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Biostar Gaming Z97X (LGA 1150) Motherboard Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

Sourcing the Biostar Gaming Z97X in both the UK and USA proves hard from reputable retailers. However, the pricing for UK is approximately £140 and USA is around $180.

Summary

I’m a little bit confused with this board. Biostar is one of the oldest motherboard manufacturers out there, originating back in 1986, yet I bet most would have never heard of the brand in a general tech conversation. It seems that lately they have branched from the OEM manufacturing of cheap and cheerful computers to targeting the enthusiast market with Gaming and Hi-Fi specified motherboards. The component knowledge is there and is proven through my testing and results, but the software side of things is a tad weak.

The performance of this board is simply amazing. It has stormed in and given the likes of the Gigabyte Z97N Gaming 5 and UD5H a serious run for its money. Offering strong CPU, GPU and networking performance, it would be hard not to consider this board. The specification of this motherboard is something not to be sniffed at, dual LAN and dual HDMI, this would make for a serious LAN gaming machine; the only other motherboards that offer dual LAN are some serious money, such as the ASUS SABERTOOTH. Along with those features, this motherboard also offers USB 3.1, the brand new format that offers up to 10Gb/s transfer speeds. The bundled software is good, it has all the features you would want; it just isn’t that good-looking or fluid. The bundled in Gaming Commander is a nice feature, offering audio jacks, volume controls, diagnostic LED’s and CPU temperature indicator into one simple unit.

In today’s marketplace, the consumer buys with their eyes as well as their wallet; if it looks good, it’s very likely to sell. The motherboard does look like it means business, but the software aesthetics are what brings this board down, it feels and looks so cheap and tacky; like my earlier reference to Theme Hospital at 1080p. The BIOS is also something that has a similar problem; the features are there, it just looks dated. Biostar know how to make good-looking software, just look at the Hi-Fi Z97WE and how good that BIOS looked. Now my last gripe is with the graphic card support. It hosts CrossfireX compatibility, but not SLI support; if this is a true gaming motherboard, it should offer both.

Biostar have made a cracking product here, I just think they need to spend a bit more time on the software and it would really make this motherboard a serious contender to take on the premium motherboards like the Gigabyte Gaming 7 or ASUS ROG series. This is an award winning product, it can compete with the competition in terms of performance, but it just needs the complete package in terms of software to keep up with rival offerings.

Pros