Gigabyte Z87x OC FORCE VS Z97x SOC FORCE

[Tcoles]

Hey guys, I'm building a new gaming computer really soon but seem to be stuck on motherboard choice. The two boards I was choosing between we're these

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128596
And
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128704

They're both the same price, which one should I get for gaming and fairly high over clocking? I'm planning on getting at least 4.7-4.9 on my i7 4770k while it's I'm my cooling loop. Also, I'm going to be running x2 r9 290x's. Would I be better off going with something else? I need to stay around $200 on the mobo and that's already almost over budget for me on this part. The gigabytes looked good to me, just don't know which one to get, thanks guys!

 

[Y0GI]

This is a tough one and as with most tough decisions: "It depends...."

Do you want support for the newest Intel "Broadwell" and "Haswell Refresh" CPUs? If so, then the Z97 is the only choice between the 2 that you've listed.

However, as one can tell by comparing the list prices, the Z87 mobo is much more full-featured, with extras like more PCIe X16 slots, more USB ports, more SATA ports and on and on.... About the only thing that the Z97 board has more of is more of the increasingly obsolete PCI slots.

HERE is a comparison which might help you decide.

In my opinion, the Z87 board, at the current price with rebate, is too good to pass up.

Yogi