ASRock Z97 Extreme6 or Extreme4

[sapped]

Hey guys,

So I'm going to get an Intel i7-4790k CPU for my new build but am wondering what should I get for the motherboard?
I have it set down to either ASRock Z97 Extreme6 or Extreme4 using the helpful guide from Tom's.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-intel-amd-motherboard,3902.html

However the problem now is deciding between the two, and this is the part I'm really having trouble with.
I've read on the features that each board have and lacks, however it all seems really confusing and I don't
seem to know what exactly they do.

Here are the features for each board:
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z97 Extreme6/index.us.asp
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z97 Extreme4/index.us.asp

And here's a simplified comparison chart:
http://www.asrock.com/mb/compare.asp?SelectedModel=Z97 Extreme6&SelectedModel=Z97 Extreme4

I'm really confused by all the names and abbreviations, like thunderbolt m2 etc. and don't have the slightest clue what they mean.

I'm trying to decide whether it's worthwhile to spend more on the Extreme6 board for its extra features,
however I'm all new to PC building and don't know about all these terms and new techs.

Would really appreciate if you can help out with it by giving a more in depth explanation.


Also I'm planning on overclocking my CPU a few years later. However I can't determine which one is better
for this since the benchmark I've found on Tom's are based on two different CPU setups.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/enthusiast-z97-motherboard-overclock,3893-26.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/mainstream-gaming-z97-motherboard,3824-26.html

Which one can attain the higher overclock and efficiency while maintaining lower power and heat?

 

[ihog]

The first step is to figure out what features you want, so if you could, please list them here.

Also, chances are the Extreme6 will be able to OC with less voltage, but the difference might not even be noticeable.

 

[sapped]

Thank you so much for the reply mate!

I'm only getting a 1TB hard drive for my new rig at the moment due to budget issue, I'm thinking of skipping the SSD for now and buying it sometime later on my next trip when its cheaper.

Also I'll not be getting any optical drives. So that means lesser SATA ports does not affect me at all?

And it looks like I won't be needing the Thunderbolt tech as well.

So it looks like the only extra feature which I might need is Ultra M.2, although somethings important I forgot to mention before is that I'm building the new rig mainly for gaming:

1. I'll be buying a single Radeon R9 290 for my GPU, so I'll not run CrossFire or dual card.

2. I mainly play extremely CPU intensive games like Total War, Arma, Mount & Blade etc. some of which are not even optimized for multi core CPUs.

So I'm wondering will the Ultra M.2 SSD have better performance for games in CPU limited instances? Compared to standard cheaper SSD or maybe even HDD. Does it improve framerate, loading performance or reduce stuttering?


Also something I'm really confused at the moment is with regard to this review:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8045/asrock-z97-extreme6-review-ultra-m2-x4-tested-with-xp941/11

I'm having a hard time reading it and don't know if I understand correctly since I'm still all new to this, but does it mean using the Ultra M.2 actually decrease the game performance? I'm probably understanding it wrong cos it sounds too crazy. But if so, does it affect me if I'm using only a single card and no SLI/Crossfire and also using ATI instead of Nvidia?

So now I've added that the rig is mainly for gaming, which one do you think is worth it in the end? Appreciate your comments mate.

 

[ihog]

No problem, friend.

You have to understand that the Ultra M.2 goes into a PCIe slot, and the CPU only had 16 lanes. So, if you're using two PCIe lanes (one for the 290, one for the M.2), the only 8 lanes will be open. So, GPU performance will take a slight hit, as shown in the review, but the hit is insignificant. The M.2 is not inherently hurting performance. This has nothing to do whether you're using an AMD or Nvidia card.

Using an SSD will definitely decrease load times, and in some games, it will reduce stuttering, but I don't think the price of the M.2 is worth it at all.

 

[sapped]

Alright thanks, I still don't know a lot about SSD, was planning to look on it at a later stage, so M.2 are like those DDR4 rams which simply ain't worth getting at this stage?

 

[sapped]

By the way, how do you think the MSI Z97 Gaming 5 is? Since it is within the budget range.

And also in Tom's top of the month approved list:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-intel-amd-motherboard,3902.html

Here's the review:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/mainstream-gaming-z97-motherboard,3824.html

It also seems to be more popular on PCPartPicker than the Extreme4 & Extreme6:
http://au.pcpartpicker.com/parts/motherboard/#c=99&f=2&sort=d5

 

[ihog]

Frankly, most motherboards will be fine.