Trying to narrow down my choices for new build

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goodrob

Limp Gawd
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Apr 10, 2001
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I am down to a few choices and open to suggestions for new build. I will be running a i6700k, with a gtx 1070, 16gb ram(want to pick mobo first before selecting ram). I am looking to buy in about 1 month maybe 2 just depends. So far I have looked at

Gigabyte GA-Z170X Gaming 7
Asus Sabertooth z170 Mark 1
MSI Gaming z170a gaming m7

What I am looking for in the board is easy overclocking, this will be my first time since late 90s, just want easy. Stability, who doesnt want that? Finally trying to stay around $200, less is way better. Other minor features like lighting are neat but not really required.

If the 3 above dont float your boat please let me know what you would suggest.

Thank you in advance for time helping me narrow this down.
 
Not the MSI because it uses a Killer NIC
Not the Gigabyte because I am sooo regretting my UD5 TH with it's inflexible OC features...you're basically forced into very aggressive overvolting in order to OC (see my recent post history)

Sabertooth is good. Asus UEFI is probably the most mature (I would say MSI is as well). I would also consider FanXpert in the Asus software suite a valuable feature.

You can also consider the Asus Z170-PRO and the ROG Maximus Ranger. Both feature Dual Intelligent Processors which is a pretty solid auto-overclocking utility from what I've seen, that the Sabertooth does not have. Note that the biggest feature of the ROG is the beefed up audio circuity. However, you will lose 2 SATA ports on these boards vs the Sabertooth.
 
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I have a Gigabyte GA-Z170X Gaming 7, The LLC works fine as long as you set it to high. I'm pretty happy with it. One of my friends has the Sabertooth and likes it as well, the sound solution isn't as good as the one on the Gigabyte.

I actually have had issues overclocking a Gigabyte board before (Z68X-UD3H-B3) and I only bought the Gaming 7 because there was a huge price difference between it and the Maximus Hero, which I was also looking at. But I haven't any issues overclocking it at all (other than having to set LLC to high to get it to work). Also make sure to update the bios, the shipping bios on my board was terrible but the current version fixes all the issues I had.
 
I'd choose the Asus out of those three.

Although personally I stick with EVGA for everything I can even if they don't necessarily present the best value since they are the only ones left with decent support/warranty.
 
Quix said:
I have a Gigabyte GA-Z170X Gaming 7, The LLC works fine as long as you set it to high. I'm pretty happy with it. One of my friends has the Sabertooth and likes it as well, the sound solution isn't as good as the one on the Gigabyte.

I actually have had issues overclocking a Gigabyte board before (Z68X-UD3H-B3) and I only bought the Gaming 7 because there was a huge price difference between it and the Maximus Hero, which I was also looking at. But I haven't any issues overclocking it at all (other than having to set LLC to high to get it to work). Also make sure to update the bios, the shipping bios on my board was terrible but the current version fixes all the issues I had.
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What's your vcore set at and are your power saving features working when idle? or is your vcore stuck over 1.3v?
 
rastaban said:
Not the MSI because it uses a Killer NIC
Not the Gigabyte because I am sooo regretting my UD5 TH with it's inflexible OC features...you're basically forced into very aggressive overvolting in order to OC (see my recent post history)

Sabertooth is good. Asus UEFI is probably the most mature (I would say MSI is as well). I would also consider FanXpert in the Asus software suite a valuable feature.

You can also consider the Asus Z170-PRO and the ROG Maximus Ranger. Both feature Dual Intelligent Processors which is a pretty solid auto-overclocking utility from what I've seen, that the Sabertooth does not have. Note that the biggest feature of the ROG is the beefed up audio circuity. However, you will lose 2 SATA ports on these boards vs the Sabertooth.
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I will check those two out. As far as audio goes my current speakers are just a cheap pair I bought from Walmart years ago. Most of the time if I am gaming I have a headset on for voice chat that I am primarily listening to. Losing two SATA ports isnt that big of a deal either as the only things I can think of that will be using them are 2 hard drive(ssd and spinning) maybe optical drive.
 
Perhaps a name you should consider would be ASrock.
Their boards are solid, specially considering your looking to overclock which they excel.
I would go for their Extreme series, they usually pack a bit more stuff to comparable priced boards from other brands.
 
rastaban said:
Not the MSI because it uses a Killer NIC
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lol, I wouldn't discount the entire board because of the Killer nic. Just count on having to spend an extra $40 and using a PCIe slot for an Intel gigabit nic. I just got an MSI Godlike Gaming Carbon, and already have a $40 Intel nic to put into the new $600 mobo.
 
jkw said:
lol, I wouldn't discount the entire board because of the Killer nic. Just count on having to spend an extra $40 and using a PCIe slot for an Intel gigabit nic. I just got an MSI Godlike Gaming Carbon, and already have a $40 Intel nic to put into the new $600 mobo.
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That's what I ended up doing on my last Z87 MSI MPower Max. It was a great board minus the Killer NIC that kept causing BSODs. But for the added cost of an Intel NIC I may have chosen something else to begin with.
 
rastaban said:
That's what I ended up doing on my last Z87 MSI MPower Max. It was a great board minus the Killer NIC that kept causing BSODs. But for the added cost of an Intel NIC I may have chosen something else to begin with.
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My Gigabyte X58 board has Killer nic, and I didn't know any better back then (neither did Gigabyte lol). I used the onboard Killer nic until it died, and then bought an Intel nic for it.
 
Sorry guys, I'm late to the party here. Whats the deal with the Killer NIC's?
 
No clue. Works fine on my board. Get full 1gbps out of it after accounting for ethernet frame overhead.
 
TheToE! said:
Sorry guys, I'm late to the party here. Whats the deal with the Killer NIC's?
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The software and drivers suck, performance is lacking, and they die.

Check the MSI forums, where MSI support recommends that you uninstall all Bigfoot/Killer software and drivers, and use Qualcomm drivers instead.

How to fix issues with Killer Lan

Gigabyte used to use Bigfoot/Killer extensively in their mobos but had so many problems and complaints that they got rid of them completely.
 
So apparently newwgg has dropped the price on the i76700k to 314.99 which is a bit better than the 349 it was. They also have several combos with motherboards and memory. So far I have narrowed my choices down to ASUS for the board. mainly from reading how easy OC is with them. right now I am looking at two combos one with the maximus VIII ranger the other with the VIII Hero. Cant really tell a whole lot apart from them other than price. Any help? hopefully this price reduction on the cpu will last a day or two while I can research more. if not I may go with the ranger. seems to have slightly more favorable reviews and just a hair cheaper.
 
I built the rig in my sig in Feb and have not had any problems with it whatsover.....o/c'd to 4.8, use the Intel NIC, and the onboard sound no problems at all.....fast, quiet and reasonably priced....that's all I want or need out of my computer :D
 
Well bought the maximus VIII Ranger i7 6700k combo. should be here this week. now on to the debate of GPU while I await their availability.

Thank you to all that provided input both in this thread and through PM. I really do appreciate it.
 
I have had great luck with MSI "gaming" motherboard.

I don't use killer driver for ethernet. So what.
I don't see it as a reason not to use MSI.

I like will buy MSI gaming motherboard again (mini itx)
 
BenWah said:
I have had great luck with MSI "gaming" motherboard.

I don't use killer driver for ethernet. So what.
I don't see it as a reason not to use MSI.

I like will buy MSI gaming motherboard again (mini itx)
Click to expand...

I agree with you. I've got an MSI Godlike Gaming Carbon and love it. Had no problems (yet) with the Killer dual NICs or wireless. Killer software is interesting. Have had no reason to use the advanced features like app priority or doubleshot.
 
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