Is there any reason to go super high end motherboard, WITHOUT going 3/4 way SLI?

D

dukenuke88

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
1,924
Hello everybody, I have a generalized question

Is there any reason to go Maximus 5 Extreme, Gigabyte G1 Sniper or Assassin, or ASRock Extreme motherboards....WITHOUT actually utilizing 3/4 way SLI setups? Do these boards actually offer any huge bump in CPU OCing potential, than say a more traditional mobo such as ASUS Z77 PRO or Gigabyte UD4-UD5? And I'm also talking about regular air or AIO solutions such as H100...no real WC or LN2

I'm guessing that final OC performance is dictated more by the CPU bin...instead of the actual mobo itself? That is assuming you already have a decent mobo such as the ASUS Z77 PRO or similar competitor....if I am wrong, please let me know and give me the details....I'm definitely looking into a Haswell build this summer. I'm pretty positive I will never go 3 or 4 way SLI....I usually stick with 2 high end GPUs for all my gaming needs....thats why I wanted to ask if these high end mobos actually offer anything else besides multi GPU configs

Thanks in advanced
 
Usually they are built to workstation or server class specs, some carry better warranties, some have better power control for overclocking than others might, etc.

So many options it's hard to say. I use the ASUS WS boards and love them, no issues and solid oc'ers. I have used tri sli in the past and may do so again.
 
Not really no. For the most part, a $130 Z77 board can overclock as well as a $350 Z77 board, mostly because the IB processors don't use enough power to care about good power phases.

If we're talking about power hungry Thuban, Nehalem, Piledriver, or Bulldozer, the motherboard can make a difference, but not for Ivy Bridge.
 
Tsumi said:
Not really no. For the most part, a $130 Z77 board can overclock as well as a $350 Z77 board, mostly because the IB processors don't use enough power to care about good power phases.

If we're talking about power hungry Thuban, Nehalem, Piledriver, or Bulldozer, the motherboard can make a difference, but not for Ivy Bridge.
Click to expand...

What about Sandy Bridge E and Ivy Bridge E X79 platforms?
 
Dunno why you'd go with a cheap board on LGA2011 when the CPU alone is going to cost you $500+.

Might as well put cheap tires on a Ferrari
 
There is no point in buying a $350 motherboard but the $175-225 boards are worth it. You're generally getting better components and just better quality parts. I think above this price point tho, you're not really seeing a return on your investment as the 175-225 board will overclock just as well and last many years and handle plenty of abuse. Beyond that price, you're paying more for features and not necessarily for better components.
 
MacLeod said:
There is no point in buying a $350 motherboard but the $175-225 boards are worth it. You're generally getting better components and just better quality parts. I think above this price point tho, you're not really seeing a return on your investment as the 175-225 board will overclock just as well and last many years and handle plenty of abuse. Beyond that price, you're paying more for features and not necessarily for better components.
Click to expand...

Yeah this is what I'm thinking too....and the one of the only reasons to go with that $350+ board is for 3-4 way SLI....which I already stated I do not plan to use....at least I highly doubt I will :p

But yeah I do plan to get a "decent" board....not one of those $100 mATX bare bones boards and expect a huge CPU overclock
 
i don't over clock and i don't need all the fancy stuff like raid, a bajillion usb/sata ports, more than one pcie x16, so i just buy the cheapest mobos usually around 50-70 dollars, usually matx. i've been doing this for years and never had any mobos fail even after 3+ years...

so i don't even think the 100+ mobos are worthit unless there's something you just can't get from the 50-70 ones.

i don't know stats on failure rates. but i would guesstimate that the cheap 50-70 ones have maybe a <5% failure rate. and the super high end ones have <1%? this isn't a big difference as far as i'm concerned. i trust that modern electronics have low failure rates.
 
dukenuke88 said:
Yeah this is what I'm thinking too....and the one of the only reasons to go with that $350+ board is for 3-4 way SLI....which I already stated I do not plan to use....at least I highly doubt I will :p

But yeah I do plan to get a "decent" board....not one of those $100 mATX bare bones boards and expect a huge CPU overclock
Click to expand...

Haswell processors would use an internal VR module. So the overclocking effect would now be more relied on the chip itself, rather than the motherboard. And by saying that, Haswell motherboards should be cheaper than Z77 ones.

I myself am waiting to see what these motherboards would have to offer at Computex 2013 (June).
 
I find myself also asking this question, especially on how my Gigabyte X38 died on me after ~4 years of moderate OC ([email protected] on a relatively low 1.4 vcore, and a +0.1V bump on the FSB).

I guess the next logical question is - how do we qualify/quantify what constitutes a 'better built' board?

Thicker PCB (saw the Asrock Z77 recently on [H])? More VRMs around the CPU socket? Solid Caps?
 
I've always wondered this myself. I read the ASRock OC Formula ($230) on here the other day, and a friend just got that board. So far I can run 4.8ghz stable on my ASRock Pro 3 ($90) w/ an i7 3770k. Meanwhile my friends is barely pushing 5.0 w/ an i7 3770k. Although he has the Intel closed loop cooler and I have a CM 212+.

So IMO if you don't need the extra features and slots the higher end mobo's have it's better to just save that money and put it elsewhere.
 
I had a $120 Gigabyte Z77X-UD3, and I don't think I could have gotten much more out of my chip with the cooling I had. It seemed like it wasn't the board's fault I couldn't keep the chip <90 degrees at 4.8Ghz.

I also have a MSI Z77A-GD65. Bang for the buck I can't see what else is near it. It has an extra SATA6 controller for more ports an Intel NIC, great cooling, and a fair amount of fan headers. They run around $140.
 
Xinmosni said:
Dunno why you'd go with a cheap board on LGA2011 when the CPU alone is going to cost you $500+.

Might as well put cheap tires on a Ferrari
Click to expand...

The 3820 isn't $500+ and overclocks just fine to around 4.9Ghz with not much hassle.
 
I debated this same thing, and recently built a Gigabyte UD4H system. I have a link somewhere with a comparison and review of the UD4H / UP5 TH / UP7-
I know these are not the boards you are interested in, but just examples of the differences.

If I can find it, I'll forward it on to you via PM.

I went with the UD4H as I mentioned...more expensive does not necessarily mean better
 
Last edited:
I use a rampage 4 extreme and I just use 1 geforce titan in it no SLI.

I got it for the quafchannel ram and lga 2011 cpus and the fact it is a nicer motherboard than most of the other ones.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top