The Bottom Line
The ASUS Z87-A motherboard showed to be an incredibly stable piece of overclocking equipment and carried with it an "upgraded experience" when coming from working with the latest Z77 chipset equipped motherboards. If the Z87-A represent the "low end," we think that ASUS has likely nailed down a very solid footprint in the Z87 market.
My experiences with the Z87-A were nothing short of excellent. The out of the box experience was flawless. I had no stability issues or other odd problems. The platform felt more mature than it is. ASUS definitely did a good job as this doesn’t feel like the launch of a new line but rather something that we’ve seen many times before. Unfortunately the chipset and CPU aren’t that exciting alone. Fortunately the ASUS Z87-A motherboard is exicting. ASUS has definitely tried to set the bar high with improvements it has made in the Z87 line. The new CPU fan header, ESD guards, DRAM overcurrent protection, new AI Suite III, improved UEFI, and other new features are all very nice touches that set ASUS apart from the rest.