Looking for unbiased guidance.

[Sir_FinWaves]

In the next few months I'm looking to build two high end gaming rigs for both myself and my son. My budget is £4000, I want longevity of about four to five years and good overclocking potential.
CPU, PSU, GPU and ram appears to be a relatively simple choice, however, the motherboard options have me frustrated. I want quality products and I'm willing to pay for the right one but, I don't need multiple GPU options or tons of storage functionality!
I fear I'm blinded with marketing tactics and require a little geek advice from people I trust.

Any ideas for a motherboard would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[PZ Managed]

In the next few months I'm looking to build two high end gaming rigs for both myself and my son. My budget is £4000, I want longevity of about four to five years and good overclocking potential.
CPU, PSU, GPU and ram appears to be a relatively simple choice, however, the motherboard options have me frustrated. I want quality products and I'm willing to pay for the right one but, I don't need multiple GPU options or tons of storage functionality!
I fear I'm blinded with marketing tactics and require a little geek advice from people I trust.

Any ideas for a motherboard would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Assuming you want to spend 2000 euro per rig (sorry my keyboard only supports $), do you want the pc to be identical, do you want to spend on one more than the other? This information would help me decide witch motherboards to direct you towards.

 

[Wolfshadw]

@ PX Managed - Press and hold the ALT key and then type "0163" (no quotes) and you get £.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=ALT+Codes


@ Sir_FinWaves - The only thing that really matters (aside from manufacturer) is the motherboard chipset. Assuming you're going with the latest gen Intel-K processor, you want to be looking at the Z170 series motherboards from ASUS, EVGA, or Gigabyte. Other manufacturers I'd consider would be ASRock, MSI and XFX.

While you may not need all the extra functionality that motherboard manufacturers advertise most loudly, there are some advantages for looking at those boards for their other options (more spacing, extra fan controllers, more USB ports, future upgrades).

Again, your primary concern is the motherboard chipset. If none of the above is of major concern to you, then there's really no need to spend much more than the least expensive board available, but keep in mind that overclocking generates heat and you will definitely need to look at your cooling solutions.

-Wolf sends

 

[geofelt]

Within a year, anything you buy will be obsolete.
I think it best to buy what you need today, or in six months and look to upgrade or change when it no longer suits you.

For gaming, that is not hard. You can buy a GTX1080 today that will game well at 1440P and even at 4k. There will be stronger single gpu cards coming so it will be easy to swap out a graphics card.

The motherboard, more particularly the chipset may be another matter.
Z170 should support upcoming kaby lake processors. But, if broadwell is any guide, I would not expect any massive cpu performance bump; more likely a bump in integrated graphics.

More likely, the 200 series chipset will be very important for performance if it enables OPTANE non volatile ram and ssd devices that are an order of magnitude faster. I think it will support current skylake processors.

I might suggest for today, a motherboard like the ASUS Maximus VIII gene.
It is highly featured M-ATX. It will have very good sound.
Yes, there will be many software features that you do not need.
I think that a high end motherboard will be more likely to find a used market when it comes time to sell.

 

[Kurz]

I have a board capable of 3 card sli, I only use one card.
I bought this motherboard for its overclocking and support, ASUS p8p67 deluxe (Its one of the first UEFI motherboards).

It all depends what you want do you want a full size computer or do you want a smaller form factor.
I prefer ATX over micro atx as they usually are supported better later in life.

The latest intel chipset is the 170 series. Z170 = Overclocking, H170 No overclocking (But it loses a few other features too)
https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Z170-H170-H110-B170-Q150-Q170---What-is-the-Difference-635/

I don't use every feature on the board, but it was receiving updates and continuous support for years.

I don't care if I don't use some of the features as long as features I care about are on the board.

 

[PZ Managed]

In the next few months I'm looking to build two high end gaming rigs for both myself and my son. My budget is £4000, I want longevity of about four to five years and good overclocking potential.
CPU, PSU, GPU and ram appears to be a relatively simple choice, however, the motherboard options have me frustrated. I want quality products and I'm willing to pay for the right one but, I don't need multiple GPU options or tons of storage functionality!
I fear I'm blinded with marketing tactics and require a little geek advice from people I trust.

Any ideas for a motherboard would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

In addition to my previous post: What graphics are you intending to use (I suggest with your budget two gtx 1070's in SLI), what's your processor choice?

If you wan't me to put together a 2000 euro rig parts list (that's compatible) I can.

 

[Sir_FinWaves]

Thank you all for the advice.

Update:
My budget is British pounds £4000.
I would like both systems to be identical.
In theory I guess just one build duplicated, so £2000 per build. I am willing to go over a few hundred if necessary.
I like the benchmarks of the i7 6700k, yes I know the i5 is more gaming focused but I prefer to not use something rather than not have the option to.
ATX form installed into a mid tower, the common NZXT H440 has my vote.

Really valuable advice and much appreciated.

 

[ohenryy]

Not sure if you need to go all the way to 2K £ to get a bullet proof rig.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/NzmwVY

More than enough, top tier components and amazing motherboard for overclock. That should set you good.

 

[PZ Managed]

Thank you all for the advice.

Update:
My budget is British pounds £4000.
I would like both systems to be identical.
In theory I guess just one build duplicated, so £2000 per build. I am willing to go over a few hundred if necessary.
I like the benchmarks of the i7 6700k, yes I know the i5 is more gaming focused but I prefer to not use something rather than not have the option to.
ATX form installed into a mid tower, the common NZXT H440 has my vote.

Really valuable advice and much appreciated.

I've put together I really good gaming pc.
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/jGvXHN

I live in america, so I'm use to USD and with this system cumming in at a little under 2600 USD the exchange rate lowers it to a little under 2000 Pounds. In this parts list I've included a great gaming monitor at a FAST refresh rate, including G-Sync so you can smooth out monitor side lag from your games. I included the core i7-6700k (I like that choice), and the NCXT case you mentioned. I've included the best duel radiator I think exist (H115i). Why did I go with water cooling? Because if you wan't to overclock it's a very consumer friendly way to lower temps to get your cpu to new speeds. With your budget you can also include two gtx 1070's in sli witch will provide you with tons of power to even push multiple 4k setups. (You will have to pick up an SLI bridge to make the two 1070's work.

BUT ON TO THE MOBO!
I chose the MSI Gaming M7 for this build. It provides great overclocking support with their award winning bios. (Trust me I've personally used it and it's great). It supplies you with 2 m.2 ports for the fastest storage available along with great audio support. You'll find it makes a great home for all your parts.

Additionally to that you'll want to pick up the wifi card I've included in the list if you wan't wifi.
I'd like to finish that I have included ram and storage (being a terabyte of sshd storage and a m.2 samsung 950 pro 250 gig for games and boot drive).

Before you go and choose my lineup or someone else's I'd like to suggest to you that if you have NEVER built a computer in you life, you should hope over to Linus Tech Tips youtube channel and watch one of his build guides. Alternatively just searching how to choose compatible pc parts on youtube or your favorite search engine can really help you get a boost to the right start to a great experience building computers.

My regards,
PZ Managed