• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Z270 or Z370 mobo?

Joined
Nov 24, 2015
Messages
20 (0.01/day)
System Name PC
Processor Intel® Core™ i7-4790K
Motherboard ASRock H87 Pro4
Cooling Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo
Memory Crucial DDR3 8GB 1600MHz (2x)
Video Card(s) NVIDIA GeForce EVGA GTX 1080 FTW
Storage Samsung 850 EVO Series 250GB SSD/ Hitachi Deskstar P7K500GB
Display(s) Samsung KU6400 49" 4K
Case CORSAIR 750D FULL TOWER ATX
Power Supply Corsair RMi Series™ RM750i
Mouse Logitech MX600
Keyboard Logitech MX3200
Software Windows 7 64x Ultimate
Hello,




I work at the local Television network as a video editor, so I like to bring work home very often. I was planning on buying a new M.2 PCIe NVMe, so I could have some really fast workflow when editing, importing, exporting and rendering stuff.
But apparently my motherboard is ~4 years old (ASRock H87 Pro4, LGA1150, i7 4790k, DDR3 16GB) and it dosen't support M.2 SSD. So I thought I would just buy a new motherboard. Then I discovered that the LGA1150 is pretty much a dying breed right now. So there wouldn't be a point for me to buy a new mobo from that platform again. It would be a wiser move for me to upgrade to LGA1151 or so on.

So my question is:

1) Should I upgrade my motherboard to LGA1151 Z270 or Z370?
(I would have to buy a new CPU anyways and the new Coffee Lake i7 8700k, that just came out seems like a pretty good thing for editing and also gaming. But as I heard, the Z370 mobo isn't backwards compatible, would the Z370 platform be a dead end after a year or so, with no upgrade path in the future and what do you think, would the Z370 work with the next line of CPUs in the future?!)


2) What kind of DDR4 RAM should be used with the new Coffee Lake i7 8700k CPU? ( I was thinking about 16GB 8+8 at 3000 mhz, for example: http://www.corsair.com/en-gb/vengea...0mhz-c15-memory-kit-white-cmk16gx4m2b3000c15w )





My rig:
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-4790K (CPU cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO)
Motherboard: ASRock H87 Pro4
Memory: Crucial DDR3 8GB 1600MHz (2x)
Video Card(s): NVIDIA GeForce EVGA GTX 1080 FTW
Hard Disk(s): Samsung 850 EVO Series 250GB SSD/ Hitachi Deskstar P7K2000GB
Monitor: Samsung 49"KU6400 UHD 4K
Power Supply: Corsair RMi Series™ RM750i
Software: Windows 7 64x Ultimate


Thank you in advance!
Chris M
 
Last edited:
Joined
Nov 3, 2007
Messages
1,700 (0.28/day)
No idea, any answer to your question would be purely speculative.

It just boils down to if you buy Z270, you can ONLY get Skylake or Kabylake processors, not upward compatible with CL. I see you run Windows 7, and of those only the skylake (ex: 6700k) is officially support on windows 7 , so you can still get windows updates. Kabylake is not supported, so M$ will shut off windows updates. You can "hack" that, but pretty janky to have to do that (and shady on M$ and Intel for doing this anyways).

if you get Z370, it will only work with Coffeelake and is NOT downwards compatible to KL or SL. CPU's are all backordered for now, and boards are only just starting to come out. (No windows 7 support).

So really 4 core vs 6 core, with higher potentially in the future. There will always be something better....

Memory wise, I also use DDR4 3000 and it's fine, no big gain or loss.
 
Joined
Aug 18, 2017
Messages
340 (0.14/day)
Please don't use counter-informative term "M.2 SSD", as it tells nothing. There are M.2 SATA SSDs, and M.2 PCIe NVMe SSDs. As you're mentioning exceptional performance, you're probably speaking of the latter.

Z370 will be as dead as your current platform. Doesn't matter :)
If you can afford, then get Z370 and a hex-core.

But... is the plan of getting NVMe SSD the only reason you want to swap almost everything in PC?
There are Z87/Z97 motherboards on which you'll get NVMe drives running at full speed.
 
Joined
Sep 7, 2017
Messages
3,244 (1.36/day)
System Name Grunt
Processor Ryzen 5800x
Motherboard Gigabyte x570 Gaming X
Cooling Noctua NH-U12A
Memory Corsair LPX 3600 4x8GB
Video Card(s) Gigabyte 6800 XT (reference)
Storage Samsung 980 Pro 2TB
Display(s) Samsung CFG70, Samsung NU8000 TV
Case Corsair C70
Power Supply Corsair HX750
Software Win 10 Pro
These both have limited lifespan in their own way (270 moreso). I'm a 270 owner, but if you're starting from scratch, I wouldn't recommend it. To me, it seems like x299 has a longer future than either.
 
Joined
Jul 20, 2013
Messages
236 (0.06/day)
System Name Coffee Lake S
Processor i9-9900K
Motherboard MSI MEG Z390 ACE
Cooling Corsair H115i Platinum RGB
Memory Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 3466 C16
Video Card(s) EVGA RTX 2080 Ti XC2 Ultra
Storage Samsung 970 Pro M.2 512GB - Samsung 860 EVO 1TB SSD - WD Black 2TB HDD
Display(s) Dell P2715Q 27" 3840x2160 IPS @ 60Hz
Case Fractal Design Define R6
Power Supply Seasonic 860 watt Platinum
Mouse SteelSeries Rival 600
Keyboard Corsair K70 RGB MK.2
Software Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
If you are starting a new build, then yes a Z370 board is the way to go, along with a i7 8700k processor. The i7 8700k seems to be very capable for "editing, importing, exporting and rendering stuff" as you stated, and will be good to go for years.

You'll also want at least 32GB of fast DDR4 RAM as well (3000 or 3200MHz). Those tasks you mentioned will use the RAM. 16GB will cut you short.

BTW LGA1150 has been a dead end socket for quite a while now. It's not just becoming a "dying breed." It's way past that.

So to answer your questions specifically:

1) Yes get a Z370 board and pair it with a i7 8700k. ASUS or MSI are great brands. And install your OS onto the M.2, you'll thank me later. You need Windows 10 as well. Wave bye-bye to Win 7. It was great, but it's done.

2) Corsair makes great RAM, and yes 3000MHz or faster will be fine (these Z370 boards support RAM even faster but it gets pricey real fast). But 16GB will not be enough for video editing and rendering. 32GB is a minimum for that.
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2014
Messages
1,837 (0.53/day)
Location
Calabash, NC
System Name The Captain (2.0)
Processor Ryzen 7 7700X
Motherboard Asus Crosshair X670E Hero (soon to be replaced by Gigabyte X670E AORUS Master)
Cooling 360mm Be Quiet! Pure Loop 2 FX, 4x Be Quiet! 140mm Silent Wings 4 (1x exhaust 3x intake)
Memory 32GB (2x16) G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo (6000Mhz)
Video Card(s) MSI GeForce RTX 3070 SUPRIM X
Storage 1x Crucial MX500 500GB SSD; 1x Crucial MX500 500GB M.2 SSD; 1x WD Blue HDD, 1x Crucial P5 Plus
Display(s) Aorus CV27F 27" 1080p 165Hz
Case Phanteks Evolv X (Anthracite Gray)
Power Supply Corsair RMx (2021) 1000W 80-Plus Gold
Mouse Varies based on mood; is currently Razer Basilisk V3; Basilisk Ultimate for gaming
Keyboard Varies based on mood; currently HyperX Alloy Origins 65
OP, I know this might seem like a weird question but, based on your needs, have you considered maybe a Ryzen Threadripper and an X399 board?
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2013
Messages
5,413 (1.42/day)
Location
Everywhere all the time all at once
System Name The Little One
Processor i5-11320H @4.4GHZ
Motherboard AZW SEI
Cooling Fan w/heat pipes + side & rear vents
Memory 64GB Crucial DDR4-3200 (2x 32GB)
Video Card(s) Iris XE
Storage WD Black SN850X 4TB m.2, Seagate 2TB SSD + SN850 4TB x2 in an external enclosure
Display(s) 2x Samsung 43" & 2x 32"
Case Practically identical to a mac mini, just purrtier in slate blue, & with 3x usb ports on the front !
Audio Device(s) Yamaha ATS-1060 Bluetooth Soundbar & Subwoofer
Power Supply 65w brick
Mouse Logitech MX Master 2
Keyboard Logitech G613 mechanical wireless
Software Windows 10 pro 64 bit, with all the unnecessary background shitzu turned OFF !
Benchmark Scores PDQ
Regardless of what you get NOW, it will be outdated within 6 months to a year, assuming of course that the current pace of tech advancement continues as it has for the past few years :)

However, do not refrain from upgrading now if you feel the need, because if you get the rig that suits your needs, it will continue to do so at least until the next "BIG THING" comes out, and probably for a while after that...

bottom line: a properly equipped Z370-Lake or X399 TR rig should serve you well for a couple of years...regardless of what comes out after it...
 
Joined
Oct 2, 2004
Messages
13,791 (1.94/day)
These both have limited lifespan in their own way (270 moreso). I'm a 270 owner, but if you're starting from scratch, I wouldn't recommend it. To me, it seems like x299 has a longer future than either.

Then again, going with X299 and sticking a crappy quad core in it or even 6 core for that matter is just silly. In that case rather get Z370 and i7 8700K and call it a day. I mean, if you go with X299 you better go big, otherwise it's pointless. It didn't used to be like this when X99 only meant you going big since you couldn't on consumer (non HEDT) platform...
 
Joined
Mar 2, 2011
Messages
1,226 (0.26/day)
Location
Omaha, NE
System Name Graphics Card Free...
Processor Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard MSI B450 Gaming Plus MAX Wifi
Cooling Cryorig M9a w/ BeQuiet! PureWings 2 ~ 92mm
Memory Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 3200 ~ 16GB(2x8GB)
Storage Samsung EVO 870 SSD - 1TB
Display(s) AOC 24G2
Case Cardboard...
Power Supply eVGA SuperNova 550w G3
Mouse Logitech t400 Zone Touch Mouse
Keyboard IBM Model "M" Keyboard
Software Manjaro ~ KDE Plasma
Benchmark Scores She's a Runner!
If it was my pc in those specs you're listing. I wouldn't upgrade anything.

:),

Liquid Cool
 
Joined
Aug 29, 2005
Messages
7,062 (1.04/day)
Location
Asked my ISP.... 0.0
System Name Lynni PS \ Lenowo TwinkPad T480
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Raphael \ i7-8550U Kaby Lake-R
Motherboard ASRock B650M PG Riptide Bios v. 2.02 AMD AGESA 1.1.0.0 \ Lenowo 20L60036MX Bios 1.47
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 Chromax.Black (Only middle fan) \ Lenowo WN-2
Memory G.Skill Flare X5 2x16GB DDR5 6000MHZ CL36-36-36-96 AMD EXPO \ Willk Elektronik 2x16GB 2666MHZ CL17
Video Card(s) Asus GeForce RTX™ 4070 Dual OC GPU: 2325-2355 MEM: 1462| Nvidia GeForce MX™ 150 2GB GDDR5 Micron
Storage Gigabyte M30 1TB|Sabrent Rocket 2TB| HDD: 10TB|1TB \ SKHynix 256GB 2242 3x2
Display(s) LG UltraGear 27GP850-B 1440p@165Hz | LG 48CX OLED 4K HDR | AUO 14" 1440p IPS
Case Fractal Design Meshify 2 Tempered Glass White/Black | Lenowo T480 chassis
Audio Device(s) Steelseries Arctis Pro Wireless
Power Supply Be Quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W Goldie | 65W
Mouse Logitech G305 Lightspeedy Wireless | Lenowo TouchPad & Logitech G305
Keyboard Akko 3108 DS Horizon V2 Cream Yellow | T480 UK Lumi
Software Win11 Pro 23H2 UK
Benchmark Scores 3DMARK: https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/89434432? GPU-Z: https://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/details/v3zbr
@ktn21 if u ain't hungry for new hardware keep what u have no need for upgrading.

Remember Intel's Tick and Tock system, with this said yes Intel reused their LGA1151 socket for Coffe Lake doesn't mean that u can reuse the older boards with the new cpu's sadly or vice versa.
 

hat

Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 20, 2006
Messages
21,731 (3.43/day)
Location
Ohio
System Name Starlifter :: Dragonfly
Processor i7 2600k 4.4GHz :: i5 10400
Motherboard ASUS P8P67 Pro :: ASUS Prime H570-Plus
Cooling Cryorig M9 :: Stock
Memory 4x4GB DDR3 2133 :: 2x8GB DDR4 2400
Video Card(s) PNY GTX1070 :: Integrated UHD 630
Storage Crucial MX500 1TB, 2x1TB Seagate RAID 0 :: Mushkin Enhanced 60GB SSD, 3x4TB Seagate HDD RAID5
Display(s) Onn 165hz 1080p :: Acer 1080p
Case Antec SOHO 1030B :: Old White Full Tower
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - Bose Companion 2 Series III :: None
Power Supply FSP Hydro GE 550w :: EVGA Supernova 550
Software Windows 10 Pro - Plex Server on Dragonfly
Benchmark Scores >9000
If you need cpu power, get the 8700k or x299. If you just want a faster drive, there are plenty of pcie expansion cards that will support fast m.2 nvme drives or even straight up pcie ssd drives.
 
Joined
Dec 31, 2009
Messages
19,366 (3.72/day)
Benchmark Scores Faster than yours... I'd bet on it. :)
I wonder if the op is going to reply, or just 'thanks' everything...
 
Joined
Sep 7, 2017
Messages
3,244 (1.36/day)
System Name Grunt
Processor Ryzen 5800x
Motherboard Gigabyte x570 Gaming X
Cooling Noctua NH-U12A
Memory Corsair LPX 3600 4x8GB
Video Card(s) Gigabyte 6800 XT (reference)
Storage Samsung 980 Pro 2TB
Display(s) Samsung CFG70, Samsung NU8000 TV
Case Corsair C70
Power Supply Corsair HX750
Software Win 10 Pro
Then again, going with X299 and sticking a crappy quad core in it or even 6 core for that matter is just silly. In that case rather get Z370 and i7 8700K and call it a day. I mean, if you go with X299 you better go big, otherwise it's pointless. It didn't used to be like this when X99 only meant you going big since you couldn't on consumer (non HEDT) platform...

I'd rather do that, and then upgrade to i9 when prices slash in half. Just knowing the option is there is nice. It's better than my 270, which I just bought. It's already a dead end and not even a year old.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jun 28, 2014
Messages
2,388 (0.67/day)
Location
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia USA
System Name Home Brewed
Processor i9-7900X and i7-8700K
Motherboard ASUS ROG Rampage VI Extreme & ASUS Prime Z-370 A
Cooling Corsair 280mm AIO & Thermaltake Water 3.0
Memory 64GB DDR4-3000 GSKill RipJaws-V & 32GB DDR4-3466 GEIL Potenza
Video Card(s) 2X-GTX-1080 SLI & 2 GTX-1070Ti 8GB G1 Gaming in SLI
Storage Both have 2TB HDDs for storage, 480GB SSDs for OS, and 240GB SSDs for Steam Games
Display(s) ACER 28" B286HK 4K & Samsung 32" 1080P
Case NZXT Source 540 & Rosewill Rise Chassis
Audio Device(s) onboard
Power Supply Corsair RM1000 & Corsair RM850
Mouse Generic
Keyboard Razer Blackwidow Tournament & Corsair K90
Software Win-10 Professional
Benchmark Scores yes
X99 is still pretty viable too. My six-core i7-6850 chews through folding at home work-units pretty quickly.
My Ryzen eight core R1700X does well too.
Either platform will do video rendering and all of your other tasks much faster than the 4790K does. They are getting to be affordable too.
 

peche

Thermaltake fanboy
Joined
Nov 7, 2014
Messages
6,709 (1.96/day)
Location
San Jose, Costa Rica
System Name Athenna
Processor intel i7 3770 *Dellided*
Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Rev. 1.1
Cooling Thermaltake Water 3.0 Pro + Tt Riing12 x2 / Tt ThunderBlade / Gelid Slim 120UV fans
Memory 16GB DRR3 Kingoston with Custom Tt spreaders + HyperX Fan
Video Card(s) GeForce GTX 980 4GB Nvidia Sample
Storage Crucial M4 SSD 64GB's / Seagate Barracuda 2TB / Seagate Barracuda 320GB's
Display(s) 22" LG FLATRON 1920 x 1280p
Case Thermaltake Commander G42 Window
Audio Device(s) On-board Dolby 5.1+ Kingston HyperX Cloud 1
Power Supply Themaltake TR2 700W 80plus bronce & APC Pro backup 1000Va
Mouse Tt eSports Level 10M Rev 1.0 Diamond Black & Tt Conkor "L" mouse pad
Keyboard Tt eSports KNUCKER
Software windows 10x64Pro
Benchmark Scores well I've fried a 775' P4 12 years ago, that counts?
I work at the local Television network as a video editor, so I like to bring work home very often. I was planning on buying a new M.2 PCIe NVMe, so I could have some really fast workflow when editing, importing, exporting and rendering stuff.
But apparently my motherboard is ~4 years old (ASRock H87 Pro4, LGA1150, i7 4790k, DDR3 16GB) and it dosen't support M.2 SSD. So I thought I would just buy a new motherboard. Then I discovered that the LGA1150 is pretty much a dying breed right now. So there wouldn't be a point for me to buy a new mobo from that platform again. It would be a wiser move for me to upgrade to LGA1151 or so on.
Z97 board are able to use M.2 SSD directly in the board, no PCI adapters.... you can just get a new Z97 board and keep all you already have, also upgrading to W10 is way better!

Regards.
 
Joined
Aug 18, 2017
Messages
340 (0.14/day)
M.2 slot on most Z97 motherboards is a crap PCIe gen2 x2 one. That means a ~800MB/s cap for NVMe SSDs.

The optimal solution is a Z87/Z97 motherboard that splits CPUs PCIe lanes (also known as SLI capable) what allows up to 3 NVMe drives running at full speed.
Asrock Z97 Extreme6 does exactly that with first M.2 slot. On others a simple PCIe -> M.2 adapter will do the trick.
 
Joined
Dec 31, 2009
Messages
19,366 (3.72/day)
Benchmark Scores Faster than yours... I'd bet on it. :)
A board doesnt have to be SLI capable to split lanes afaik..

Or have m.2 lanes from the cpu
 
Joined
Aug 18, 2017
Messages
340 (0.14/day)
Doesn't have to, but most do have SLI cert. I know it's not the same, but for non-technical person "SLI capable" means something. "CPU PCIe bifurcation" does not ;)
So I prefer to stick to easier term as it's correct for most cases.
 
Joined
Dec 31, 2009
Messages
19,366 (3.72/day)
Benchmark Scores Faster than yours... I'd bet on it. :)
But it has nothing at all to do with it. Need to check manuals to be sure. Many of them have breakdowns of all connectivity in a handy diagram within the manual.
 
Joined
Aug 18, 2017
Messages
340 (0.14/day)
On modern mainstream platforms (115x, FM2(+), AM4) you can't get a x8 link from chipset (at least x8 is a SLI requirement).
So, If you have SLI support, then the motherboard either bifurcates, or has PLX (less common).
 
Joined
Dec 31, 2009
Messages
19,366 (3.72/day)
Benchmark Scores Faster than yours... I'd bet on it. :)
The motherboard splits the 16 lanes from the CPU to x8/x8 on many (not all) boards. Then there is x4 left from the chipset.
 
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
12,280 (2.37/day)
Location
Oregon
System Name Juliette // HTPC
Processor Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s) ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s) ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s) Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro
I wouldn't upgrade just for NMVe. It's nice but I've been edditing for years without it and have it now. It's not worth the upgrade. If you must go Z370 and W10
 
Top