Intel DZ87KLT-75K – The Last Intel Motherboard

Intel DZ87KLT-75K – The Last Intel Motherboard

Since the Core i7-4770K chip is only compatible with LGA 1150 socketed boards, Intel sent us another product in their review kit. The DZ87KLT-75K motherboard is the latest from Intel featuring the Z87 chipset and LGA 1150 socket to support Haswell processors. Before going into detail, i’d like to mention that the board would also be the last which Intel manufacture’s on their own. Don’t worry though since partners of Intel would keep on making their own motherboards while Intel focuses on more important tasks. Following is the official statement by intel:

We disclosed internally today that Intel’s Desktop Motherboard Business will begin slowly ramping down over the course of the next three years. As Intel gradually ramps down its motherboard business we are ramping up critical areas of the desktop space including integration of innovative solutions for the PC ecosystem such as reference design development, NUC and other areas to be discussed later.

The internal talent and experience of twenty years in the boards business (which until recently has been largely focused on desktop tower type designs) is being redistributed to address emerging new form factors — desktop and mobile – and to expand Intel’s Form Factor Reference Design (FFRD) work and enable our partners to develop exciting new computing solutions.

The Desktop segment continues to be a major focus for Intel with hundreds of products across many subsegments and applications. Intel expects the broad and capable DT motherboard ecosystem (ie Asus, Gigabyte, MSI and many others) to fully support Intel’s growing roadmap and large worldwide customer base. Intel’s Desktop Motherboard Business will not develop any new Intel branded desktop motherboards after completion of Haswell-based 4th gen Core launch products in 2013 and will continue to support all products sold through the warranty period included with the specific product.

Intel remains very committed to the desktop business. We are making significant investments in the enthusiast platform with our K SKU portfolio and new 3rd Gen Intel Core Extreme Processors. In fact, Intel’s roadmap includes 227 desktop SKUs at 34 different price points, offering desktop solution for a wide range of customers… Intel will continue to support a broad portfolio of CPUs, on 3 different sockets, including LGA 2011, LGA 1155/1150, and BGA parts for entry level platforms. We maintain a broad portfolio of desktop products, covering 5 different power envelopes. Future product roadmaps will be evaluated based on platform performance and power needs.

Unboxing the DZ87KLTT-75K Motherboard

Back to the board itself, the DZ87KLT-75K falls under Intel’s Extreme series brand featuring the cool Extreme series skull logo on the packaging and heatsink. The front of the cardboard package has a black design with a theme similar to the Haswell CPU package.

The back of the box provides labels to the key components and features of the Intel motherboard. It comes with three years warranty, SLI, Thunderbolt, CrossFireX support. You can also see the new Visual BIOS interface for easier overclocking that we will detail later in this article.

The motherboard is packed inside a anti-static sheet with both ends held by thick polyfoam sheets. It ensures that the motherboard isn’t damaged while carrying the box.

Below the motherboard are a variety of accessories that come with the package. These include a Bluetooth 2.1/ WiFi 802.11 b/g/n module, backpanel plate, front header USB cable, 2-Way SLI connector, integration guide and the most coolest accessory which is a bundled mouse pad with the extreme series skull logo. I have always been a fan of the skull logo and its nice to see Intel providing enthusiasts with an additional cool accessory free of cost.

Finally, we take a look at the motherboard itself. The DZ87KLT-75K comes with a black and blue design theme. It features the LGA 1150 socket and Z87 chipset.

There are two set of heatsink on the VRMs which have the Extreme series skull and Intel logo embedded on them. The motherboard features an 8 Phase VRM for smooth power delivery to the CPU socket powered through an 8-Pin connector.

Four DDR3-DIMM slots offer supports for upto 32 GB of memory with native speeds of 1600 MHz and 2400 MHz O.C+. We can also spot Power On/Off and Reset switches near the memory slots.

The motherboard comes with 6 native SATA 6 GB/s ports and two SATA 3 GB/s ports. The motherboard supports Raid 0,1,5,10 modes.

Expansion slots include three PCI-e 3.0 x16 slots (electrical; x8/x8, ; x8/x4/x4). There’s also three PCi-e 3.0 x1 and a single PCI legacy slot.

The PCH sits beneath a large heatsink besides which lies a mPCIe connector which can be used for expansion card such as Wi-Fi or MSATA SSDs. There are two Debug LEDs located beneath the motherboard.

Near the top and lower section of the motherboard lies two superior phase shedding technology which helps keep the system performing in the most efficient state. It also tells the status of the VRMs through LEDs.

The I/O panel include various connectors such as a PS/2, 8 USB 3.0, Back-To Bios Switch, Dual GIgabit Ethernet LAN ports, 10 Channel high definition audio, Thunderbolt connector, Firewire and a HDMI switch.

Intel DZ87KLT-75K Key Features:

• Support for the 4th Generation Intel Core i7 and Core i5 processors in LGA 1150 package.
• Intel Z87 Express Chipset: Features Intel Smart Response Technology.
• Thunderbolt connector: Providing revolutionary I/O technology with 10 GB/s bi direction dual protocol interface.
• Four DIMM slots: Designed to support overclocked DDR3 2400+ O.C memory with XMP Support.
• Eight Super-Speed USB 3.0 ports (6 External, 2 Internal header), two IEEE 1394a, 8 Hi-Speed USB 2.0 ports.
• Two PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots: Support CrossFireX and SLI. One HDMI 1.4a port and 1 PCI-e 2.0 x16 (electrical x4).
• Three PCI Express 2.0 x1 and one PCI connector: Flexibility to support PCI Express and Legacy PCI devices.
• 7 SATA 6.0 GB/s ports and one full length PCI-e Mini card supporting mSATA SSD capability via PCH. Intel RST.
• Separate SATA 6.0 GB/s controller adding two additional ports.
• Intel Smart Response and Intel Rapid State technologies support: Provide SSD like performance with HDDs.
• (8+2) 10 Channel Intel High Definition Audio (7.1): Enables high quality integrated Audio.
• Dual Intel Gigabit Ethernet LAN: Features onboard 10/100/1000 MB/s Ethernet LAN connectivity.
• Consumer Infrared: Supports receiving and learning IR commands.
• Back-to-BIOS switch: Allows easy access to BIOS for easy overclocking and recovery.
• Post Code Decoder: Allows for display of post codes for debug along with included post code quick reference.
• Exclusive voltage regulator heatsinks: Provide reliable and silent cooling for extreme core, GPU and mem tuning.
• Initialization and diagnostic LEDs: Provides instant visible system feedback.
• 100% solid state capacitors and exclusive power supervisor: Maximizes power and stability for advanced tuning.
• ATX (9.6″ x 11.6″) Form Factor: ATX board supports more fully featured tower designs.
• Lead Free: Meets all worldwide regulatory requirements for lead-free manufacturing.

Cooler Compatibility With LGA 1150 Socket

While Haswell processors ship with their own boxed coolers and cooler makers providing retention brackets for LGA 1150 compatibility, it should be noted that LGA 1150 socket is easily compatible with both reference LGA 1150 boxed coolers and custom products.

So if you’re upgrading from LGA 1155 to LGA 1150, you can easily equip your cooler on the latest socket from Intel without any sort of troubles.

Testing Setup

Following is the setup we used for testing the latest Intel Haswell platform, the processors use for comparison are also mentioned under the list:

Processor	Intel Core i7-4770K Intel Core i7-3770K Intel Core i7-2600K Intel Core i5-3570K Intel Core i7-3960X AMD FX-8350 AMD FX-8150
Motherboard:	Intel DZ87KLT-75K w/ Core i7-4770K ASRock Z77 Extreme 6 w/ Core i7-3770K ASRock Z77 Extreme 6 w/ Core i7-3570K ASUS Sabertooth P67 w/ Core i7-2600K Intel DX79SI LGA 2011 w/ Core i7-3960X Gigabyte GA-990FX-UD7 w/ AMD FX-8150/8350
Power Supply:	Xigmatek NRP-MC1002 1000 Watt
Hard Disk:	Intel SSD 520 Series 256 GB (OS) Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200.12
Memory:	4 x 4 GB Kingston HyperX 2133 MHz 10th Anniversary Edition Memory Kit
Case:	Cooler Master HAF 932
Video Cards:	MSI GTX 560 Ti Intel HD 4600 Haswell Intel HD 4000 Ivy Bridge Intel HD 3000 Sandy Bridge
Cooling Solutions:	Intel Reference LGA1155/1150 Boxed Coolers Intel Reference RTS 2011LC Cooler Phantek PH-TC14PE Triple Fan
OS:	Windows 8 Ultimate 64-bit

It should be noted that due to improvements in 4th generation core processor power efficency, the requirements for the processor’s power supply have also been altered. Intel reccomends that the users running the Haswell cpu platform check the list of tested PSUs for ones capable of supporting fourth generation core processors. The list can be found at: http://www,intel.com/go/powersupplies/.

From the filters at the top right of the page, set 12V2 Min Load 0A to “Yes” to see which PSUs have been found to support the processor’s new power requirements. By default, the DZ87KLT-75K BIOS disables “Lowest CPU Idle power setting”. To make use of the power supplies that meet the 12V2 Min Load 0A, you have to enable the “Lowest CPU Idle power setting”. This option is located under the power tab section and you must set the “Intel Dynamic Power technology” to custom in the primary power settings section in Visual BIOS.