BIOSTAR, Taiwan-based silicon producers, has launched its latest motherboard based on the Z97 chipset, dubbed the Gaming Z97X.
You’re probably wondering why a new Z97 board makes any difference to the world we live in, but frankly, Intel’s enthusiast-orientated X99 chipset still requires some monumentally expensive components. DDR4 RAM, X99 motherboards and Intel Haswell-E CPUs can easily lay waste to a wallet. Z97 chipsets are currently the benchmark for sensible gamers and builders, especially if overclocking is a primary objective.
No ad to show here.
The BIOSTAR Gaming Z97X is an ATX board with an Intel Socket 1150, USB 3.1 support, three PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots for multi-card graphics solutions, support for DisplayPort, PCIe M.2 support for high-speed SSDs and Dual GbE LAN.
The board also comes with BIOSTAR’s Super Hi-Fi Audio technology which allegedly “enables high definition multidimensional sound”.
More interestingly, the company’s also touting the “Gaming Commander BOX” which is an external controller and notification panel that fits into a 5.5-inch drive bay, fit with voice recognition. It sounds rather brilliant, according to the presser:
The external box features an independent USB DAC, dedicated MIC_IN and Line-out jacks, buttons for volume adjustments, a diagnose LED for CPU/ DDR/ VGA temperature indicators, and exclusive XLouder button for quick MIC boost. The Gaming Commander software is a user friendly interface with equalizer functions which allows users to make their own voice effects while enjoying games.
There is currently no word on pricing or availability in South Africa.
