ASUS GRYPHON Z87 Pro Reviews

ASUS has made a practice of building high-end features into smaller-than-ATX motherboards. Examples include the well known "Gene" series of micro ATX motherboards, and newcomers like the mini-ATX P8Z77-i Deluxe. It's good to see ASUS bring their TUF technologies down to the mATX world. Along with the expected reliability and five-year warranty, there's the optional GRYPHON Armor kit that adds a reinforcing back plate, dust/ventilation shield, dust covers for slots and connectors, and extra thermal probes that can be utilized by the Thermal Radar 2 feature. AI Suite continues to sprout new capabilities and features, and the enhanced UEFI BIOS is (note to other vendors: reviewers really, really like being able to do screen captures of BIOS screens.) just keeps getting better, with "Why didn't I think of that?" features like a list of the settings you changed when you're ready to save and reboot. ASUS continues the khaki-schemed colors of previous TUF boards on the GRYPHON. It's not hard to visualize of stack of these boards sitting in a military warehouse somewhere. It's an attractive, if unusual, look. If you want more, the GRYPHON Armor kit offers modders the option of painting the upper dust/ventilation shield.

I have, as some forum readers will know, been waiting for a TUF board product sample for some time. The entire TUF line-up comes with one of the industry's longest warranties for board products, which had me think that these boards were perhaps something special, and my ideas on what these boards offered really were confirmed when I got the ASUS GRYPHON Z87. As the base of a long-term build with a modest overclock, the ASUS GRYPHON Z87 is very nearly the ultimate solution for those looking for a TUF product in the mATX form factor. Paired with the GRYPHON ARMOR, its built-in thermal-management features and the software make for a robust platform that is sure to provide any user with exactly what they require. From its lower power consumption to the excellent overclocking results I achieved, the ASUS GRYPHON Z87 never disappointed.

Before continuing with our final thoughts on this board, we would like to take this opportunity to give our friends at ASUS a hearty “Thank You” for giving us the opportunity and pleasure of reviewing the Gryphon Z87 motherboard. This was another board that intrigued me after having some hands-on time with it at the ASUS preview event. The board layout is flawless with no tight areas and several nice design wins. The board coloration follows the standard TUF line with its desert camouflage motif. From the initial unboxing to the conclusion of testing, I had absolutely no problems with the board. It ran like a dream. I thing I would like to mention is the placement of the CMOS battery. While it may look out of place in comparison to other boards, it isn't. Most board's place the batter in the middle of the PCI-Express slot area, making it hard to get to with other stuff in the board. Not here. The CMOS battery is placed just to the right of the primary PCI-Express x16 slot, making removal of the battery easy as pie (unless you have a larger than average CPU cooler that is). The one thing that I was disappointed about with this board was the packaging of the Thermal Armor as an add-on kit rather than coming with the board. While you don't necessarily need the armor kit for board performance because it is already engineered that well, the Thermal Armor just adds that one more element to the board that screams "Come Get Some".