Best bang for your buck motherboard?

[walroos]

Hi, I am looking to upgrade my build to an i7 7700k, and in order to do that I'm going to need to get a new motherboard and ram. I pretty much set my sights on the G.skills ripjaw V series 2x8gb, but I'm having trouble deciding what motherboard to get. I dont really want to spend more than 200 dollars for both my motherboard and ram, but I also don't wanna skimp out and end up buying something low quality. Thanks in advance!

My pc specs are:
EVGA GTX 970 SSC
Intel Core I5 4430 CPU
2x4gb G.skills ripjaw ram
Western Blue
digital 1TB HDD
MSI B85m-G43 motherboard
Corsair CX500 Power supply
Asus VX238H Monitor

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I agreed with Anandtech when the said MSI's Z170 SLI Plus "set the standard" at $130. Just about everything from Asus under $150 had a subpar audio solution and with Z270 moist other manufavturers are following that path. If seeking to keep the budget closer to $100 than $200, the Z270 SLI Plus fom MSI (Ww/ ALC 1220 sound) is hard to beat. As for best bang for the buck, I don't see anything giving it a run for its money ($130 on newegg).

At $165ish, the MSI Gaming Pro is attractive and the Gigabyte Aurorus K7 at $175 is also one of my favs

 

[walroos]

I agreed with Anandtech when the said MSI's Z170 SLI Plus "set the standard" at $130. Just about everything from Asus under $150 had a subpar audio solution and with Z270 moist other manufavturers are following that path. If seeking to keep the budget closer to $100 than $200, the Z270 SLI Plus fom MSI (Ww/ ALC 1220 sound) is hard to beat. As for best bang for the buck, I don't see anything giving it a run for its money ($130 on newegg).

At $165ish, the MSI Gaming Pro is attractive and the Gigabyte Aurorus K7 at $175 is also one of my favs

Thanks for the reply, as for the z270 sli plus, do you think a 212 evo would fit on that board?