA1150 package, with iGPU, memory and PCI Express controllers integrated to support onboard graphics output with dedicated chipsets, 2-channel (4 DIMM) DDR3 memory and 16 PCI Express 3.0/2.0 lanes. This provides great graphics performance. Intel 4th generation Core i7/i5/i3/Pentium/Celeron processors are among the most powerful and energy efficient CPUs in the world.
The Intel Q87 Express chipset is a single-chipset design that supports socket LGA1150 4th generation Intel Core i7/i5/i3/Pentium/Celeron processors. It provides improved performance by utilizing serial point-to-point links, allowing increased bandwidth and stability. It natively supports up to six USB 3.0 ports for up to ten times faster transfer rates than USB 2.0. Moreover, the Intel Q87 Express chipset also supports iGPU functionality, letting users enjoy the latest Intel integrated graphics performance.