Asus H97I-Plus review: specs and price

The motherboard has a button or switch on the rear panel to clear the CMOS, which resets the BIOS to factory settings. This is useful if something goes wrong with the BIOS which stops your computer from booting, as you can reset the BIOS without opening the case to access the CMOS jumper.

This feature allows you to charge your devices (such as smartphones and tablets) faster than a regular USB port. Some implementations also let you charge through the USB port even when the computer is in sleep mode or off.

This can allow faster data rates over USB, such as when transferring files to an external hard drive.

The motherboard has more CPU sockets. Multiple CPUs are typically used in servers.

The height represents the vertical dimension of the product. We consider a smaller height better because it assures easy maneuverability.

When covered under the manufacturer’s warranty it is possible to get a replacement in the case of a malfunction.

It can support faster memory, which will give quicker system performance.

More memory slots (also known as DIMM slots) allow you to add more RAM to your computer. It is also useful when upgrading, as you can add RAM to an empty slot instead of replacing an existing memory module.

More memory channels increases the speed of data transfer between the memory and the CPU.

The maximum amount of memory (RAM) supported.

Error-correcting code memory can detect and correct data corruption. It is used when is it essential to avoid corruption, such as scientific computing or when running a server.

Fan headers are connection points on the motherboard that cooling fans can be connected to. Fans can also be connected straight to the power supply, but when connected to the motherboard you gain much finer control over them through software.

SATA is an interface used to connect mass storage devices such as hard drives and Blu-ray drives. SATA 3 has a native transfer rate of 6 Gbit/s, which is twice as fast as SATA 2, the previous revision. This is particularly useful if you use an SSD as it can perform at higher speeds.

Devices with a HDMI or mini HDMI port can transfer high definition video and audio to a display.

More USB 3.0 ports allow you to connect more devices to your computer that support USB 3.0. USB 3.0 is an improved version of USB 2.0 which offers faster transfer rates.

The motherboard has USB 3.0 headers, which are pin connections that you can connect additional USB ports to.

RJ-45 ports are used for LAN (Local Area Network) connections. With more ports you can achieve increased bandwidth across a LAN, or connect to multiple networks. It also has the added benefit of not losing connection to the network if one fails.

PCIe slots allow you to connect various components to the motherboard, such as graphics cards and sound cards. The number after the 'x' represents the number of lanes, with more lanes supporting higher data transfer rates. PCI Express 3.0 has a bit rate of 8 GT/s, delivering 985 MB/s per lane.

When a digital signal is converted to an analog one (for example when playing audio through speakers or headphones), a certain amount of noise is carried in the signal. A higher SNR means that there is less noise and the audio quality is better.

Each channel is a separate stream of audio information. More channels can provide a more realistic experience, such as providing surround sound.

More connectors means that more audio devices such as speakers or microphones can be connected.

S/PDIF is an interface used to transmit digital audio with high fidelity.

RAID is a storage technology that combines multiple disks into one unit. RAID 1 mirrors the data across the drives. This gives you greater data security as if one drive fails, the data will still be accessible from another.

RAID is a storage technology that combines multiple disks into one unit. RAID 5 stripes the data across the drives, giving increased performance compared to a single disk. It also provides greater data security as if one drive fails, the data will still be accessible from another due to the use of parity.

RAID is a storage technology that combines multiple disks into one unit. RAID 10 (1+0) stripes and mirrors the data across the drives. It gives increased capacity and performance compared to a single disk. It also provides greater data security as if one drive fails, the data will still be accessible from another.

RAID is a storage technology that combines multiple disks into one unit. RAID 0 stripes the data across the drives, giving increased performance and capacity compared to a single drive. The drawback is that if one drive fails, you lose the data on all drives.