Motherboard tier list: H97 chipset

[MeteorsRaining]

H and B series boards allow only multiplier and to some extent voltage tweaking, on select models like Pentium G3258, which has now been expanded to other K-SKU models. That is fine for minor OCing on low wattage models but I wouldn't try putting an i7 or even i5 for OCing on these. Most of the H and B series boards don't support XMP RAM which can, to a large extent, make things worse.

So if OCing is the priority, invest in Z series.

 

[nVidea]

Really? But they say H97 motherboards dont support cpu overclocking and SLI? I'm confused

By the way, I just realised H97 can do Crossfire. Am I wrong?? (Planning to crossfire my R9 270x Toxic, with MSI H97 powered by SEASONIC 620W)

 

[nVidea]

H and B series boards allow only multiplier and to some extent voltage tweaking, on select models like Pentium G3258, which has now been expanded to other K-SKU models. That is fine for minor OCing on low wattage models but I wouldn't try putting an i7 or even i5 for OCing on these. Most of the H and B series boards don't support XMP RAM which can, to a large extent, make things worse.

So if OCing is the priority, invest in Z series.

I'm not planning on OCing my processor... just doing crossfire in the future. Is the MSI H97 good enough for R9 270x Toxic Crossfire??

 

[Darkbreeze]

They can do crossfire, but the second card is limited to x4 speeds, so it's really NOT a good option if you plan to use dual cards of ANY kind. IF you plan to overclock or use dual cards, get a Z97 board. The price difference isn't that outstandingly different as to become prohibitive anyhow. Plus then you have the ability to upgrade to the Broadwell chips at some point down the road if you ever decide to do so.

 

[mitsosvazelos84]

Well mister MeteorsRaining knows better than me , but you get the point
The true is that if you can get a card that is as good as two , get it . With that in mind ( and the current troubles of sli and crossfire such as power consumption and compartibility ) I would rather get a new card everytime and sell the old one , if you have nothing to put it on .

mitsosvazelos84 .

EDIT: MeteorsRaining , I meant no offense

 

[Darkbreeze]

I'm sure he knew what you meant and that none was taken.

 

[MeteorsRaining]

nVidea, Crossfire is possible on H series but it's not as effective as in Z series, due to limitation of PCIe lanes as pointed out by darkbreeze. I've a note in the first section of this article (and on the main page as well) to alert readers about this issue.

R9 270X CFX will be bottlenecked at x8/x4, I'd suggest going for Z series as there are no real disadvantages but you'll definitely have some obvious plus points.

mitsosvazelos84, no offence taken, everyone has the right to put his points, my job is to just make sure they're correct and relevant. Keep posting!

 

[mitsosvazelos84]

Such a nice community we have here

 

[nVidea]

How can I lock the 4th core of my AMD CPU so that it can be more stable?

 

[mitsosvazelos84]

No , no no dude this is wrong 🙁
You don't want to disable a core ! why should you do that ? Do uoy have any perfomance issues , or even insuficient cooling or any other cpu related hardware problem ? Or do you just want to test something ?

 

[Darkbreeze]

How can I lock the 4th core of my AMD CPU so that it can be more stable?

This belongs in the CPU discussion area anyhow, not on the motherboard tier list I don't think.

 

[LookItsRain]

The asrock h97 killer/performance can overclock just as well as a z97 board. Both have a 8 + 2 power phase design.

http://www.pcgameware.co.uk/reviews/motherboards/asrock-fatal1ty-h97-killer-motherboard-review/

 

[Darkbreeze]

The asrock h97 killer/performance can overclock just as well as a z97 board. Both have a 8 + 2 power phase design.

http://www.pcgameware.co.uk/reviews/motherboards/asrock-fatal1ty-h97-killer-motherboard-review/

As long as you're not using a K series i5 or i7 you mean. For Pentium, yes, for i-series, no.

 

[LookItsRain]

The asrock h97 killer/performance can overclock just as well as a z97 board. Both have a 8 + 2 power phase design.

http://www.pcgameware.co.uk/reviews/motherboards/asrock-fatal1ty-h97-killer-motherboard-review/

As long as you're not using a K series i5 or i7 you mean. For Pentium, yes, for i-series, no.

If you open the review you will notice that they took an i5 to 4.8 ghz with no issues.

 

[Darkbreeze]

IF that board has the newest BIOS versions, installed SINCE that article was written, there's a good chance you'll find it won't work because Intel enforced the manufactures to remove that feature by including different microcode instructions that remove the capability. If you have the older BIOS, then maybe not. At least that's what I've understood to be the case on all those boards that were unlocked, and then relocked by way of BIOS updates.

 

[MeteorsRaining]

Intel has verified unlocking H and B series BIOS only for Pentium Anniversary edition OCing, it's not officially supported by Intel for other K-SKU models. Manufacturers have however revived this ability for more sales and features in H series.

From the linked article:

ASRock have taken advantage of a loophole in the 1150 architecture allowing us to overclock our i5 4670k and aptly named it Non-Z OC.

 

[Darkbreeze]

But I also read that Intel enforced a clause that required board manufacturers to implement microcode changes to their motherboard bios that reversed those capabilities on K chips since it wasn't endorsed by them. Did that not happen or was it ignored in the end? I'll see if I can find the articles related to that.

 

[MeteorsRaining]

But I also read that Intel enforced a clause that required board manufacturers to implement microcode changes to their motherboard bios that reversed those capabilities on K chips since it wasn't endorsed by them. Did that not happen or was it ignored in the end? I'll see if I can find the articles related to that.

Yes they did that but I'm not sure how it went, although currently things are looking in manufacturers' (and our) favour. But I wouldn't be surprised if that changes in future.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Me either. Intel and IBM don't like other hardware entities screwing with the way they intend for things to operate. When those companies frown at you, you can literally feel yourself shrink. Even "big" companies like ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI and ASROCK whimper when the big boys start shaking fingers.

 

[Echoceres]

what is the difference between asus H97M-E/CSM and H97M PLUS im planning on using it on a i5-4690 and i dont intend to oc but i heard that u can OC on an asus board if yes can i use and OC i5-4690k on this boards?

 

[thwlol]

I'll be glad to include it, eagerly waiting for it's completion.

H97 Pro4 was missing, included in tier 2, thanks for pointing out

Coming to memory speeds, believe me, after reading your post the first board I checked was MSI gaming 3 which supports upto 3300MHz OC memory (Product page: HERE). And I was like "darkbreeze must be mistaken with that", since I have recommended 1600MHz+ memory quite a few times myself.

But then, after checking all other boards it turns out only that particular board supports XMP and no other board does, which is definitely worth mentioning on the description.

The link somehow redirect me to Z97 board of MSI. MSI H97 spec does not mention about XMP or RAM support over 1600hz.

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/H97-GAMING-3.html#hero-specification

Did they redesign the board? I am choosing between Asus and MSI on H97 boards and it seems Asus H97 Gamer comes with XMP now.

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/H97PRO_GAMER/specifications/


mod edit - The above link is to the Z97 Gaming 3, not the H97 gaming 3. The H97 gaming 3 only supports 1600mhz modules, but does support XMP profiles.

 

[Darkbreeze]

The Gaming 3 product page, if you click on "detailed" on the specs tab, says this:

Main Memory

• Support four DDR3 1066/1333/1600/1866*/2000*/2133*/2200*/2400*/2600*/2666*/2800*/3000*/3100*/3200*/3100*/3200*/3300*(*OC) MHz DRAM, 32GB Max

- Dual channel memory architecture
- Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
- Supports non-ECC, un-buffered memory


Which sets it apart from other H97 boards that do not support over 1600mhz.

 

[Darkbreeze]

what is the difference between asus H97M-E/CSM and H97M PLUS im planning on using it on a i5-4690 and i dont intend to oc but i heard that u can OC on an asus board if yes can i use and OC i5-4690k on this boards?

For all intents and purposes, no, you cannot overclock a K chip on H97.

 

[thwlol]

The Gaming 3 product page, if you click on "detailed" on the specs tab, says this:

Main Memory

• Support four DDR3 1066/1333/1600/1866*/2000*/2133*/2200*/2400*/2600*/2666*/2800*/3000*/3100*/3200*/3100*/3200*/3300*(*OC) MHz DRAM, 32GB Max

- Dual channel memory architecture
- Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
- Supports non-ECC, un-buffered memory


Which sets it apart from other H97 boards that do not support over 1600mhz.

Hi darkbreeze,

I am still confused. Are we talking about MSI H97 Gaming 3 board cause I don't see those extra Memory bandwidth. This is what I see in 'Detail' tab. However, it does say it supports 'XMP' but natively does not support anything above 1600hz.

Main Memory

• Support four DDR3 1066/1333/1600 MHz DRAM, 32GB Max
- Dual channel memory architecture
- Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
- Supports non-ECC, un-buffered memory

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/H97-GAMING-3.html#hero-specification

I think you are seeing Z97 Gaming motherboard.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yes, you're right, his link does go to the Z97 gaming 3. Sorry, I thought he had linked the correct motherboard. His bad, and mine for not verifying. You have it right. It does support XMP, but only for 1600mhz profiles, which is pretty much useless as that's what most boards default to anyhow. It could be useful for specific timings though. In any case, as I said before, H97 only supports 1600mhz so it seems I was in fact correct in the first place.

I've added a notation to his original post you linked to, and your quote above, to correct the information.