Conclusion
The performance of the ECS Z97-PK Deluxe is respectable for such a well priced mATX board. In the tests conducted, the difference between that of a high end expensive board didn’t differ by a lot. The slight difference could be accounted for as we were only able to run our Kingston DDR3 modules at DDR3-2133 XMP profile #2 mode instead of DDR3-2400. Although we can get it to work at DDR3-2400 by manually adjusting the timings and increasing the voltages, we wanted stability and opted to run at XMP DDR3-2133. Nevertheless the performance is decent.
As for features, mATX boards are simple and straightforward. It has what Intel chipset offers and GbE and 7.1 ch audio. There aren’t fanfare gimmicky phone apps or whatsoever nor temperature probes bundled in. The package though has room for improvement, ECS should consider throwing in an external USB 3.0 bracket.
Overclocking features, this board has tons of options you can experiment with. As the board is not that costly, pairing it up with the 20th anniversary Intel edition may be a good combination for this board since the multiplier is unlocked. In our case, our Core i7-4770K can do a 4.5GHz on AIR which is quite the norm among Z97 boards.
Overall, if you need a mATX intel Z97 board, the ECS Z97-PK Deluxe is a one good consideration as it is more budget for the consumer.
I would recommend this board for DIY builders who needs a small footprint for their PC.
| Category | Score |
| Performance | 9 / 10 |
| Features | 8 / 10 |
| Ease Of Installation | 10 / 10 |
| Overclocking Features | 8 / 10 |
| Documentation | 7 / 10 |
| Packaging | 7 / 10 |
| Cost / Performance | 10 / 10 |
| Overall Rating : | 9 / 10 |