Finest Z97 Motherboard to fly the Devils Canyon?

[Wireline]

Hello

Following some issues with my 5820K and X99 mobo, and finding myself wondering about ultimate overclock, I have been browsing some shops again for new kit. When getting the X99 the chief competition was a Z97 and 4790K. I want the clock speed because the flight sims I use drink MHz like crazy. I settled on the X99 because it is the newer platform, and those extra cores can help in some of the applications I had in mind. I had been hoping for a good 4.5GHz out of my chip, which may not be forthcoming.

But now I am thinking of treating myself to a second board and CPU, and so naturally I am back looking at Z97 and 4790K for that all-out brute top speed. Given the slightly rough ride I have been having with the X99 Deluxe and ASUS UK's not-exactly-confidence-inspiring customer service, I don't want to go ASUS if I buy.

In terms of reliability, performance and feature set, can anyone recommend the very finest in Z97 motherboards? So far the EVGA Classified caught my eye, but I heard (just one, but fairly high profile) report of EVGA mobos not being too reliable.

The other option is to try a 5930K, but TBH that still ties me to the X99 with no alternative option with a little more operating history.

As always, thanks for reading and I look forward to seeing your replies.

PS: Oh yeah whilst I think about it, can you buy aftermarket parts for mobos? For example shrouds / covers / heatsinks etc to retrofit colour schemes and so on?

 

[newtekie1]

I've been really happy with my AsRock Z97 Extreme6.

 

[Wireline]

I've been really happy with my AsRock Z97 Extreme6.

Hehe wow you have quite a collection of computers The AsRock is quite a beaut. What is the SLI support like? I note it says quad SLI, but I can only see 3 slots. Not that I would be using them right away, I am only running dual SLI at the mo.

Maybe I am missing it in your sig, but how did she clock, and was that a 4790? Thanks man!

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Hehe wow you have quite a collection of computers The AsRock is quite a beaut. What is the SLI support like? I note it says quad SLI, but I can only see 3 slots. Not that I would be using them right away, I am only running dual SLI at the mo.

Maybe I am missing it in your sig, but how did she clock, and was that a 4790? Thanks man!

Says quad SLI because it supports 2 cards with 2 GPUs on them in SLI like the GTX690 or TitanZ. Honestly most Z97 boards will be fine. Just find one that has the features you need, price point, and you can't really go wrong.

EVGA boards are kind of meh. I currently look at Asus, Gigabyte, and MSi as being top dogs. MSi Gaming line is awesome. Like the Gaming 7.

Overclocking on Haswell is mostly entirely dependent on the chip you get.

PS: Oh yeah whilst I think about it, can you buy aftermarket parts for mobos? For example shrouds / covers / heatsinks etc to retrofit colour schemes and so on?

Not really no. Only thing worth changing on motherboards ("worth" being upon opinion) is changing the heatsinks to waterblocks if you do custom water cooling. Other than that I wouldnt bother. Buy a board with the color scheme you want already.

Also like erocker said. More then 2 GPUs, X99 is the way to go. Unless you get a z97 board with the PLX chip, but that adds latency to the slots.

 

[erocker]

If your seriously considering 3+ cards you should be looking at the x99 chipset.

 

[newtekie1]

Hehe wow you have quite a collection of computers The AsRock is quite a beaut. What is the SLI support like? I note it says quad SLI, but I can only see 3 slots. Not that I would be using them right away, I am only running dual SLI at the mo.

Maybe I am missing it in your sig, but how did she clock, and was that a 4790? Thanks man!

SLI support on pretty much all the Z97 boards is limited to 2 cards due to only having 16 PCI-E lanes. So you can do x8/x8 SLI.

I run the 4790K with my Extreme6 at 4.6GHz 24/7, it can do 4.8GHz but my H100i isn't up to the task of keeping it cool beyond 4.6GHz. I think I just got a bad 4790K though, because it seems to get hotter than others I've seen. I've got a 4690K I'm thinking of tossing in just to play around with. I've ran my 4790K in several Z97 boards, and get basically the same results with all of them.

 

[GhostRyder]

Hello

Following some issues with my 5820K and X99 mobo, and finding myself wondering about ultimate overclock, I have been browsing some shops again for new kit. When getting the X99 the chief competition was a Z97 and 4790K. I want the clock speed because the flight sims I use drink MHz like crazy. I settled on the X99 because it is the newer platform, and those extra cores can help in some of the applications I had in mind. I had been hoping for a good 4.5GHz out of my chip, which may not be forthcoming.

But now I am thinking of treating myself to a second board and CPU, and so naturally I am back looking at Z97 and 4790K for that all-out brute top speed. Given the slightly rough ride I have been having with the X99 Deluxe and ASUS UK's not-exactly-confidence-inspiring customer service, I don't want to go ASUS if I buy.

In terms of reliability, performance and feature set, can anyone recommend the very finest in Z97 motherboards? So far the EVGA Classified caught my eye, but I heard (just one, but fairly high profile) report of EVGA mobos not being too reliable.

The other option is to try a 5930K, but TBH that still ties me to the X99 with no alternative option with a little more operating history.

As always, thanks for reading and I look forward to seeing your replies.

PS: Oh yeah whilst I think about it, can you buy aftermarket parts for mobos? For example shrouds / covers / heatsinks etc to retrofit colour schemes and so on?

The major thing is the 5820K has 24 PCIE lanes allowing for up to 3 video cards at 8X to run on an X99 board (Slots willing) versus the 5930K which has the total 40 PCIE lanes allowing for a configuration of video cards of 16x,8x,8x,8x in a quad configuration (Or for 3 its 16x, 16x, 8x). The other thing is that the 5820K is not binned as well at the 5930K which is why overclocking a lot of times is not nearly as good on it versus its big brother 5930K.

If you are wanting to run a 3 card config and achieve the best clocks you can, the 5930K is a better bet overall because its going to more likely deliver the clocks up to 4.8ghz where as the 5820k will do the 3 cards but is more likely going to max at 4.4ghz (Unless you get lucky in the lottery of silicon).

As for the Z97, the I7 4790K only has 16 PCIE Lanes which allows for 2 video cards at 8x, 8x configuration. There are boards that have an PLX chip allowing for 3 and even 4 cards in some cases at 8x,8x,8x,8x but those are very expensive and honestly can have issues of their own (Most latency is the issue I speak of that I have heard thrown around). If you want one like that, here are a couple choices to complement a 4790K and support up to 4 cards:

Asrock Z97 Extreme 9
Asus Z97-WS
Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming G1 (There are 3 similar variants that do this on the Gigabyte side)

Honestly if you want to do 3 way, its going to be better to stick with X99 in my personal opinion. While the extra cores are not always beneficial in games the extra lanes and the overclocking prowess mixed with those cores can deliver nice performance for a more substantial amount of time.

 

[OneMoar]

keep in mind people that pci e 3.0 is double the speed of 2.0
so pci-e 3.0 x8 + x8 is equal to pci-e 2.0 x16+x16
same goes for 4x
there is no bottleneck what so ever

 

[EarthDog]

2% according to TPU's reviews with a single 980 at 1080p (across the titles he tested). While it isn't much, no bottleneck what so ever isn't accurate. Would I pay the premium for that difference? Naaaaaaa, but there is one there none the less. The higher the res though, the less it seems to matter.

(sorry, I know I am splitting hairs here..)

 

[Wireline]

Thanks for the input guys. If I bought a Z97 it would be as well as the X99, as I already own that, so two rigs basically. I am ok with the ins and outs of PCIe lanes and all that jazz, all I really want to know is which Z97 mobos are great OC'ers and reliable. All the rest is secondary

 

[Jetster]

Gigabyte Z97 X Gaming G1 or SOC Force

 

[EarthDog]

all I really want to know is which Z97 mobos are great OC'ers and reliable

The vast majority will happily take your 4790K to its ambient cooled limits. Don't pay a premium for a board that will yield nothing but a slimmer wallet.

 

[GhostRyder]

Thanks for the input guys. If I bought a Z97 it would be as well as the X99, as I already own that, so two rigs basically. I am ok with the ins and outs of PCIe lanes and all that jazz, all I really want to know is which Z97 mobos are great OC'ers and reliable. All the rest is secondary

Most of the boards are good enough to push a CPU to the limits (Including the ones I listed). Some of the things I would look for however if your plan is to make sure you have a nice enough board for heavy clocking is to look for boards with at least 8 Phases because normally those boards are of the higher quality lineup (Minus some exceptions) and will run well overclocking chips and are going to be reliable like that. My favorite board for value right now on the Z97 lineup is the MSI Z97-G55 which to me is one of the best values out there.

 

[Schmuckley]

I like my Maximus 7 Gene.
The Giga board is probably good..but has Giga BIOS..ack. I better clarify:z97x-OC only..
Z97 OCF would be the other option.

You're not looking for a budget board .
Hm..friend of mine really likes his Giga..
I'm gonna rock this Gene someday
I'd say ATX OCF

 

[Tuna Yücer]

Asus Z97-A is enough for O.C.