Motherboard for i7-4790K with GTX 760

[kaymeer]

Hi,
I wanted to know what cheap motherboards will work well with a i7-4790 and a GTX 760 2GB OC
I also want it to have 1.7 surround sound build in and a optical cable port
I dont really have that much knowledge about motherboards so thats why I am asking for help.

Thanks in advance

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Do you mean 4790K? Title says K, but post does not.

Are you in the USA?

 

[kaymeer]

I exedently selected a best answer...

 

[DonkeyOatie]

I unselected it. What was the answer to the question, so we know what the best advice is.

 

[kaymeer]

I unselected it. What was the answer to the question, so we know what the best advice is.

I was talking about the k version (4790k)

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Do you plan to overclock the CPU a bit, a decent amount, a lot or not at all?

Sorry for all the questions but it allows us to select the best cheapest motherboard for your needs.

 

[kaymeer]

Do you plan to overclock the CPU a bit, a decent amount, a lot or not at all?

Sorry for all the questions but it allows us to select the best cheapest motherboard for your needs.

No, I am not planning to overclock
Maybe you could ask me a whole list of questions so you know what im looking for better.

 

[kaymeer]

I have found a list of Motherboard's that have what I am looking for but they almost all downgrade the PCI x16 to x8 when 2 GPU's are used, is this normal?

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Yes. The Z97 Chipset has only 20 PCIe lanes, so if x16 go to one card, it must be split to x8 x8 for two cards. However, with modern cards x8 is plenty to run them at full power.

I use the ASRock Z97M OC Formula which costs $100. It is one of the cheapest Z97 motherboards that will run two graphics cards well at x8. It also had good 7.1 sound and S/PDIF optical sound out. It can also overclock well.

The slightly cheaper ASRock Z97 Extreme3 and ASRock Z97 Extreme 4 are full-size ATX board and have 7.1 and S/PDIF, but are less suitable for overclocking.

Extreme 3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157506R&cm_re=asrock_z97_extreme_3-_-13-157-506R-_-Product
Extreme 4 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157503&cm_re=extreme_4_z97-_-13-157-503-_-Product
Z97M OC Formula http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157520R&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Intel+Motherboards-_-N82E16813157520R&gclid=Cj0KEQjwsIWvBRCnzevvor2g4L8BEiQAAN234Q1qPjXCmOowyaB0-XYk1VJykoIspY0crcAl12T7IXcaAqH88P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

I use a lot of ASRock boards and like their price/performance/quality/features balance.

 

[kaymeer]

Yes. The Z97 Chipset has only 20 PCIe lanes, so if x16 go to one card, it must be split to x8 x8 for two cards. However, with modern cards x8 is plenty to run them at full power.

I use the ASRock Z97M OC Formula which costs $100. It is one of the cheapest Z97 motherboards that will run two graphics cards well at x8. It also had good 7.1 sound and S/PDIF optical sound out. It can also overclock well.

The slightly cheaper ASRock Z97 Extreme3 and ASRock Z97 Extreme 4 are full-size ATX board and have 7.1 and S/PDIF, but are less suitable for overclocking.

Extreme 3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157506R&cm_re=asrock_z97_extreme_3-_-13-157-506R-_-Product
Extreme 4 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157503&cm_re=extreme_4_z97-_-13-157-503-_-Product
Z97M OC Formula http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157520R&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Intel+Motherboards-_-N82E16813157520R&gclid=Cj0KEQjwsIWvBRCnzevvor2g4L8BEiQAAN234Q1qPjXCmOowyaB0-XYk1VJykoIspY0crcAl12T7IXcaAqH88P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

I use a lot of ASRock boards and like their price/performance/quality/features balance.

Those motherboards look great but I think im gonna go for a Asus Maximus Vii Hero since I wanna overclock the cpu and that motherboard has all the features that I am looking for.
All I need now is a cooler for the i7 4790k but I think I will find the right one but maybe you know the best I should get?

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Earlier, you said that you do not want to overclock. The motherboard you have selected is great for overclocking with 8 Digital power phases and two for RAM.

If you want a robust overclock of 4.6Ghz or more you need a good 'big air' cooler (or a good 'big fluid' cooler). Something like the Noctua NH D15 is the standard by which other are judged. Phanteks, RAIJINTEK, and Cryorig make good big air coolers too. For a more budget model, which is still good, the Cooler Master HYPER 212 EVO is the 'standard' product.

 

[kaymeer]

Earlier, you said that you do not want to overclock. The motherboard you have selected is great for overclocking with 8 Digital power phases and two for RAM.

If you want a robust overclock of 4.6Ghz or more you need a good 'big air' cooler (or a good 'big fluid' cooler). Something like the Noctua NH D15 is the standard by which other are judged. Phanteks, RAIJINTEK, and Cryorig make good big air coolers too. For a more budget model, which is still good, the Cooler Master HYPER 212 EVO is the 'standard' product.

I want to be able to overclock if I ever want to, but lets say I dont overclock at all what motherboard will be good that doesn't split the x16 to x8

 

[DonkeyOatie]

If you want to have two GPUs, both running x16, you will have to look for a different motherboard.

First, read this though http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Intel/Ivy_Bridge_PCI-Express_Scaling/1.html

It is hard to saturate x8 x8 PCIe 2.0, much less x8 x8 PCIe 3.0.

To get dual x16 PCIe 3.0 with that CPU, you will need a motherboard with a PLX controller and they are expensive.

The ASRock Z97 Extreme 9 will do what you want. Here's our review.

We really need to know why. There may be better options such as a different CPU and an X99 board.

 

[kaymeer]

I want to use it for gaming and video editing/rendering and I also want to be able to use multiple GPU's (to their full protentional)

 

[DonkeyOatie]

As I said earlier, modern GPUs cannot saturate dual x8, as the article above shows. The review I linked to shows three decen PLX board that provide dual x16.

 

[kaymeer]

As I said earlier, modern GPUs cannot saturate dual x8, as the article above shows. The review I linked to shows three decen PLX board that provide dual x16.

But the Asus Maximus VII Hero does support dual x16 right?

 

[DonkeyOatie]

No it does not. It lacks a PLX chip. See this review

http://www.ocaholic.ch/modules/smartsection/item.php?page=3&itemid=1308

and this http://www.overclock.net/t/1501131/can-i-install-3-gpus-in-asus-maximus-vii-z97-motherboard/20