Gigabyte G1 Sniper B6 vs Gigabyte H97-HD3

[Bub389]

So I'm new to building a PC and I know what to look for in other components, however the mobo seems to be an issue for me what to look for exactly.

So I've had some people help me with my build, but it seems they can't really explain to me what to look for in a mobo and what would be a good fit for my build.

To give you some information, the build would look like this:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (€183.95 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (€103.89 @ Home of Hardware DE)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (€61.53 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€88.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€53.67 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (€289.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Fractal Design Core 2300 ATX Mid Tower Case (€54.49 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€60.63 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €896.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-14 10:30 CEST+0200


Now my question to you is: do you suggest going for the Sniper mobo or the H97 mobo? I know the latter is the newer mobo, but I've read a lot of good about the sniper mobo. Price difference between both is negligible in the shop I will buy.

 

[daniel_blacke]

Well, you need to ask yourself some questions about what it is you plan to do with your pc and that will make the choice clear.

Are you planning to SLI at any point? Are you planning to use an M.2 SSD at any point? The Sniper's M.2 socket shares bandwidth with its PCIEx4 slot making it PCIEx2. The H97 lacks an M.2 socket at all.

Does the TI Burr Brown Audio Amplifier that comes with the Sniper interest you?

Will you utilize the extra 2 USB 3.0/2.0 ports and 1 extra USB 2.0/1.1 ports of the H97? or are the Sniper's 4 and 7, respectively, enough for you?

Do you want the H97's 6 SATA 6 GB/s connectors or will the Snipers 4 SATA 6 Gb/s and 2 SATA 3 Gb/s connectors be fine?


Only you can really answer these questions, but the answer will make your decision for you.

http://www.gigabyte.us/products/comparison/list.aspx?ck=2&pids=5173,5274

 

[Bub389]

Well, you need to ask yourself some questions about what it is you plan to do with your pc and that will make the choice clear.

Are you planning to SLI at any point? Are you planning to use an M.2 SSD at any point? The Sniper's M.2 socket shares bandwidth with its PCIEx4 slot making it PCIEx2. The H97 lacks an M.2 socket at all.

Does the TI Burr Brown Audio Amplifier that comes with the Sniper interest you?

Will you utilize the extra 2 USB 3.0/2.0 ports and 1 extra USB 2.0/1.1 ports of the H97? or are the Sniper's 4 and 7, respectively, enough for you?

Do you want the H97's 6 SATA 6 GB/s connectors or will the Snipers 4 SATA 6 Gb/s and 2 SATA 3 Gb/s connectors be fine?


Only you can really answer these questions, but the answer will make your decision for you.

http://www.gigabyte.us/products/comparison/list.aspx?ck=2&pids=5173,5274

Thank you very much for the reply!

Since I'm new to all of this, I just really want a decent motherboard to go along with the components I intend to use, so I don't run into any issues with either of them.

So to answer your questions, I'm not really going to use any of that except for the SATA 6 gb/s connectors (which both have plenty of) to hook up my SSD.

Maybe I can go a little cheaper and go with another motherboard and spend a little more on other parts of the build? I don't know really. The motherboard is something I can't really get my head around.

 

[daniel_blacke]

Well, you need to ask yourself some questions about what it is you plan to do with your pc and that will make the choice clear.

Are you planning to SLI at any point? Are you planning to use an M.2 SSD at any point? The Sniper's M.2 socket shares bandwidth with its PCIEx4 slot making it PCIEx2. The H97 lacks an M.2 socket at all.

Does the TI Burr Brown Audio Amplifier that comes with the Sniper interest you?

Will you utilize the extra 2 USB 3.0/2.0 ports and 1 extra USB 2.0/1.1 ports of the H97? or are the Sniper's 4 and 7, respectively, enough for you?

Do you want the H97's 6 SATA 6 GB/s connectors or will the Snipers 4 SATA 6 Gb/s and 2 SATA 3 Gb/s connectors be fine?


Only you can really answer these questions, but the answer will make your decision for you.

http://www.gigabyte.us/products/comparison/list.aspx?ck=2&pids=5173,5274

Thank you very much for the reply!

Since I'm new to all of this, I just really want a decent motherboard to go along with the components I intend to use, so I don't run into any issues with either of them.

So to answer your questions, I'm not really going to use any of that except for the SATA 6 gb/s connectors (which both have plenty of) to hook up my SSD.

Maybe I can go a little cheaper and go with another motherboard and spend a little more on other parts of the build? I don't know really. The motherboard is something I can't really get my head around.

I can completely relate to you on this. I am no expert by any definition of word that I would use. Getting my head around all the options and differences between chipsets and features on motherboards has been a long and slow journey that I have am still very near the beginning of.

Comparing the differences between two motherboards is one thing; recommending one from the vast sea of them is something I would have to defer to someone far more knowledgeable than me.

Perhaps Alexoui or Cin19 or Yeskay or one of the other fine real experts will stop in and help out. I've learned much of what I know from them and reviews.


EDIT: All that said it appears that ASRock has several options that fit what you are looking for at a lower price then the listed price of the Gigabytes you are looking at. I would read some reviews before I went this route but ASRock has a very good reputation.

Like this one:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z97anniversary

From this list built with filters according to your build:
http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/motherboard/#s=24&f=2&K=0,6&J=0,6&N=1,4&T=0,32768&h=0,1&E=0&H=0&b=0&qq=1&sort=d6&page=1

 

[Bub389]

Ultimately it is my decision ofcourse. But the more I learn along the way, the better. I see this build as an opportunity to learn more about components and what to look for. So here's to hoping any of the experts can teach me a thing or two about mobo's!

In the meantime I will keep looking for other options and see if I can make a decision.