indecisive about mobo.

N

NorthboundOcclusive

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May 18, 2012
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honestly didnt expect to have this much trouble deciding.

so right now, what im looking at is
PC Hound Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K ($335.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASUS Z97-A ($128.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.SKILL 16GB (2 x 8GB) Ripjaws X Series F3-12800CL10D-16GBXL ($125.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial 256GB MX100 CT256MX100SSD1 ($104.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Gunmetal Black ($119.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: CORSAIR Hydro Series H100i CW-9060009-WW ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $905.92
Price may include shipping, rebates, promotions, and tax
Generated by PC Hound

i think im looking for something between $100-125 (total budget of $1000), over 150 would probably be too much. something OC-friendly (but i dont plan on overclocking very high or often, if at all. [4790k's mostly for the high base clock]) . Single gpu, so i can go with something in an microATX flavor, but i have a preference for full size ATX (big roomy case too, hey)

im not a huge fan of ASUS for no real good reason, they seem generally expensive (specifically the ROG line), and the ROG line's styling doesnt really do anything for me, a bit too over-the-top CoD MLG Mtn Dew code red #yoloswag for my tastes.

TomsHardware recently used ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer and MSI Z97 Gaming 5 in their SBM builds, and ive had good luck with their recommendations in the past (like my current ASRock m3a770de board) so those two are on my short list

pchound list's MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition as the #2 in popularity overall, its suitably cheap, styling is neat but reviews looks a bit iffy.
the asus z97a in my pchound list also popular, reviews look better too
also had a recommendatin for a gigabyte ga-z97mx-gaming 5, but apparently those have really bright leds on the board

any recommendations from you fine folks so i can stop waffling and pull the trigger on my upgrades?
 
Run far away from ASUS unless you plan on throwing the board away if it dies. Their RMA support is one of the worst, if not the worst in the industry.

I have had pretty good luck with ASROCK boards. The bios generally doesn't have quite as many settings as ASUS or Gigabyte, but since you are not a hardcore overclocker it won't matter one bit.

Gigabyte boards are also nice, and I have used them a decent amount.

Decide exactly what features/layout you want for the board and then find the closest possible match. Looking through the various boards on the mfgs websites is always a good idea.
 
You really can't go wrong with a mid to high end MSI board. I have used boards from both ASUS and MSI and have not had an issue with either over the years. For the MSI people like to hate on the killer NIC but if you just install the driver without the killer software suite there are no issues. I am currently using the MSI Z87 GD65 Gaming with zero issues.
 
Just pick one with the features you like in the price range you want to be in. I recently bent some pin in my Asus Hero board. All my fault. At a 5.2ghz OC with my naked 4790k. I didn't want to spend big bucks on a new board just to test my other components to see if they lived through the disaster. So I went heap cheap and picked up a GA-Z97X-SLI. The board is not worth what Newegg and others want for it. I got mine for half the current rip off prices NIB. And it isn't tooo bad. :/ Now that I know my components are still good. I will buy a Hero again after I pay tax. :(

Asrock has came out with some boards I would like to play with. In recent years they have got the reputation of being the cheap Asus. Just remember when you buy a entry, lower mid-level board, you get what you pay for in many many ways.
 
MrGreg62 said:
people like to hate on the killer NIC
Click to expand...
noticed that in the reviews ive been mulling over. also seems to be some griping on the Realtek ALC892 that the asus z97-a board has, but im not quite sure why exactly. wouldnt make a difference to me i suppose, im not an audiophile by any means ($20 logitech speakers and similarly-cheap rosewill headset)

feature-wise they all look pretty similar to me, a function of the z97 chipset id guess. everything else just reads like marketing blurbs.
4-pin sys_fan headers for PWM fans would be nice. i dont (yet) care about an m.2 connector or sata-e. would prefer something without a bunch of leds highlighting audio isolation or whatnot( but i could live with red ones)

'spose ill have to bump up against that $150 mark for a solid board
 
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