Asus H81M-A with an Intel Core i5-4690k & GTX 960

[Pridestalker]

Does this mobo support those components? Im a noob at this ;_;

And im on a very tight budget. I will buy this mobo if it works then upgrade to a mobo that I can OC on.

EDIT: Is the H81M-A or the H81M-PLUS better? They seem very similar.

 

[mlga91]

Its supported, but the board needs an BIOS update to support it, it will maybe come updated, maybe not. Worst case scenario would be that it needs the BIOS update and you'll need another CPU that is already support it to update it. What is your budget for this?

 

[Pridestalker]

Im on a tight budget. The Mobo is €66 and the 4690k is €275 here. which is €341. That is the max I can spend for now. I was thinking about getting the i5-4460 and getting a better mobo.

 

[GamingTooMuch]

If your gaming, overclocking does nothing for most games. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5y-HkuyIs8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhmCU_-wDmo

About the diftence between the motherboard is: pcie 1x (2 vs 3) and a USB 3.0 case header.
It's a darkshot, you could get a motherboard with a outdated bio version and it not work with the 4690k. Or you could get an updated bio and it would work. If you buy new then it probably would be updated but it's a darkshot.

 

[Pridestalker]

If your gaming, overclocking does nothing for most games. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5y-HkuyIs8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhmCU_-wDmo

About the diftence between the motherboard is: pcie 1x (2 vs 3) and a USB 3.0 case header.
It's a darkshot, you could get a motherboard with a outdated bio version and it not work with the 4690k. Or you could get an updated bio and it would work. If you buy new then it probably would be updated but it's a darkshot.

Ok, I wont take that risk at all, thank you very much.

So now my question is which motheboard should I pick up for an i5-4460? (Price Range Being €120 | $130 | £85)

I was thinking about the Asus Z97-K or Gigabyte GA-H87-HD3 or MSI GUARD-PRO Intel Z97 --- but the Z97's seem like a waste of money because I wont be Overclocking.

 

[GamingTooMuch]

Im on a tight budget. The Mobo is €66 and the 4690k is €275 here. which is €341. That is the max I can spend for now. I was thinking about getting the i5-4460 and getting a better mobo.

If your gaming, overclocking does nothing for most games. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5y-HkuyIs8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhmCU_-wDmo

About the diftence between the motherboard is: pcie 1x (2 vs 3) and a USB 3.0 case header.
It's a darkshot, you could get a motherboard with a outdated bio version and it not work with the 4690k. Or you could get an updated bio and it would work. If you buy new then it probably would be updated but it's a darkshot.

Ok, I wont take that risk at all, thank you very much.

So now my question is which motheboard should I pick up for an i5-4460? (Price Range Being €120 | $130 | £85)

I was thinking about the Asus Z97-K or Gigabyte GA-H87-HD3 or MSI GUARD-PRO Intel Z97 --- but the Z97's seem like a waste of money because I wont be Overclocking.

h97 or z97 have the updated bio's guaranteed, so go for the cheapest h97 that has the feature you will use or use in the future.

 

[mlga91]

You can get a 4690k and a z97 board with that budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£184.66 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£112.76 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £297.42
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-26 18:03 BST+0100

There are even cheaper z97 boards, but that one has a special place in my heart. If you're really on a tight budget you can get something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£142.46 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: ASRock H81 Pro BTC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£22.53 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £164.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-26 18:10 BST+0100

 

[Pridestalker]

You can get a 4690k and a z97 board with that budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£184.66 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£112.76 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £297.42
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-26 18:03 BST+0100

There are even cheaper z97 boards, but that one has a special place in my heart. If you're really on a tight budget you can get something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor (£142.46 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: ASRock H81 Pro BTC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£22.53 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £164.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-26 18:10 BST+0100

Thanks for taking your time dude. I got a little bit of more budget (€100 more, total of about €435).

I do plan to go with the i5-4690k (€275), but I am not sure on the mobo yet. I am looking at the MSI Z97 Gaming 5 (€160) or ASUS Z97-C (€145). Any suggestions on those?

 

[mlga91]

Between those two, the msi is better, it can do 2 way sli and three way crossfire while the asus can do only two way crossfire, and has better VRMs.

But my recomendation of the asrock z97 extreme 4 stands still, it supports two way sli and three way crossfire, has better VRMs for a better overclock, and its cheaper, you cant go wrong wih that one.

 

[Pridestalker]

Between those two, the msi is better, it can do 2 way sli and three way crossfire while the asus can do only two way crossfire, and has better VRMs.

But my recomendation of the asrock z97 extreme 4 stands still, it supports two way sli and three way crossfire, has better VRMs for a better overclock, and its cheaper, you cant go wrong wih that one.

hmm, interesting, I tend to overlook ASRock because people say they make 'cheap' boards. Is the ASRock Z97 Killer better then the Extreme 4? I want a Red board ><

 

[mlga91]

Its not as good as the extreme 4, its more like a reskined extreme 3, it has a 8 phase power design and the extreme 4 has 12 phases, but is still good, its around the same level than the two mobos that you posted before.

 

[Pridestalker]

Its not as good as the extreme 4, its more like a reskined extreme 3, it has a 8 phase power design and the extreme 4 has 12 phases, but is still good, its around the same level than the two mobos that you posted before.

If its worse there is no chance of me buying it. I would go the the Extreme4 but I didnt find stores that sell it in my country and dont plan to order from the internet. :/

I took a look at the ASUS Maximus Vii Ranger. A very nice looking mobo and has good reviews. I might go with that.