Asus Z170-A or Asus Z170 PRO GAMING

[Marko_Slb]

Hello All,

It's my first time builing a PC and I am quite indesisive on which one to buy. What are the differences? Because I don't see many?

Also, is the Asus MAXIMUS VIII HERO worth the extra cash or is the ROG just a marketing tool?

I've also been looking at the MSI Z170A GAMING M5 and M7, but most comparisons between the Asus and MSI go for the the Asus.

Regards,
Marko

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

http://www.asus.com/us/site/motherboards/Z170/compare/
Comparison chart.

 

[Evil Mastermind]

Honestly motherboard barley increase performance,($50 vs $300 motherboard only gain 4 fps) Just find decent company and asus is the lord of mb. look for colors and find a motherboard that has everything you need (People get SLI motherboard only to realize there will never upgrade). If you OC, then you have to get Z mothers well on intel point of view.

 

[Hlsgsz]

It depends on your needs. Realisticaly, thought, while ROG MBs look nice, have tons fo extra features and stuff, the fact of the matter is that your money is better spent elsewhere: better GPU, bigger SSD, etc.

That being said, the board i would buy now is this: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-z170e
The price is just too good to refuse. It's a z170 but with the discount it's priced in h170/b150 territory.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Both those MoBos have low budget audio solutions. While Gigabyte and MSI provide the accepted gaming standard (ALC 1150) down to the $115 price range, you have to get up to around the $160 price range for Asus to get ALC 1150 or equivalent.

So yes, avoid any motherboard where the manufacturer "went cheap" and used something less than ALC 1150.

I had always bought RoG products up thru the Z97 series ... but there certainly is a RoG "tax" if you will which adds about $50 as compared to other boards with comparable feature sets.

The Asus Hero is $215 and has only 40% of its owners giving it a 5 egg rating, with 36% giving it a negative 1 or 2 egg rating. Compare that with the Gigabyte G1 Gaming GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 where 59% of board owners give it a 5 egg rating and only half as many give it a 1 or 2 egg rating

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W03VR9011

Gigabyte supports higher memory speed
Gigabyte has extra SATA Express
Gigabyte has extra M.2
Gigabyte has 2nd LAN setup
Gigabyte has 3 more USB 3.0 ports
Asus has 1 more fan header

So yes the Giga Gaming 7 costs less, has more featur and is better received by board owners than the Hero.

As far as the Gaming 5 category ... Both MSI and Gigabyte boards in this category off gaming quality audio solutions.... Asus does in the Sabertooth, which is an excellent board comes in at about $170 does. The Asus Z-170A does not (ALC892). The Ranger has Supreme FX which, IIRC, is ALC 1150 (with Asus drivers).

Gigabyte Gaming 5 has has 46% 5 eggs and 15% 1 or 2 eggs
MSI M5 has 47% 5 eggs and 26% 1 or 2 eggs
Asus Ranger has 41% 5 eggs and 23% 1 or 2 eggs

Based on the above, gotta give the Giga a slight edge over the MSI

You can compare features here (go to the newegg site and copy / paste the jibberish below. This is required now as THG forum software truncates ling links.

http://www.newegg.com

/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007627%204017%20600567584%20600567554%20600009016%2050001314&IsNodeId=1&Description=z170&bop=And&CompareItemList=280|13-130-873^13-130-873%2C13-132-586^13-132-586%2C13-128-836^13-128-836&percm=13-128-836%3A%24%24%24%24%24%24%24

Among the 3 ....

MSI has highest memory speed support, Asus lowest
Giga has an extra SATA Express port
Giga has 2nd LAN chipset
MSI hs 6 USB 3.1 ports, rest have 2
Asus has extra fan header

All in all, for the price difference (and gorgeous looks), the Gigabyte Gaming 7 is the standout among all of the above.

 

[Tylerr]

Both those MoBos have low budget audio solutions. While Gigabyte and MSI provide the accepted gaming standard (ALC 1150) down to the $115 price range, you have to get up to around the $160 price range for Asus to get ALC 1150 or equivalent.

So yes, avoid any motherboard where the manufacturer "went cheap" and used something less than ALC 1150.

99% of people would not be able to tell the difference.

So unless you're some kind of audiophile they'll work just fine.

 

[Hlsgsz]

Both those MoBos have low budget audio solutions. While Gigabyte and MSI provide the accepted gaming standard (ALC 1150) down to the $115 price range, you have to get up to around the $160 price range for Asus to get ALC 1150 or equivalent.

So yes, avoid any motherboard where the manufacturer "went cheap" and used something less than ALC 1150.

99% of people would not be able to tell the difference.

So unless you're some kind of audiophile they'll work just fine.

Yup.

 

[Evil Mastermind]

Dont spend money on motherboard (on budget don't need to spend more than $80 unless its a k) spend that money on graphic card and cpu then you will see a big improvement. Its same thing with cpu, most people don't need more than i5 and others parts. Most part people skip is psu, try to find decent psu.

 

[Evil Mastermind]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/DCCq6h honestly this is all you need and hey people can think something else also

 

[Marko_Slb]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/DCCq6h honestly this is all you need and hey people can think something else also

This is the build I'm currently planning on, just the motherboard might change. http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/zXncZL

I also plan on getting some extra case fans.

 

[Marko_Slb]

It depends on your needs. Realisticaly, thought, while ROG MBs look nice, have tons fo extra features and stuff, the fact of the matter is that your money is better spent elsewhere: better GPU, bigger SSD, etc.

That being said, the board i would buy now is this: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-z170e
The price is just too good to refuse. It's a z170 but with the discount it's priced in h170/b150 territory.

I live in the UK so the offer doesn't apply 🙁

 

[Tradesman1]

I've built on all three Asus mobos and no problems what so ever, I also have and run the Hero (in sig), primarily because I throw a lot of different things at my rigs, for testing, evaluating etc. Might look at the comparison page SR linked to above for individual differences, and also as far as sound goes, they all have good sound, different codecs, that they have designed around, but all work fine.

 

[Marko_Slb]

I've built on all three Asus mobos and no problems what so ever, I also have and run the Hero (in sig), primarily because I throw a lot of different things at my rigs, for testing, evaluating etc. Might look at the comparison page SR linked to above for individual differences, and also as far as sound goes, they all have good sound, different codecs, that they have designed around, but all work fine.

In your opinion, which of the 3 do you find the best or best value for money. I'm just really leaning towards the Asus mobo's than any others at the moment.

 

[Tradesman1]

MIght take a look at the comparison chart and see if any have a feature you NEED, that the others don't have (generally not, but never know 😉 ). If not then next if you plan to try for a high OC, then I'd go Hero first, then Pro Gamer then the A. If that isn't really in the plans/works either any of three will probably be fine, so probably narrow it down to the A or the Pro Gaming (which are also similar pricewise), the Hero draws a bit of a price premium. I almost went the Pro Gaming for mine, but decided on the Hero for business reasons, I have a systems consultancy and as said spend a lot of time testing DRAM, GPUs, and other components and push my rigs more than most people. Often when one narrows the choices down, the looks can even play in 😉

 

[safwyl]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/DCCq6h honestly this is all you need and hey people can think something else also

This is the build I'm currently planning on, just the motherboard might change. http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/zXncZL

I also plan on getting some extra case fans.

Lol, I built almost the same exact system for my new build http://pcpartpicker.com/p/BLqXmG

R9 280X is a placeholder for a next gen card when they come out.

 

[Hlsgsz]

It depends on your needs. Realisticaly, thought, while ROG MBs look nice, have tons fo extra features and stuff, the fact of the matter is that your money is better spent elsewhere: better GPU, bigger SSD, etc.

That being said, the board i would buy now is this: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-z170e
The price is just too good to refuse. It's a z170 but with the discount it's priced in h170/b150 territory.

I live in the UK so the offer doesn't apply 🙁

Then go with the Z170-A.
These are some fans with awesome price/performance. I have them in my case. http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/arctic-cooling-case-fan-afaco120p2gba01

 

[Marko_Slb]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/DCCq6h honestly this is all you need and hey people can think something else also

This is the build I'm currently planning on, just the motherboard might change. http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/zXncZL

I also plan on getting some extra case fans.

Lol, I built almost the same exact system for my new build http://pcpartpicker.com/p/BLqXmG

R9 280X is a placeholder for a next gen card when they come out.

Yup pretty similar lol
Wich case are you gonna go with?

 

[Marko_Slb]

Thank you all for your answers, I have taken each answer into consideration and decided to go with the Hero III as I like the extra features and it suits my planned build and future improvements, plus it looks sexy. You have all helped me reach this conclusion, many thanks.

 

[Tradesman1]

Should love it, great mobo 😉