Which Z170 motherboard is looking like the best bang for the buck?

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LiquidX

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Each manufacture has like 10 Z170 motherboard to choose from so it is sort of daunting. Narrow it down to under $200 and it is still daunting as some manufacturers like ASUS has boards(ASUS Z170-A and ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming) just $5 apart in pricing.

The MSI Z170A is looking really good. Specially looking at it because of my interest in Audio Boost 3.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130867

I'm partial to ASRock so their new Extreme 4 looks good to me also.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157633

ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...e=ASUS_Z170_Pro_Gaming-_-13-132-567-_-Product

I know not many reviews are out yet but whats catching your eye?
 
But GB keeps adding those damned Killer NIC's. I want just pure Intel NIC's, hell or maybe some 10Gb links :)
 
The UD5 has two Intel Nic's..

I notice Marvell has been dropped in exchange for ASmedia.

There goes setting up any type of secondary RAID.
 
Ya Im a little overwhelmed with all the choices. A part of me wants to see how reviews and shootouts pan out, but I have half the stuff sitting here for my skylake build already, so once the chip is available its going to be hard to hold out much longer.
 
Uhh....that was sarcasm. Like, why have so many USB 2.0 ports in this day of USB 3.1? ;)
 
I`m also on the fence here , budget wise i dont mind going all the way up to Asus Delux , but i like some of the features and looks of the Gigabyte Gaming 7 and also the Maximus VIII like on board sound (important for me as my Sennheiser need amp`ing)

i want to be able to do a decent CPU o/c (bring 6700k to 4.7-4.8 stable) and no memory o/c (i`m planning on buying a kit of 2x8gb 3000mhz so they will run spec at 1.35v

most important i want to be future proof for a few years (USB 3.1 ,C-Type , M2 etc.)

and please , no PCI for the love of...;)
 
T_A said:
I`m also on the fence here , budget wise i dont mind going all the way up to Asus Delux , but i like some of the features and looks of the Gigabyte Gaming 7 and also the Maximus VIII like on board sound (important for me as my Sennheiser need amp`ing)

i want to be able to do a decent CPU o/c (bring 6700k to 4.7-4.8 stable) and no memory o/c (i`m planning on buying a kit of 2x8gb 3000mhz so they will run spec at 1.35v

most important i want to be future proof for a few years (USB 3.1 ,C-Type , M2 etc.)

and please , no PCI for the love of...;)
Click to expand...

I'm on the same boat. While the deluxe is pricey, I think it is one of the few boards that can justify the $320 price tag.

My mobo budget is $300 and the gigabyte gaming gt, msi titanium, and asus deluxe were all my primary boards. I am doing a white/black build so i decided to ditch the titanium as the silver just doesn't look right.

Then the asus deluxe just outdoes the gigabyte in features. More usb 3.1, intel vs killer nic, great 3x3 ac wifi, m.2 to u.2, and also i much rather the m.2 placement options with the asus.

I considered going with a cheaper board, but the only other real option would be to drop down to the asus z170-a of the gigabyte gaming 7 where it would still match my build.
But then I still need to buy an wireless ac adapter, so I might as well just jump back to the deluxe. (I already have a router that supports 3x3 ac.)
 
I'm having a hard time myself; The SoC-Force from Gigabyte really ticks all the boxes for me, but isn't coming out any time soon. Would love to have a release date on that. OC Formula looks really solid as well, but again no timetable on release... very annoying. Xpower looked interesting but seems very scaled back from previous incarnations... None of the ASUS boards interest me at all except maybe the Deluxe... probably will be passing on that one (of course it's out already lol.) Guess I'll be waiting at least a month before deciding.
 
I'd go Asus Pro Gaming or Asus-A for solid power delivery section and Sli support but without paying for useless features like on deluxe or sabertooth.

Asrock Extreme 4 is also similar in characteristics.
 
If I end up upgrading, I'm leaning toward the MSI Gaming M7. It looks to have everything I want in a Z170 board. The ASrock boards look solid to me as well though.
 
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