Introduzione
In questo articolo diamo uno sguardo ad alcune schede madre compatibili con i microprocessori Intel Core di quarta generazione, meglio conosciuti come Haswell. In passato ci siamo concentrati su modelli di fascia abbastanza alta come l'ASRock Z87 Extreme6, l'Asus Z87-Pro, l'ECS Z87H3-A2X Extreme, la Gigabyte Z87X-UD4H e la MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming.
In questo articolo ci concentriamo su soluzioni più abbordabili, sempre basate su chipset Z87, ma dal prezzo inferiore ai 150 euro. In totale si tratta di cinque modelli, basati su socket LGA 1150: ASRock Z87 Extreme4 (145 euro), Asus Z87-Plus (135 euro), Biostar Hi-Fi Z87X 3D (130 euro), Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H (150 euro) e MSI Z87-G45 Gaming (145 euro). Le specifiche tecniche le trovate in questa lunga tabella:
| ASRock Z87 Extreme4 | Asus Z87-Plus | Biostar Hi-Fi Z87X 3D | Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H | MSI Z87-G45 Gaming | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCB Revision | 1.06 | 1.02 | 5.0 | 1.0 | 1.2 |
| Chipset | Intel Z87 Express | Intel Z87 Express | Intel Z87 Express | Intel Z87 Express | Intel Z87 Express |
| Voltage Regulator | 12 Phases | Eight Phases | 12 Phases | Eight Phases | Eight Phases |
| BIOS | P1.90 (06/24/2013) | 1204 (06/21/2013) | Z87CF523.BST (5/23/2013) | F5 (05/16/2013) | V1.3 (06/19/2013) |
| 100.0 MHz BCLK | 100.60 (+0.60%) | 99.94 (-0.06%) | 100.00 (-0.00%) | 99.77 (-0.23%) | 100.13 (+0.13%) |
| I/O Panel Connectors | |||||
| P/S 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| USB 3.0 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 4 |
| USB 2.0 | 2 | None | 4 | None | 2 |
| Network | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| eSATA | 1 (Shared w/SATA) | None | None | 2 (Shared w/SATA) | None |
| CLR_CMOS Button | None | None | None | None | Yes |
| Digital Audio Out | Optical | Optical | None (HDMI-only) | Optical | Optical + Coaxial |
| Digital Audio In | None | None | None | None | None |
| Analog Audio | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Video Out | VGA, DVI-D, DisplayPort, HDMI | Mini DisplayPort, HDMI, VGA, DVI-D | VGA, DVI-D, HDMI | VGA, DVI-D, HDMI, DisplayPort | VGA, DVI-D, HDMI |
| Other Devices | HDMI-In (Pass-through) | None | None | None | None |
| Internal Interfaces | |||||
| PCIe 3.0 x16 | 3 (x16/x0/x0, x8/x8/x0, x8/x4/x4) | 2 (x16/x0, x8/x8) | 2 (x16/x0, x8/x8) | 2 (x16/x0, x8/x8) | 3 (x16/x0/x0, x8/x8/x0, x8/x4/x4) |
| PCIe 2.0 x16 | None | 1 (x2 transfers) | 1 (x4 transfers) | 1 (x4, shared w/2 x1) | None |
| PCIe 2.0 x1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 (2 shared w/x4) | 4 |
| USB 3.0 | 2 (4-ports) +1 Port | 1 (2-ports) | 1 (2-ports) | 2 (4-ports) | 1 (2-ports) |
| USB 2.0 | 3 (6-ports) | 4 (8-ports) | 2 (4-ports) | 3 (6-ports) | 3 (6-ports) |
| SATA 6Gb/s | 8 (1-shared w/eSATA) | 8 | 6 | 8 (2-shared w/eSATA) | 6 (1-shared w/mSATA) |
| 4-Pin Fan | 2 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| 3-Pin Fan | 4 | None | 4 | 1 | None |
| FP-Audio | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| S/PDIF I/O | None | Output Only | Output Only | Input And Output | None |
| Internal Buttons | Power, Reset, CLR_CMOS | Power, DirectKey, MemOK, BIOS Flashback, TPU, EPU | Power, Reset | Power, Reset, CLR_CMOS, CMOS IC/Mode selectors | None |
| Diagnostics Panel | Numeric | None | Numeric | Numeric | None |
| Other Devices | Dual PCI, Serial, CIR | TPM, Serial | Serial, CIR | TPM, Serial, PCI | mSATA, TPM, Serial |
| Mass Storage Controllers | |||||
| Chipset SATA | 6 x SATA 6Gb/s | 6 x SATA 6Gb/s | 6 x SATA 6Gb/s | 6 x SATA 6Gb/s | 6 x SATA 6Gb/s |
| Chipset RAID Modes | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 |
| Add-In SATA | ASM1061 PCIe 2 x SATA 6Gb/s 1 x eSATA 6Gb/s | ASM1061 PCIe 2 x SATA 6Gb/s | None | 88SE9172 PCIe 2 x SATA 6Gb/s or 2 x eSATA 6Gb/s | None |
| USB 3.0 | ASM1074 Hub (4-ports) | ASM1074 Hub (4-ports) | None | 2 x PD720210 Hub (8-ports) | None |
| Networking | |||||
| Primary LAN | WGI217V PHY | WGI217V PHY | 8111F PCIe | WGI217V PHY | Killer E2205 PCIe |
| Secondary LAN | None | None | None | None | None |
| Wi-Fi | None | None | None | None | None |
| Bluetooth | None | None | None | None | None |
| Audio | |||||
| HD Audio Codec | ALC1150 | ALC892 | ALC898 | ALC898 | ALC1150 |
| DDL/DTS Connect | DTS Connect | DTS Connect | None | None | None |
| Warranty | Three Years | Three Years | Three Years | Three Years | Three Years |
Passiamo all'analisi di ogni prodotto, prima di sottoporre le schede madre alle classiche prove.