Biostar HiFi Z87x 3D haswell based motherboard reviewed by Overclockers

In one of the previous posts we had discussed about the meaning and relevance of "3D" in Biostar HiFi Z87x motherboards. Anandtech and other sites too had reviewed Haswell chipsets, but not one from Biostar. Now Overclockers.com have published a detailed review of this motherboard.
Here's the link of the review: BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Z87X 3D Motherboard Review | Overclockers
They too have not detailed on the relevance on "3D", but have appraised the performance and the audio quality of this motherboard. HiFi series of motherboards from Biostar are designed to deliver much better audio output and audio processing as Biostar has added their own technology to deliver better quality sound from on-board Realtek chip.
Performance and feature wise Overclockers have compared it to Gigabyte Z87x D3H and Asus Z87-A motherboards and concluded it competes well with these two Haswell based chipsets.
Now it would be good to see at what price range it is made available in India and would it be able to gain in market share from the likes of ASUS and Gigabyte.

Connecting to a previous post that was related to setting up a audio-editing PC, I think this kind of motherboards will suit such requirements where audio-editing work is being done or where someone is too particular about sound output that they can invest a bit more and get onboard audio performance and saving on additional audio cards.

Was reading about Haswell, there is overall performance gain of only 3% on average as per wikipedia , when compared to Ivy bridge .. what's exciting about it ?

Hi savera, Intel has played well with this Haswell paradox. The whole point is not about performance gain, but change in architecture. Intel has literally dumped 1155 socket for 1150 one. So, if you go ahead with 1155 based chipset now, then in near future you will be stuck with that as there wont be any CPU upgrades available. While with 1150 chipset you will have options to upgrade as intel will be coming out with processors supporting 1150 socket. If you want to be future-ready, then spend some extra bucks and go with haswell config, else opt for ivy bridge config which will cost a lil less and performance difference will be almost unnoticeable.

My point was to extend the discussion further where we were talking about 3D feature of this Biostar motherboard when it was launched. That 3D is focused around audio capabilities of the board, and thats where its USP lies. Performance front as the review also says, its competent enough with the likes of Gigabyte and asus haswell based motherboards.

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Originally Posted by geets

Hi savera, Intel has played well with this Haswell paradox.

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Haswell paradox.. me thinks its far-fetched to say that. Intel has just brought a new CPU platform, now the point is whats so great about this new platform over the older ones.. Overclocking.. nah.. more cores.. nah.. Ivybridge was a die shrink, i.e from 32nm to 22nm, and Haswell is a architecture change which is more power efficient.

But as per readings, under load Haswell draw 30W more power than Ivy .. how it is power efficient.

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Originally Posted by Savera

But as per readings, under load Haswell draw 30W more power than Ivy .. how it is power efficient.

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It confuses me too. :confused: Wikipedia says Haswell is designed as low-power processor, and when compared to ivybridge, the haswell processor draws 30W more under load.