Got the ASUS Z170 PRO GAMING For Great Deal, Any Reason to Keep Looking/Researching?

[MyNewRig]

So i got the ASUS Z170 PRO GAMING for a 30% discount, making the price on par with the cheapest Z170 in the market, it was a steal.

I did that without much research as the price was very hard to resist, i have not received the Mobo yet, and can change my order if i want.

The Question is, is there any reason to keep looking/researching?

I never had an ASUS board before, was a Gigabyte guy for a long time but got tired and bored of them, could use a change.

I care for:
1- Stability, stability, stability.
2- Overclocking.
3- BIOS robustness and stability.
4- Frequent Updates.
5- Expandability.
6- Looks.

Other candidates are the ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VIII HERO, MSI Z170A GAMING M5, MSI Z170A GAMING PRO and ASUS Z170-PRO.

All of which will cost me 30-40% more than what i paid for the ASUS PRO GAMING, so have i got a good enough board? am i missing something by having this board?

The MSI's look the best to me, but i am not sure if i should trust an MSI boards in terms of quality of board and BIOS..

Opinions are much appreciated!

 

[Ryan_78]

Yea if you managed to get that for so cheap, it's a excellent deal. As for any cheaper z170 boards, the asrock z170, at 80$, the asus is by far better in my opinion. It's just a cheaper of the ROG and Formulas. Weigh less features and slightly less ability. The board you got is great overall and fits your cares very well.

 

[MyNewRig]

Yea if you managed to get that for so cheap, it's a excellent deal. As for any cheaper z170 boards, the asrock z170, at 80$, the asus is by far better in my opinion. It's just a cheaper of the ROG and Formulas. Weigh less features and slightly less ability. The board you got is great overall and fits your cares very well.

Yeah, i got it through a weekend rush sale here in Europe, i could not believe the price when i saw it, it costs as much as the very basic entry level Z170 boards, the cheapest ROG HERO costs more than double what i paid for the GAMING PRO with that deal ...

So you think nothing is wrong with this board? what are the important things missing compared to the ROG series? and how does this board compare to the MSI GAMING PRO and MSI GAMING M5? also how does ASUS BIOS compare to MSI and Gigabyte, i never used an ASUS BIOS before is it good, clean and stable?

 

[Zerk2012]

If you have a new unused not refurbished board for that price then use it. If it's anything else and you can't send it in for a RMA if it's defective then don't buy it. Their a lot of bad user reviews for that board it seems most could be fixed with a BIOS update.

 

[MyNewRig]

If you have a new unused not refurbished board for that price then use it. If it's anything else and you can't send it in for a RMA if it's defective then don't buy it. Their a lot of bad user reviews for that board it seems most could be fixed with a BIOS update.

It is brand new sealed board from a reputable retailer that is very easy to RMA with, not refurbished or anything like that, just a weekend rush sale that brought it down to that price level, what are the common problems with this board? and what else do you recommend? is MSI GAMING M5 or M7 or GAMING PRO better? or even another ASUS board? or else?

 

[Zerk2012]

If it's a new board and from a good vendor then use it I see no problems.
I always take user reviews with a grain of salt a lot of them are user error.
I would use that over any MSI board and only pass on it for a Gigabyte board but for the price you got go for it.

 

[MyNewRig]

I have always only used Gigabyte boards but had tons of issues with them in the last two generations, kept getting it replaced over and over just to have more issues, LAN dropping, WiFi dropping, buggy BIOS that does not save settings, system freezes etc ... so i am tired of Gigabyte and even got bored of its looks, i had great experience with MSI GTX 980Ti and GTX 970 which were the only MSI products i owned, rock solid, great cooling, build quality and looks, but i never tried an MSI mobo before, they look awesome but have some horrible reviews, the ASUS boards seem to have more favorable reviews than MSI

 

[Zerk2012]

For that price use it. Should be a good board.

 

[MyNewRig]

How does the ASUS BIOS compare to that of Gigabyte it terms of layout, usability, features etc? also the windows-based utilities?

One major difference between the ASUS and MSI boards is the LAN choice, the former uses an intel Nic and the later uses the KillerNic, which one do you think is better?

 

[Zerk2012]

The BIOS are user friendly and your not going to really see any differance in the LAN.

 

[MyNewRig]

After doing some more digging around, this board have some horrible reviews in NewEgg but not so much in Amazon UK where people actually rate it very favorably, every other post i have seen recommends the ASUS board over MSI, the Killer Nic in the MSI uses almost double the CPU resources of the Intel to provide the latency improvement, on the other hand MSI appear to be using better components on par with those found in the ASUS ROG series which seem to be cut down in the ASUS PRO GAMING version, it is a very close call but that price seals the deal, i can not justify spending $60 more on any of the other boards that are in the same class as the PRO GAMING after the deal i have got on it.

Like you said, with the warranty i have on top of 14 days open shop where i can try it and return it without any reason if i am not satisfied, i have got nothing to loose but the hassle of putting a system together that could end up being a lemon, the reviews on this board are split as 60% positive and 40% negative, and given that those with good experience don't actually bother to post a review, so i have a higher statistical probability of it turning out to be good, and this board seems to be so popular so ASUS keeps releasing BIOS updates very frequently to address any remaining issues.

Also my options are limited, i am tired and bored of Gigabyte so that is not an option, MSI boards looks to be viewed as having poor QC by many, and the other ASUS ROG mobos that are supposed to be the best will cost double what i paid for this one just for a few extra gimmicky stuff and the potential/promise that it could work better ..

All things point to giving this mobo a try.