Need Z87 motherboard

[shadow85]

Im upgrading from my i5-750 to a i5-4670k and will use my existing noctua u12 se2 cooler on the haswell.

What is the best motherboard around the $250AU mark or less. I want the best MB for gaming, and I will only OC to around ~4.2 GHz-4.4 GHz, nothing too hardcore.

My likes so far;
Asrock Z87 fatal1ty professional
gigabyte Z87X-OC
MSI Z87-G45 or G65 gaming

what else do you guys recommend for my criteria, is there any clear winner's?

 

[cadaveca]

is there any clear winner's?

The only person on this forum likely to have ALL three of those boards is me.


I reviewed the Z87-GD65 GAMING already. It's a great board for GAMING with dual high-end GPUs. Cost is $189. A couple other TPU forum staff have already bought MSI Z87-GD65 GAMING boards. Ask them if they agree with my review.:meh:

The Z87X-OC is all about OC, obviously. $200. I'll have that review live some time real soon. Just in the middle of re-benches with new AIDA64 and PCMark8.


Now, the ASRock Fatal1ty Professional...it's priced much higher than those other two. $265.



All three are actually intended for different users, so the differences will be glaringly obvious.

I haven't put much time into using the ASRock board yet, so really there's not much I can say here about either three of these other than the MSI. The Gigabyte board I've basically done reviewing, just some stuff to finish up now. I doubt many others other than board reviewers from other sites will have had the time to play with all these boards either. They've only been available for purchase for a few days now.

 

[shadow85]

so which would you suggest for gaming in mind? if the fatal1ty would win in that department I would shell out the extra $$

 

[cadaveca]

so which would you suggest for gaming in mind? if the fatal1ty would win in that department I would shell out the extra $$

well, the ASRock is more expensive since it uses Creative Recon3D audio, has dual Intel LAN controllers, PCI slot support(which requires an external PCIe-driven controller now since it's legacy item), 10 SATA 6 Gb/s ports, all those thing readily explain the cost increase.


Will you use those features?


When it comes time to overclock, most boards should present a fairly level playing field, but memory clocking is going to vary quite wildly between products. I've run into this already with the few boards I've had some time with. I can't say who is going to be best in that regard yet, since most of that will be affected by BIOS updates that will be coming out very soon. I know many board maker's BIOS engineers have just started playing with the real high-end 2933 MHz+ sticks, and this is where I will be looking at when it comes to memory clocking.


Either I lost the silicon lottery for memory clocking, or boards aren't really ready for 2933 MHz. Only one board could boot it so far, nevermind be stable. Could be my sticks too though.

That's why I have waited a bit and spent more time testing before posting more reviews...I need to spend some time tweaking and seeing if I cannot figure out what's going on here.

 

[shadow85]

No I will not be using ALL those features from the Asrock. It will be a gamimg rig so Im leaning towards the MSI Z87-G65, or the G45 if there isnt any gaming performance difference.

 

[cadaveca]

No I will not be using ALL those features from the Asrock. It will be a gamimg rig so Im leaning towards the MSI Z87-G65, or the G45 if there isnt any gaming performance difference.

The Z87-GD45 is more of a value product, meant more for mid-range and entry-level multi-GPU. It lacks CPU power phases, so won't hold a long-term OC as well as the Z87-GD65 GAMING, and is missing some SATA ports, too. It's actually quite comparable to the Z87-GD65 GAMING overall, but those differences definitely account for the lower price. Honestly, for stock CPU, or minor OC like 4 GHz, with some GPU clocking, the Z87-GD54 GAMING would be the right choice unless you need those SATA ports.

To put it in perspective, MSI gave me the GTX670's to use with the Z87-GD65 GAMING and comparable boards, while they also sent GTX650TI BOOST cards for the Z87-GD45 and similar.

It's worth noting that buying matching MSI GAMING cards to use with these GAMING boards is supposed to allow for high OC of the GAMING cards. MSI screens GAMING-series parts specifically for this.

 

[shadow85]

I guess that should narrow it down to the Z87-G65 as I am planning on eventually having SLI 780's and 4.4GHz overclock on the i5-4670k.

 

[cadaveca]

I guess that should narrow it down to the Z87-G65 as I am planning on eventually having SLI 780's and 4.4GHz overclock on the i5-4670k.

Yeah, that's about how I feel about it. You may want to consider the MPower boards or others as well.

 

[shadow85]

Yeah, that's about how I feel about it. You may want to consider the MPower boards or others as well.

Ok, which other board(s) should I compare for the price range for my main use?

 

[cadaveca]

Ok, which other board(s) should I compare for the price range for my main use?

Well, pick a color scheme, and then find all the board you want that match it in that price range. Every brand will have one that meets your needs, but not all will have the right colors.

You could also look at the ASUS Maximus V Hero, since Red/Black seems to kind of be where you are headed...Also the Gigabyte Z87X-UD4H...


You might ask, why did you review the MSI Z87-GD65 GAMING board first?

I actually worked a deal with MSI to get them on the review pages on launch day. The GAMING series of products are ones that really interest me on a personal level, and once MSI had them in my hands in Z77 Express form, I easily saw that they were on to something. As time went on a bit, I saw that other brands are also releasing boards this gen that are very much has focused on "platforms" rather than just being a board you use with anything, too. Then Computex saw MSI's Z87 GAMING boards, and gave MSI an award for the Z87-GD65 GAMING. I obviously saw something that Computex did as well.

So, what about the other brands? Well, for the most part, they've already shown that they are quite capable at delivering great products. MSI really stepped up their game lately, however, in way they haven't before, and it's not gone unnoticed.

Now, for pure OC fun, I'd not choose the GAMING boards, honestly. There is good reason why MSI also offers the MPower boards, and the X-Power is supposed to come out soon too. But when it comes time for me to give an honest opinion about other products, I have to hesitate since I haven't spent much time using other boards, just a few so far.

 

[Protagonist]

I'm getting the Intel DZ87KLT-75K seems ideal for me, the stock is low so i guess it will take long to arrive maybe 3 weeks from now.
Will be getting i7-4770, EVGA GTX 770 SC and a Bluray Burner this will arrive a week or two before the board.

Many other people have boards they like, as for me i like intel boards.