Nebell
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2015
- Messages
- 2,382
I'm curious, why a lot of people go for cheap motherboards? It's the core of our systems. I know that it doesn't affect performance much, but premium features are a big deal to me.
I went for Gigabyte Z170x Gaming G1 which at the time cost me €550 (and it doesn't seem like it dropped in price).
And I can't be happier with this motherboard. It really is a monster. No regrets at all.
Here are a few reasons why I went for a premium motherboard:
* Integrated Sound Blaster ZxR
- I always went for integrated sound cards, but never of this quality. Then I bought dedicated ZxR and was blown away by the sound difference. So when I was getting a new computer, I wanted less PCI-E cards. This was obvious choice. This sound card is priced at just below €200 which brings the actual price of this motherboard to about €350.
* High quality WiFi antenna
- I didn't expect it to be THIS good. I actually bought two Ethernet cables but after detailed testing, there was absolutely no difference between using two cables and running WiFi 5GHz signal. Download/upload speed was the same, ping was the same, games worked just as good on WiFi as they were on the Cable, so I decided to just stay wireless.
* Additional 20 PCI-E lanes
- I was undecided between getting an "outdated" x99 motherboard or a Z170 packed with the latest features. Especially since I usually run dual video cards and wanted one of those ultra fast PCI-E SSD HDDs. Getting few extra lanes definitely helped me choose.
* Two PCI-E x4 M.2 connectors
- Because why not?
* Plenty of USB 3.0/3.1 connectors (even Thunderbolt)
- Now this might not be important to everyone, but to me it is. I have split my computer into two and I've almost ran out of USB ports. There are no old USB 2.0 ports so I don't have to worry which USB I connect my USB 3.0 HDDs.
* Premium materials, premium features (especially oc features)
- This can be found on way cheaper motherboards, but getting this one I expected a motherboard with everything top notch, including overclocking. And it didn't disappoint. I was able to boot with my 6700k at 5GHz, unfortunately it was not stable. Whatever I attempted, the motherboard delivered, and if something was limiting it was not motherboards fault.
Now I reason why I opted for Gigabyte's and not the other premium motherboard (I did like the looks on MSI and I always loved Asus motherboards)
* Watercooling support
- I was building a hardline system and since everything was going to be water cooled, why not watercool the motherboard as well?
* The looks!
- Not everyone have the same taste, but to me, this motherboard is absolutely gorgeous
These are the few reasons I decided to go for a premium motherboard (and I must admit integrated ZxR sound card is one big reason why I did) and I don't think that I will ever be able to go for something with less features.
I went for Gigabyte Z170x Gaming G1 which at the time cost me €550 (and it doesn't seem like it dropped in price).
And I can't be happier with this motherboard. It really is a monster. No regrets at all.
Here are a few reasons why I went for a premium motherboard:
* Integrated Sound Blaster ZxR
- I always went for integrated sound cards, but never of this quality. Then I bought dedicated ZxR and was blown away by the sound difference. So when I was getting a new computer, I wanted less PCI-E cards. This was obvious choice. This sound card is priced at just below €200 which brings the actual price of this motherboard to about €350.
* High quality WiFi antenna
- I didn't expect it to be THIS good. I actually bought two Ethernet cables but after detailed testing, there was absolutely no difference between using two cables and running WiFi 5GHz signal. Download/upload speed was the same, ping was the same, games worked just as good on WiFi as they were on the Cable, so I decided to just stay wireless.
* Additional 20 PCI-E lanes
- I was undecided between getting an "outdated" x99 motherboard or a Z170 packed with the latest features. Especially since I usually run dual video cards and wanted one of those ultra fast PCI-E SSD HDDs. Getting few extra lanes definitely helped me choose.
* Two PCI-E x4 M.2 connectors
- Because why not?
* Plenty of USB 3.0/3.1 connectors (even Thunderbolt)
- Now this might not be important to everyone, but to me it is. I have split my computer into two and I've almost ran out of USB ports. There are no old USB 2.0 ports so I don't have to worry which USB I connect my USB 3.0 HDDs.
* Premium materials, premium features (especially oc features)
- This can be found on way cheaper motherboards, but getting this one I expected a motherboard with everything top notch, including overclocking. And it didn't disappoint. I was able to boot with my 6700k at 5GHz, unfortunately it was not stable. Whatever I attempted, the motherboard delivered, and if something was limiting it was not motherboards fault.
Now I reason why I opted for Gigabyte's and not the other premium motherboard (I did like the looks on MSI and I always loved Asus motherboards)
* Watercooling support
- I was building a hardline system and since everything was going to be water cooled, why not watercool the motherboard as well?
* The looks!
- Not everyone have the same taste, but to me, this motherboard is absolutely gorgeous
These are the few reasons I decided to go for a premium motherboard (and I must admit integrated ZxR sound card is one big reason why I did) and I don't think that I will ever be able to go for something with less features.