Z97E-ITX/ac

$139 ASRock

Because of the limited space afforded to components by mini-ITX, I assumed you’d have to forgo the PCIebased storage connections that come with the Z97 chipset. Not so. ASRock has managed to fit both SATA Express and M.2 sockets onto this impressive little board.

I did have to hunt around for the M.2 socket, hidden as it is on the flipside of the board, but it’s there. You’re limited to a maximum 42mm length SSD, but you can find decent capacity M.2 SSDs at that size.

It’s a supremely well laid out motherboard and, while you won’t get the enthusiast LED debug displays or voltage check points, you do get some decent performance and even a little light overclocking. It’s not going to set any benchmark records, but it’s extremely competitive beside the Gigabyte and MSI boards. The differences in benchmark numbers just aren’t going to be felt in general usage. Put the top board and this one side-byside in equivalent spec machines and you won’t see the difference. That’s the strength of the modern mini motherboard.