Looking for the best LGA 1150 socket motherboard that has 2 pcie 3.0 x16

[Mitchell Hall]

Hey there. So heres my problem. I have 2 GTX 980s that will not fit on my current motherboard. The motherboard is quite old anyway and am looking to upgrade. This is my first computer build in my life so I am not extremely knowledgeable but I am getting better every day. I am looking to get the best possible performance out of my GPUs so am I correct in wanting 2 pcie 3.0 x16 or is x8 fine as well?

I thought I had a good combo picked out, a ASUS MAXIMUS VII FORUMLA that is bundled with a i7-4790k. On the specifications it says that it has 2 pcie 3.0 x16 but I watched a review of the motherboard where the reviewer clearly pointed out that only one of the pcie is x16 so it must be a typo. Now I guess my final question is, do I keep looking or is this motherboard/cpu combo going to do the trick and if it isn't, can you point me to a better solution. Like I said I'm looking for the best performance possible (without blowing up my bank account obviously ! )

 

[rockie_]

Since i7 4790K has 16 lanes it will handle x8/x8 SLI , so no problem . Moreover x8/x8 is enough.

http://ark.intel.com/products/80807/Intel-Core-i7-4790K-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-4_40-GHz

 

[KenGrinsven]

ASUS Z97-WS will do 2 GTX 980s in x16.

 

[Tradesman1]

ASUS Z97-WS will do 2 GTX 980s in x16.

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+1 The WS uses a PLX chips for the additional lanes and can run x16 x16 vs the norm of x8 x8 as is on most Z97 mobos

 

[Mitchell Hall]

Since i7 4790K has 16 lanes it will handle x8/x8 SLI , so no problem . Moreover x8/x8 is enough.

http://ark.intel.com/products/80807/Intel-Core-i7-4790K-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-4_40-GHz

So just so I'm clear on this, since the i7-4790K has 16 lanes that means it will not benefit at all from x16/x16 ?

 

[Tradesman1]

The GPUs get the benefit and better performance

 

[rockie_]

The GPUs get the benefit and better performance

x8/x8 is enough . Moreover that mobo has very bad rating and review.

Here 40 lanes cant help 4820K much
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/core_i7_4820k_processor_review,18.html

 

[Mitchell Hall]

The GPUs get the benefit and better performance

x8/x8 is enough . Moreover that mobo has very bad rating and review.

Here 40 lanes cant help 4820K much
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/core_i7_4820k_processor_review,18.html

Thanks a lot. So I decided earlier on what I was going to use on the advice of a friend.

For my motherboard I bought MSI Z97-GD65 Gaming LGA 1150 Intel Z97 and I stayed with the i7-4790K It actually ended up working out quite good because when I went to newegg to purchase it, I found out those 2 products were in a combo pack right now so I ended up saving a few bucks. Im extremely excited to get them in and be able to run my 2 gtx 980s and to finally get rid of this ASUS p6x58D motherboard/i7 930 cpu,

 

[rockie_]

Good luck !