Intel's Z97 chipset is here. Asus goes in heavy. Getting the obvious out of the way, the 9-series Asus boards look a heck of a lot better than the overly-yellow, gaudy offerings from last year. This time around, the design is understated and rather more functional-looking.

There's not a whole lot of innovation left in ATX motherboard design. What we're really looking for are genuine differences between this and last year's board. Asus has redesigned the chipset heatsink into a low-profile, fanless model that catches the eye, replacing the square heatsink of the Z87-A.