Help me choose motherboard for PC

[Aljosa12]

I'm upgrading my PC step by step. So far, I've got MSI Radeon R9 280x OC edition, 4GB HyperX @ 1866MHz and i5 processor. I'll go with more RAM and better processor in future. At the moment I have DDR2 motherboard (ASUS M2N68 PLUS) and I wanted to buy new one.

Here's few that I choose and that are available to buy in my country:

MSI Z97 GAMING 3 ~ 139$
Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 7 ~ 201$
Asus MAXIMUS VII RANGER ~ 178$
Asus MAXIMUS VII GENE ~ 195$

I have 250$ and I'm willing to spend it all on motherboard, so price is not really important and I'd like to buy the "best" one. I'm using my PC mostly for hardcore gaming, some photoshop, multitasking with both etc.

Looking forward to your opinions, thank you!

 

[Mohammed Adhil]

Where Are You From ? And You May Have Have To Change Your RAM Too.Id Suggest a Asus MAXIMUS VII Hero Over The Ranger Cuz The Hero is a little bit better. Has some extra SATA ports and a M PCIE port. Has extra overclocking software. Better audio. And a better power source for the microprocessor http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2139639/asus-maximus-vii-ranger-hero.html.And The Motherboards You Listed Only Supports DDR3 Rams.So Better You Change Your Ram Too.Cheers

 

[Aljosa12]

Hello Mohammed,
Thank you for your answer. I come from Montenegro, Europe and I can only buy motherboard here, so online is not an option. Next problem is that in my country there's not Asus Maximus VII Hero at all, so I have to pick one of those I listed. Yeah, I know about RAM, I already bought 4GB DDR3, so RAM is not a problem.

 

[Tradesman1]

I'd go the Ranger, it's the little brother to the Hero

 

[Aljosa12]

Well, I was choosing between Ranger and Gene, and from what I was told and found, Gene has more and better stuff. Many people's recommending Ranger anyway, why's that?

 

[Tradesman1]

Gene as a more but is a smaller mobo and can be limited for expansion, the Ranger is full ATX form factor

 

[Aljosa12]

Gene as a more but is a smaller mobo and can be limited for expansion, the Ranger is full ATX form factor

That's nice to know, thank you. Probably picking Ranger then!
Thank you all for answers!