Intel S1150 by stefan @ 2013-07-12
Meet the Hi-Fi Z87X 3D board from BIOSTAR, which was designed to be affordable and succeeds to deliver good performances on the LGA1150 socket. Thanks to the extra attention that they gave to the audio interface, we will obtain better fidelity and in order to have special effects, the board is supplied with Sound Blaster Cinema and THX TruStudioPro applications, free of charge.
At first we would like to thank BIOSTAR for offering their Hi-Fi Z87X 3D LGA1150 motherboard for testing and reviewing.
“In 1980, the IT industry was growing at a phenomenal rate. With wide experience in buying and selling electronic parts as well as researching on future demands for mainboards and add-on cards , the founder of BIOSTAR GROUP, established BIOSTAR MICROTECH INTERNATIONAL CORP in 1986.
In the early years, BIOSTAR concentrated on the manufacture of mainboards built for XT form factor. To maintain steady business growth, BIOSTAR managed to keep a large portion of its capital and manpower invested on the design and development of new products, which at the same time has enabled it to stay competitive in the rapid evolution of the computer industry.
BIOSTAR has enriched its competence in the design and manufacture of products such as add-on cards, multi-media and system products to develop the market and meet the demands of customers for more integrated solutions. In order to expand its capacity to meet customer demand globally, BIOSTAR was the first to establish a manufacturing facility in China in 1990. In 1998, its sales revenues exceeded US$130 million and it ranked 227th among the top 1000 enterprises in Taiwan. Furthermore, BIOSTAR obtained an ISO 9001 certification in 1999 and became a publicly listed company in the same year. BIOSTAR’s future has limitless possibilities.”
Lucid MVP2.0
Virtu Universal MVP2.0, is an optimized Lucid Virtu GPU virtualization software that makes your PC look better, respond faster, process video and media smoother, all within a low power environment, Virtu Universal MVP has many of the same features as the popular Virtu software, but with a twist - the addition of the optional Hyperformance feature for intelligent reduction of redundant rendering tasks in the flow between the CPU, GPU and display.
Sound Blaster Cinema
Sound Blaster™ Cinema is designed to bring the same great audio experience found in live performances, films, and recording studios - to the PC.Powered by the SBX Pro Studio technologies, the Sound Blaster Cinema delivers a much more realistic and immersive experience, conveniently placed in a central and intuitive console. Armed with the technology of the biggest name in PC gaming audio, gamers can leverage Sound Blaster Cinema to get the best sound enhancements for today's games powered by Sound Blaster SBX Pro StudioTM technology. Each of the five technologies of SBX Pro Studio is focused on delivering a more immersive gaming experience.
Hi-Fi AMP 3D
With the built-in new generation 3D amplifier, Biostar Hi-Fi 3D motherboard can drive major high-end headphones with over 100dB loads and up to 600ohm impedance. It allows you enjoy a fuller range of dynamic sound with crisper details and less distortion when you are using any headphones.
Smart Ear 3D
Smart Ear 3D provides true reproduction of virtual 3D space using any headphones! It delivers the true 3D sounds for music, movies and also games. It's fantastically, especially if you've never experienced this kind of acoustic phenomenon before.
Hi-Fi Pre AMP
Hi-Fi 3D Technology is built-in power amplifier to boost the speaker volume. It will increase double volume level with high-quality HD audio output. Hi-Fi 3D Technology not only improves on the headphone but also enhances your speakers' sound volume.
Hi-Fi preamp can boost the line level audio signals from analog and digital sources to levels that a power amplifier can detect and boost again to successfully power up the loudspeaker.
3D Sound Fields
The six types of 3D Sound Fields are including Hi-Fi Theater, Hi-Fi Hall, Hi-Fi Game spots, Hi-Fi Studio, Hi-Fi Conference and Hi-Fi Bistro for your different applications. Biostar Hi-Fi 3D technology involves the virtaul placement of sound sources anywhere in 3 dimensional spaces, including behind, above or below.
Hi-V Caps
Hi-V Caps is "Metalized Polypropylene Film Capacitor" for each audio channel circuit. The customized audio capacitors deliver low noise, low distortion and wide bandwidth to achieve the highest sound resolution and sound expansion.
MCC
Multi Channels Calibration (MCC) can transform any room into the ideal listening environment. With Multi Channels Calibration (MCC), audio performance is automatically calibrated according to the dimensions of your room. Simply place the speaker and setup the microphone at your usual listening spot, position the speakers and connect them. The users can set up the speaker settings easily by using a free bundle MCC software.
Hi-Fi Power
Audio power is an important factor in audio quality. Most AV equipment isolates the power supply for each analog and digital signal to gather high-quality sound reproduction. Equipped with BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Power technology, it will utilize audio components with independent power design for a significant reduction in electronic noise and superb sound quality.
Hi-Fi Ground
BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Ground presents noise-blocking multi-layer PCB design which isolates analog audio signals from digital sources. The unique PCB layout is ideal for exceptional clarity and high fidelity sound. It’s focused on improving sound quality beyond the regular motherboard designs.
High Quality ESD
BIOSTAR Hi-Fi series motherboards provide high quality ESD (Electro-Static Discharge) solution for its front I/O panel. This function prevents static electricity and reduces the damage to the motherboards when you are plugging or unplugging your headphone.
Hi-Fi 110dB+
Embrace exceptional sound quality for the win with 110dB SNR and stylish and efficient EMI shield blocks electromagnetic interference to help provide cleaner audio. It has achieved a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 110dB, yielding almost loss-less audio form rear audio connectors.
SmartSpeedLAN
SmartSpeedLAN is a free software application which monitors and manages your PC’s network behavior. With user-friendly GUI, it allows you to select and prioritize different types of network traffic, including gaming, media streaming, communications or web surfing. You can also set any specific applications, choosing to prioritize or block accordingly. SmartSpeedLAN can feature automatic management options that use adaptive networking intelligence to ensure that you are getting the best online experience possible.
USB 3.0
Experience Fastest data transfers at 5 Gbps with USB 3.0--the new latest connectivity standard. Built to connect easily with next-generation components and peripherals, USB 3.0 transfers data 10X faster and backward compatible with previous USB 2.0 components.
100% Solid Caps
With armor-plated Biostar Technology, all capacitors are placed with 100% solid capacitors that have a lasting life cycle, durability and stability for crucial components.
BIO-Remote 2
BIO-Remote2 Technology is featuring users a better Home Theater environment. Users who own either Android mobile or Apple goods are able to access and control your PC remotely; At this moment, you’re smart device became a intelligent and functional remote controller; more than that, BIO-Remote2 also includes both function of mouse pad and power point presentation mode.
Charger Booster
Charger booster is the best and efficient charger solution for apple devices such as iPad, iPhone. Basically, Charger booster Technology is able to boost the charging time to be more efficiency and faster once any apple goods connecting to our Motherboard. With charger booster technology, you are able to charge your apple devices up to 42 % faster.
Blu-ray Audio
Upgrading your Audio performance in the easiest way is choosing BIOSTAR ultimate Motherboard. It does support Blu-ray audio DRM (compatible driver/software) and provide the higher audio output of 24 bit/ 192KHz than the 16 bit/ 48KHz from the normal MB. You will experience the high quality sound effect with pure Blu-Ray Audio.
The BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Z87X 3D motherboard has arrived in a medium-sized cardboard box, featuring a lot of logos which represent the supported technologies and product features:
As with the Z77 series, BIOSTAR have really concentrated on the audio CODEC fidelity and most of the related functions can be found on the back side of the box:
The motherboard along with its bundle is placed on separate layers. The documentation can be also found here:
Speaking of the bundle, we are receiving one I/O shield, a CrossFire connector, 4 SATA cables and one calibration microphone:
As documentation, we will receive the User’s Manual and a small leaflet explaining the usage of the audio software. A disk is also present with drivers and software:
The manual contains the necessary information to get the system built:
For additional protection, the manufacturer has wrapped the motherboard inside an anti-static bag:
The motherboard comes with a clean PCB design and features a black/blue color scheme:
On the upper side of the PCB, near the two split VRM components we will find the ISL6376 whch is an EAPP Hybrid Digital 6-Phase PWM controller:
In the back of the I/O connectors, we can locate the PTN3360DBS enhanced performance HDMI/DVI level shifter with active DDC buffer:
We were used to seeing the LAN controller near the edge of the left side of the PCB but now it was shifted a little inwards because the lower left area has been mostly allocated for the audio interface:
The Hi-Fi capacitors, Hi-Fi resistors, Hi-Fi Pre AMP, Hi-Fi Power, and Hi-Fi Ground have been implemented in order to have a highly enhanced audio quality:
The Realtek ALC898 8 Channel Blu-ray Audio controller comes with an aluminum cover for a better isolation:
On the bottom side of the PCB, starting from the left, we have the SPDIF OUT header, the CIR header, the COM1, one system fan header, two USB 2.0 headers and one F_Panel header. The Frontal Panel header is color coded for an easier identification:
Next, we have a Reset button and Power button, both with LEDs (the Reset LED functions as a HDD activity LED), a JLN2, JCOMS1 and J1 jumper, along with the diagnostic LED 2-digit display. The display also shows the CPU temperature after the system has booted up:
Between the last two PCI-Express x16 slots we will find the CMOS battery:
The SuperIO chip on this board is an ITE IT8728F:
The board comes with 2x PCI-Express x16 slots (first two on top), the last x16 being x4 electrical, along with 3x PCI-Express x1 slots:
On the right side of the board we’ll find 6 SATA ports along with one USB 3.0 header:
The Z87 chipset is covered by a small themed heatsink:
Near the 4 memory slots we have the 24-pin ATX power connector:
Also, in the vicinity of the chipset, we have a Fintek F75308 HWM IC:
On the sides of the memory slots we will spot some additional fan headers:
The VRM heatsinks have small dimensions and do not feature any heatpipes. In the back of the left VRM component we will also find the 8-pin ATX CPU Power connector:
The Rear Panel connectors are the following:
-4x USB 2.0 ports
-PS/2 mouse/keyboard combo port
-DVI-D and VGA connectors
-HDMI
-LAN
-Audio Ports
When the system is powered on, a LED light will also come out of the Realtek ALC898 CODEC casing:
The UEFI interface proposed by BIOSTAR is a little bit different compared to the one we have seen at the other manufacturer, but it still remains easy to navigate. The main sections can be found on the bottom area like Main, Advanced, Chipset, Boot and so on. Also, the live monitoring stats will always remain on the left side of the GUI, no matter which menu we are currently browsing. Inside the Main section, we are able to see the current board details, software versions, installed memory and here we can also modify the UEFI language, date and time:
The Advanced section is split into multiple menus like PCI Subsystem Settings, ACPI Settings and so on:
The PCI Subsystem Settings menu allows us to set some of the PCI Common Settings, along with PCI-Express Device Register Settings:
The ACPI Settings menu contains most of the regular power management options:
The CPU Settings and Information men section allows us to enable/disable some CPU-specific instructions:
From the SATA configuration area, we can choose the operating mode for the SATA controller, but we will also find a list of the currently connected devices:
The Intel Rapid Start Technology menu contains a single option which is self-explanatory:
The USB Configuration menu will allow us modify some related settings, but also to choose the emulation type for the connected Mass Storage Devices:
The Smart Fan Control menu lets us enable the CPU Smart Fan options and calibrate the feature:
From the Super IO Configuration menu we will be able to modify settings regarding the Serial Port and Infrared:
The PC Health Status menu shows the live temperatures, fan speeds and voltages all throughout the system:
Like Intel RST, Intel SCT also receives a separate menu option:
The last menu from this section is Network Stack, which can be enabled or disabled:
Inside the Chipset section, we get two other menus, PCH-IO Configuration and System Agent (SA) Configuration:
The PCH-IO Configuration menu allows us to modify some settings regarding the LAN interface, Audio and PCI-Express. Here we can also enable or disable EuP Control feature:
The SA Configuration menu comes with options regarding the display adapter priority, internal graphics and operating speed of the first two PCI-Express x16 slots:
The Boot menu will allow us to modify miscellaneous options, boot priorities and many more:
From the Security menu, we will be able to define an Administrator and User account password:
As we have seen on the latest UEFI versions from other manufacturers, from the O.N.E. section we can choose the start page. Here we will also have some other menus for fine-tuning the performance:
The CPU Configuration menu will be one of the most used by people which like to enhance their system performance without any extra money in case they own a K CPU. Here we’ll have options to modify the CPU multiplier, set the CPU Core Current, Power Limits, set the number of active processor cores, adjust the processor C states, modify the Ring Bus frequency or BCLK:
From the DRAM Configuration menu we can choose the timings in detail along with the memory operating speed:
Voltages for all components can be also adjusted in the next menu:
DDR3 Memory Insight menu will be able to read the pre-programmed memory profiles per each slot:
Finally, we have the Save & Exit menu from where we can save, discard or load manufacturer defaults. From the same menu, BIOSTAR puts at our disposal 5 different profile save slots:
CPU: Intel I5 4670K Retail
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14
Motherboard: BIOSTAR Z87X 3D
RAM: GeIL Black Dragon 2x4GB DDR2133 (@1600)
Video: HIS 7850 OC 2GB
Power Supply: Cooler Master 850W
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200.11
Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840
Stability at 4.5GHz could be obtained with a 1.275V value inside the UEFI and LLC at the highest level. Going up to 4.6GHz required voltages over 1.3V and the temperatures were exceeding 90 degrees Celsius:
With the latest version of AIDA64 utility, we can reveal more information regarding the motherboard, the CPU IMC and the Z87 chipset:
Motherboard
Haswell IMC
Z87 Chipset
For extra value and to help us configure the system outside the UEFI, BIOSTAR has available some applications for download right from their website. For tuning the audio output we have the SmartEAR 3D Headphone Utility, which provides true reproduction of virtual 3D space using any headphones:
As we have seen with the previous product tested from them, we have also available SmartSpeedLAN, for optimizing the network connection depending on the usage mode like Game, Stream, Browser:
The Application tab shows the detected apps which require network access and from here we can choose their priority or block them completely:
The Advanced menu allows setting more miscellaneous options like adjusting the Internet upload/download speeds or working with some Delay Sensitive Settings:
From the System Info menu, we will be able to see a system hardware report:
The About tab shows the current application version:
A BIOS Update Utility is also available for download; at the time of the review, no other new versions were available:
The Green Power Utility software enhances energy efficiency by disabling extra phases while CPU is under light load:
TOverclocker BIOSTARS’ response to ASRock AXTU and its interface is split into multiple tabs like CPU, Memory, OC Tweaker and H/W Monitor. The CPU tab shows the current clock, the motherboard BIOS version and some detailed information regarding the CPU version:
The Memory section has some additional tabs, which represent the memory slots. If these are populated, we will be shown the pre-programmed timings, frequencies and voltages:
From the OC Tweaker tab, we can modify system frequencies, power limits, but also voltages without the need to boot into the UEFI:
The H/W monitor menu comes with statistics regarding the voltages, fan speeds and temperatures:
Besides the applications that we have found in the “Downloads” section online, we also have on the supplied DVD a set of audio-related applications. The first one is Sound Blaster Cinema, which is meant to bring a set of extra effects to the audio material and is powered by the SBX Pro Studio technologies:
Sound Blaster Cinema application comes with different preset profiles that we can select depending on the audio material we are listening at the moment; we can also define a custom profile:
The second audio-related application is THX TruStudioPro which brings similar enhancements; we were happy that BIOSTAR has chosen to go with the “Pro” version, considering that many other manufacturers ship their boards with the regular “non-Pro” variant:
In our RMAA loopback test, we can declare the BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Z87X 3D board a winner so far:
By using a KingFast E-Drive 2.5'' SATAIII SLC 120GB SSD, we have performed ATTO runs in order to find the performance differences between the two platforms:
We are now reaching the end of the BIOSTAR motherboard review and we’ll draw some conclusions. The board PCB comes with a clean design, some compact heatsinks for both VRM area and the chipset and the LAN interface is provided by the well-known Realtek RTL8111F controller. In the back we have a total of 2 USB 3.0 ports and 4 USB 2.0; an extra set of USB 3.0 connectors can be obtained from the header located near the 6 SATA ports; BIOSTAR has not included an USB 3.0 bracket so we will have to choose a case which already comes with such type of connectors.
Both BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Z87X 3D and ASRock Z77 OC Formula motherboards have the audio solution based on the Realtek ALC898 8 Channel Blu-ray Audio CODEC but thanks to the extra filtration capabilities of the BIOSTAR board, we can clearly see a difference in the RMAA tests, so this is not just simple marketing. We would have preferred though to see a newer implementation of the audio CODEC like the ALC1150 version, which is available on some high-end Z87 boards already.
In the performed benchmarks, the BIOSTAR board has obtained good results; you may ask yourselves why we did re-bench the board at 3.8GHz too; well, this is because the ASRock board is clocking the Ivy Bridge CPU at the maximum Turbo frequency (3.8GHz), while the BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Z87X 3D board remains within Intel specifications and clocks the board to only 3.6GHz when all cores are active and this would have given it an unfair advance, hence the lower scores we have obtained in the first run.
The UEFI menu icon placement is a bit weird to look at when coming from other manufacturers like ASRock but we can get used to the interface right away. One thing we did not like was the fact that not all options were provided with a drop-down menu (like the voltage settings) so we did have to enter up each times the values ourselves.
Most observations we had before mostly disappear when we see the price: this board is currently available for about 145 Euros online, which we think that it is a good price for what it’s offered. This is not news, since BIOSTAR has also made similar boards for the previous generations with good performances but without a lot of bells and whistles in order to minimize the final costs.
We would like to thank again to BIOSTAR for making this review possible!