Asus maximux IX Hero vs MSI M7 vs Aorus Gaming 7 (Z270 motherboards showdown, Someone please help me choose one)

[NessieJr]

Ok guys so like the title suggests I have no idea which of these three motherboards to buy for my new PC. Around this price point I believe they are the best z270 motherboards out there right now and I need to decide which one is the best for me or maybe the best in general (if there is any)

The other parts of my build are:

i7 7700k
Phanteks Enthoo Pro M
ASUS ROG GeForce GTX 1070 STRIX
EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2 80+ GOLD 750W
Noctua NH-U14S 140mm
Samsung 960 EVO Series - 250GB PCIe NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD
G.SKILL TridentZ Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 3200 or 3400 Mhz
AOC G2460VQ6 1080p 24" Monitor


I'm gonna be using this system for gaming, editing, encoding, ripping, mainly these kind of stuff. My main concern with the motherboard is which of these can support the most stuff (SSDs, HDDs, sound card etc.) and at full speed. Also build quality and special features (Software). I'd like to have the biggest "upgradability"(is that even a word? xD) possible for future upgrades. As you can see I have not included a sata ssd or an hdd in there as I'm in a budget and I can't afford it right now but in the future I want to upgrade or maybe buy another M.2 NVME SSD maybe add a sata SSD too, I will also most likely upgrade the cooler later down the road with an AIO cooler, I'm also considering buying a sound card (Is it worth it?) and for SURE I want to add a good blu ray drive in there too.

Also I'm planning on overclocking for sure. Do you guys think I can do some decent overclocking with the NH-U14S?

Something I've seen a lot on reviews here and there is that many motherboards don't support M.2 ssds at their full speed mostly when you have 2 or three of them. I've also heard that when you connect m.2 ssds on your mobo some sata ports or PCIe slots are disabled. Any information on this matter would also be much appreciated.

So as you can see I want to do quite some stuff with this PC, I hope I've provided good enough information and MUCH MUCH love and appreciation to whomever takes the time to answer and help me out here. Thanks a lot

 

[ryu1356]

I bought a Maximus IX Code for one computer and it works well. I've used the Maximus Hero board in the past also. Asus Maximus Hero line is also the only type/brand of board that has just randomly failed on me. For a different computer I bought the MSI Z270 Gaming M7 to match it up with my MSI GTX 1080 in that PC. MSI is the only motherboard who gives you 3 M.2 ports. I don't know why they are only ones that do that though, maybe having 3 limits the speed? The M7 offers 3 M.2 and a U2 connector, the Gigabyte offers two M.2 and 1 U2 connector, the Maximus Hero offers two M.2 ports and no U2 connector. I ended up returning my MSI m7 because the quality was TERRIBLE. One of the USB 3.1 plastic headers pulled right off the board.. Not what you want from a $250 board. I also had issues with the MSI board where the computer wouldn't fully shut down, and MSI had no BIOS update available. I returned the M7 and got the Gigabyte board, and it works great. I would go with Asus or Gigabyte.

 

[NessieJr]

I bought a Maximus IX Code for one computer and it works well. I've used the Maximus Hero board in the past also. Asus Maximus Hero line is also the only type/brand of board that has just randomly failed on me. For a different computer I bought the MSI Z270 Gaming M7 to match it up with my MSI GTX 1080 in that PC. MSI is the only motherboard who gives you 3 M.2 ports. I don't know why they are only ones that do that though, maybe having 3 limits the speed? The M7 offers 3 M.2 and a U2 connector, the Gigabyte offers two M.2 and 1 U2 connector, the Maximus Hero offers two M.2 ports and no U2 connector. I ended up returning my MSI m7 because the quality was TERRIBLE. One of the USB 3.1 plastic headers pulled right off the board.. Not what you want from a $250 board. I also had issues with the MSI board where the computer wouldn't fully shut down, and MSI had no BIOS update available. I returned the M7 and got the Gigabyte board, and it works great. I would go with Asus or Gigabyte.

Hey thanks a lot for the reply and the advice man. One thing I've heard though is that the gigabyte board over volts the processor so idk. I'm not sure yet. They all have the good and the bad, tough decision

 

[museprime]

What about the ASUS Strix Z270 Mobo?

 

[Mikel_4]

Some matching color scheme opinion

• 
  ■ Noctua fan is beige brown, I'd go for black scheme motherboard.
  ■ TridentZ, give the link, (check part number last three character, GTZ | GTZKW(black with white stripe) | GTZSK(silver with black stripe....), you might consider Noctua Chromax to match your RAM color design.
  ■ Cablemod indivudually sleeved PCIE cable, fancy but looks stellar on windowed case

■ You need extra PCIEX1 slot for sound card, rule out ITX board.
■ "Future Proof" then get the one with native USB 3.1 v2 + WiFi antena slot on rear I/O + dual U.2. The dual U.2 gonna be handy if you've decided to use two Intel SSD 750 U.2 version.
■ AIO cooler, I'd make this one package with 7700K, I do not have this CPU but reviewers have reported it was hotter than I7 6700K, some big air cooler can handle up to 300 watt TDP and single fan AIO such as Corsair H55 probably won't coupe with OC i7 7700K.

Standout

• 
  ■ MSI Z270 Xpower Gaming Titanium, I find PCIE disable switch is useful because I only need to use graphic card for rendering.
  ■ Asrock Z270 SuperCarrier and SuperO C7Z270 PG, on board PLX Chip controller make you able to use four 8X Lane PCIE, doesn't mean turn Kaby-lake CPU to became 40 Lane capable, my experience on EVGA Z97 Classified with four GTX 780Ti was fine on Octane Render and didn't get noticeable different to X99 setup with Xeon CPU.
  ■ Biostar Z270GT9, on board Intel 10Gbit LAN, the add on 10Gbit LAN worth US$ 160 - 200, benefit having on board 10Gbit LAN is freeing PCIE slot so you can use two 3-4 Slot cooler graphic card such as Raijintek Morpheus.

 

[Humam Obeid]

Go with the Strix Z270-e (or the Z270-f) It has the best price for performance board (after Msi pro gaming carbon) Stay away from Aorus since it doesn't deserve the price since there are few features compared to other ones.

1.Best Budget Z270 Board: Msi Z270 Sli Plus 150$
2.Best Mid-Range Board: Msi Pro Gaming Carbon
3.Best Price: Asus Rog Strix Z270-E
4.Best High End: Asus Maximus Formula

 

[Mikel_4]

Strix is cheaper solution than maximus family, doesn't make strix perform below maximus family as overall.

As Asus ROG family campaign, Gigabyte offers Aorus with " eccentric " feature set namely Killer®Ethernet, Sound Blaster X-Fi MB5 + ALC 1220 + DAC Up, Turbo B-Clock, DualBIOS™.

Maximus IX Hero Aorus Gaming K7 Showdown

• 
  ■Maximus IX Hero exclusive SupremeFX S1220, the ESS® Sabre Hi-Fi ES9023P digital-to-analog converter for superior front-panel output, and a Texas Instruments® RC4850 op-amp | overkill Audio Solution | as Aorus Gaming 7, Maximus IX Hero use high quality audio IC + Capacitors + DAC amplifier. To determine winner of those two would require special equipment + wide/quality sound stage speaker or high grade headphone, maybe such Klipsch® Surround Speaker.
  ■Aura Sync and RGB Fusion, common lighting controller just like MSI with Mystic Light Sync, yeah lets disco inside your case or test bench.
  ■5-Way Optimization with Auto-Tuning and FanXpert 4, more easy than Aorus "EasyTune™" ? I'd say Kaby-lake CPU + Union Point PCH already provide us easy tuning option, fortunately so does CPU coolers these days have becoming more " heat killing ", so I don't see why motherboard's vendor wouldn't offer OCing options as well with re-branding names.
  (EPU + TPU + Pro Clock ICs | Turbo B-Clock IC, those additional controllers weren't exist on Intel Z270 reference PCB specification, for us, having i7 7700K would be such a waste without OC.
  ■On-board switches, you'll need it when your screen shows nothing, sometime OC adjustments are causing hardware failure, with dual BIOS at least you can still have one working BIOS and you can play with the other BIOS setting. With Asus BIOS Flashback you can load working BIOS setting instantly with couple jumpers/switches.
  ■LNA support, this what makes Maximus IX Hero your choice if you plan liquid nitrogen cooling.

 

[Memento]

I bought the Gigabyte Aorus z270 Gaming 7 and I am now returning it due to defects.

1. The number 2 SATA port is dead, can't detect anything plugged into it.

2. The CPU temps are extremely high compared to an Asus z170-A board I was using before. (30c idle 67c max compared to 43c idle 80c max)

I reapplied the cpu cooler three times with same results. Updated bios and still an issue.

( Using Core i7-6700k)

3. The debugging display only displays the digits C0 after boot instead of something useful like the cpu temp.

Looked up C0 in the manual and it means "reserved for future use"


This board is definitely not worth the price at the moment, now I am not sure which board to replace it with. Probably an Asus hero since I've heard they've worked out thier high voltage problems, but I'm not sure.

One of the reason I chose it was the extra pin for thier RGBW software (for pure white leds) and the ability to rearrange the RGB pins.

Also the only board I saw that had thunderbolt support with the USB C port.

But thoer RGB Fusion software doesn't support the new G.Skill RGB Ram, and apparently Asus Sync does.