Finally getting around to my PC overhaul with a new Z97 Classified.  
 
First I have to say and I know that this has been said many times before, the "manuals" that come with the motherboard are a joke.  That has got to be the worst documentation I have ever encountered.   Okay, now that I've got that out of the way.
 
First the good.  
 

• The motherboard works.  Did a test bench before the install and it booted flawlessly.
• Good looking hardware.  Fits perfectly in with my current build with no mods needed.

 
Now the annoying.
 

• Really nice looking aluminum plate that covers the I/O devices doesn't fit if you use the top PCIe slot.  A bit of disappointment, but no big deal.
• CPU coolers can crowd the DIMM slots.  I am currently using a Corsair H100i cooler.  If I have the cooler "right side" up, the coolant hoses interfere with the first DIMM slot.   Turning the cooler 90 degrees solved this problem.  But now it looks like my Corsair ship is blasting off into space.  :/
• 90 degree fan headers.  Not such a great idea if limited in space.  
• This is by far the biggest issue for me (so far).  The location of the USB 3.0 header.  I simply cant get the front panel connector to it.  Its not that it wont reach, it simply cant make that many 90 degree bends.  So unless I plan to take a Dremel to my case, no front panel USB until I get an adapter.

With luck the USB header will be the only major issue.  The other stuff is minor and easily dealt with.  But I just don't get what they were thinking with the location of the USB header.   

Dukman
Finally getting around to my PC overhaul with a new Z97 Classified.  
 
First I have to say and I know that this has been said many times before, the "manuals" that come with the motherboard are a joke.  That has got to be the worst documentation I have ever encountered.   Okay, now that I've got that out of the way.
 
First the good.  
 

• The motherboard works.  Did a test bench before the install and it booted flawlessly.
• Good looking hardware.  Fits perfectly in with my current build with no mods needed.

 
Now the annoying.
 

• Really nice looking aluminum plate that covers the I/O devices doesn't fit if you use the top PCIe slot.  A bit of disappointment, but no big deal.
• CPU coolers can crowd the DIMM slots.  I am currently using a Corsair H100i cooler.  If I have the cooler "right side" up, the coolant hoses interfere with the first DIMM slot.   Turning the cooler 90 degrees solved this problem.  But now it looks like my Corsair ship is blasting off into space.  :/
• 90 degree fan headers.  Not such a great idea if limited in space.  
• This is by far the biggest issue for me (so far).  The location of the USB 3.0 header.  I simply cant get the front panel connector to it.  Its not that it wont reach, it simply cant make that many 90 degree bends.  So unless I plan to take a Dremel to my case, no front panel USB until I get an adapter.

With luck the USB header will be the only major issue.  The other stuff is minor and easily dealt with.  But I just don't get what they were thinking with the location of the USB header.   

I have the same board and haven't had any issues with the I/O cover not fitting.  I have a 980 Classified in there now with a back plate on and it slides in now problems.  I'm a little surprised you can't get the USB 3.0 cable to the header.  It's right next to the front panel connectors and they are both are usually about the same length with the cases I've used.  Sorry to hear you are having some issues.  Which case are you using?  
 
I agree.  The manual could use some help! Lol.  

Ahh I understand what you mean with the case now. Yeah give the cover another shot and I still agree with your position on the manual!

Nice!  Glad to hear you got it on there.  Honestly, I rarely use front panel i/o & usb ports. Lol

I personally like the 90 degree headers. :)

I just got this board too. Still trying to figure some things out. It is for sure NOT newbie-friendly for overclocking.
 
I have had to look up each individual setting and its meaning and use. Kind of strange it doesn't come in the box. I am definitely a noob to over clocking.
 
For example, I don't know if I should or shouldn't update the bios, Even if I did, I don't know how lol.
I am at 1.02. Also for some reason when I turn off EIST my CPU multiplier settings WONT apply to all cores and it remains at 4.0ghz (40x) multiplier. Is this correct?

@Dukman
Thanks for the feedback.  I don't think you are being nitpicky and yes I did ask your thoughts.  I don't think anything is ever perfect (no room for improvement) and we have made a lot of strides in manuals in the last 1-1.5years, coming from the initial X79, P67/Z68 boards, but I can definitely see where you are going with it.  I was hoping for a well stated complaint like this as the statements of "manual is teh suck" and so on do absolutely nothing for fixing the problem.
Also I asked, as I am involved in the manual making process so well stated input is ALWAYS wanted.  I had been pushing for more depth in components, such as what exact 3rd party USB controller was added, or which exact audio chip was used, as our manuals previously were VERY sparse in those areas, as well as WHERE everything is.
Generally, we have aimed towards the enthusiast market and our manuals reflect that, granted I have tried to make them more approachable for the intermediate and the novice, but I apparently need more work there.  I have worked on some other manuals that are unreleased at this point and cannot comment on however I have already addressed some of the your suggestions already.  Not all of them though, but they are solid ideas, it would make the manual(s) more approachable for novices and layman, and frankly everyone starts there at some point.
Good input on this and I will definitely apply it going forward.
 
@Batimp
I would recommend going to the current BIOS first off, there are a LOT of improvements to memory support, CPU microcode and lots of other things.
From there EIST, Turbo and Sleep states should be left on.  If you are at BIOS 1.02 that might have been early enough to have not had full support for 4790-k overclocking as that processor was not  launched with a bulk of the Haswell CPU's, it came out a good bit later.
i would update the BIOS first, after everything boots and is good, remember if you changed anything like SATA mode or CSM settings you will need to change those back to your initial configuration before you return to windows.  Once you have done with that, reboot and go into BIOS and you can start clocking.  I would make sure that RAM is set correctly to manufacturer spec, speed isn't as important up front but mainly voltage and latency, if that is off and you are clocking the CPU (which has the memory controller in it) you will get stability issues, and when new to overclocking the last thing you want it to be chasing your tail on a CPU OC from a basic memory setting being incorrect.
 
As for a direct OC guide, that is a touchy subject here, as we are kinda limited on what we can and can't advise as there are possible liability concerns.  Catastrophic failures are possible, however unlikely and if we advice something and you void the warranty on your CPU then blow it up, or some other part that can become an issue.  We try to supply enough info in the BIOS guide to make informed decisions for clocking your CPU/RAM.

@EVGA Dave.  
Thank you.  I consider myself an enthusiastic intermediate.   I prefer motherboards with features and options and ones that allow me to learn and grow as I adapt to the motherboard.  I'm not huge into overclocking, but like to have a board that will allow me to tinker a bit with options.
 
 
@Batpimp
No problems added.  If this thread helped you out, then so much the better!
 
And as a bonus, I got the front panel USB plugged in to the header this morning.  Changed the routing on a few things an went at it from the bottom up.  After a couple of tight bends, I was able to get it plugged in.  

Glad to hear you are up and running, and post some pics, ugly on purpose rigs are always funny!

Hello,
thanks for taking the time to give me some feedback.
1)  The manual 1 and manual 2 setup has been removed for future manuals, and I think this is for the best.
2)  Really?  I have printed it and I do not see terribly well and it looked alright to me.  There should have been a print manual in the box, are you referring to that, or a manual you printed from the PDF? If you are referring to the manual from the PDF, when it was printed was it coming out the same as the included manual?
3)  OK, I can definitely look into improving that in the future.  You are right, that should definitely be better labelled.
4)  You are right on the discrepancy, I think this should be resolved on current manuals as well, previously making some be generic across the line and others specific to the board, has been changed.  The manual lineup for the next gen will not have manuals 1 and 2 anymore
5)  ME are for the Intel Management Engine, and Lucid is for the Lucid Technologies MVP2.0.  Now ME basically is controls for Intel VPro which mainly is for remote access of that PC, there are some other functions as well.  Lucid, I just checked the board I do not see any Lucid components on it, was this on the driver disk?
6)  There is a switch just below the 24 pin, it is listed in the manual as part 32, it is a switch.  You can also hot switch the BIOS's as needed, say for instance you brick a BIOS, flip the switch, boot up off of the other BIOS, flip the switch while in windows, or in the BIOS and flash it, this will flash the other BIOS and in many cases can recover a failed BIOS.
7)  OK, a RAID array is a completely different monster.  You updated the BIOS and the array was gone?  Unless you have done other things since the BIOS was updated, like format the drives, I highly doubt it is actually gone.  When a BIOS update is done, it does reset the BIOS to default values, which will set the SATA controller back to AHCI mode disabling any array you had.  Now in theory you should be able to go back into BIOS reenable RAID and restart, I have done this myself, on RAID 0 and 5 without issue, RAID1 can be a problem as it is a mirror and in that case it can desync the array, and it is 50/50 chance of getting that array back, BUT with RAID1 your data will still be there.  I do have an older FAQ for the RAID array building and repairing, and while it was based off of the X58, there is little difference in the Intel controllers as far as interface and how it works, the newer boards are just faster.
But adding in a RAID guide is a challenge, but it is doable.  It might be its own separate guide but it is something I can look into.
 
Thanks for the feedback, I am taking this info as I go forward on future manuals.  Just need to keep making things better and better.  They have come a long way from the P67/Z68 days, but there is always room for improvement.
 
If you have any specific questions, please feel free to ask, I will do what I can to assist.