Looking for a good Z97 motherboard

[Spykeeboy]

Hello everyone,

I have the following specs on my current machine:

Gigabyte Z87-HD3 motherboard
Seasonic X-750 750 Watt PSU
Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz CPU and CoolerMaster EVO 412 PWM cooler
MSI Radeon R290 Gaming Edition GPU
Corsair Vengeance 8GB RAM 1600MHz
Samsung EVO 840 120GB SSD
WD Black 2TB 7200RPM HDD

What I am looking for is a motherboard upgrade based on the Z97 chipset - but there are so many options to choose from! I do not overclock (despite having a K-CPU which I foolishly bought) and all I want is solid 60 FPS in the latest games on one 1680x1050 22' monitor for another year or two. I also need the motherboard to preferably perfectly fit my CoolerMaster N400 ATX case, which the current one does not (cannot screw it in in 2 places) - I have to lightly flex the motherboard every time I am removing cables to do some maintenance which causes me to cringe. I have been using Gigabyte for my entire life but open to other suggestions as well.

I saw this ASUS Sabretooth Mark S model which seems to have some sort of a (protective?) plate installed on it. Can anyone clarify that to me please?

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this and hopefully respond

 

[pavars]

Changing your motherboard won't improve FPS much at all (max 1-2 FPS) The main things you should look at would be GPU and CPU, but for gaming I think that your rig should be pretty good. Better wait a bit and if you really really want to, you can get another GPU and set them in Crossfire, but for 1 monitor it wouldn't be necessary.
The protective plate is for protection from dust as well as from some really clumsy hands, but the main point is for better thermoregulation, some parts are indeed cooler but on the cost of others getting warmer

Also I think that Overclocking your CPU would improve your FPS more than just changing motherboards

 

[Spykeeboy]

Thank you ShadowR34per I will look into those two for sure. Any other suggestions?

And also how can reliably check if the motherboard fits my case perfectly based on something more than form-factor?

 

[Spykeeboy]

Thank you ShadowR34per I will look into those two for sure. Any other suggestions?

And also how can reliably check if the motherboard fits my case perfectly based on something more than form-factor?

First, look at @Pavar's post, those boards are ATX, your case I think is ATX therefore they would fit

Yes I know that a motherboard won't affect FPS much but just looking at future perspectives for my next upgrade
Also regarding the case being ATX as well as the board, the motherboard fits the case but in 2 places in cannot be screwed in as there are no leads underneath - this causes the board to be a bit more flexible than I would like Otherwise it fits perfectly into the case.

Thank you for all the replies!

 

[pavars]

Thank you ShadowR34per I will look into those two for sure. Any other suggestions?

And also how can reliably check if the motherboard fits my case perfectly based on something more than form-factor?

First, look at @Pavar's post, those boards are ATX, your case I think is ATX therefore they would fit

Yes I know that a motherboard won't affect FPS much but just looking at future perspectives for my next upgrade
Also regarding the case being ATX as well as the board, the motherboard fits the case but in 2 places in cannot be screwed in as there are no leads underneath - this causes the board to be a bit more flexible than I would like Otherwise it fits perfectly into the case.

Thank you for all the replies!

Z97 and Z87 motherboards don't differ that much, probably you won't even notice the difference.
About the case, it should have some standoffs for screws (of course if there are holes under the motherboard holes) if you don't have them then look on ebay or some other retail store, as most of them should fit, they are pretty universal.

Thanks for picking my answer as best solution