Motherboard tier list: Z97 chipset

[prodavid]

Thanks MeteorsRaining for putting up the list. I myself wandering around all over internet to pick the better suited best bang for the buck Motherboard....going for MSI Gaming 5.
But, in the list i find it missing the Brand/Company name..makes difficult to get the exact idea of the boards i know or seeing first time.

 

[0x1eef]

Which mATX from these three to choose for OCing 4690k?

Asus Maximus VII Gene
Asus Gryphon Armor Edition
AsRock OC Formula

 

[MeteorsRaining]

prodavid, glad to know this list could be of some help

The instructions and key to easily browsing through the list has been provided in the directory article (HERE, refer to 'understanding the motherboard tier list' and consequent sections). Hope it isn't that hard, if it is, let me know.



0x1eef, in all real world sense, all the three board on a given chip will yield similar results and OCing will be limited by the temperatures (cooling) rather than by Motherboard. I'd go with the cheapest of the three.

 

[andranos]

Great list mate! I would love to go with the Maximus VII hero / Extreme 9 but i don't think that the price really cut it for me. If you have yo choose between the Z97X SOC Force / MSI Gaming 5, which one would you choose? I'm getting the 4790 and GTX 970 (might be in SLI)

 

[MeteorsRaining]

Thanks for the positive feedback, I appreciate that, andranos!

Is there any crucial reason for not going with a K-SKU CPU? K-SKU is usually the same-ish price and OCing capability is always a plus point.

Anyways, the CPU being non-K, OCing doesn't come into play, and so I'd simply go with cheaper of the two, you wouldn't see ANY difference at all. If OCing is on the cards (for which you'd need the 4790"K"), SOC Force will be my favourite choice

 

[andranos]

Good question 😀, well it's $50 extra but I might as well go with it and I'll go with the SOC Force as well!!
Thanks for the reply, appreciate it

 

[MeteorsRaining]

$50, that's quite a difference. Also, unless you'll render or edit videos, i7 won't be any different from i5, particularly in gaming.

 

[andranos]

Well, I'm using Vegas pro to render video and dxtory to do some recording
But most people say even 4690 is capable of rendering 1080p @60fps with 970 is that true?

 

[MeteorsRaining]

Yep, current i5s are VERY capable. Most rendering softwares use GPU acceleration (Vegas Pro as well) to render, which actually do a bulk of the work required. So yes an i5 would be fine for that purpose since your GPUs will be doing the major amount of work.

 

[prodavid]

prodavid, glad to know this list could be of some help

The instructions and key to easily browsing through the list has been provided in the directory article (HERE, refer to 'understanding the motherboard tier list' and consequent sections). Hope it isn't that hard, if it is, let me know.



0x1eef, in all real world sense, all the three board on a given chip will yield similar results and OCing will be limited by the temperatures (cooling) rather than by Motherboard. I'd go with the cheapest of the three.

Thanks Man for the link, that's exactly what i wanted...would have been Great to put just those Color representation in this thread too as sometimes people like me just come from search results/ direct link to child thread ...and some of the information can be missed.

I am upgrading my rig next week... with i7-4790k/MSI Gaming 5/MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G/ Corsair Vengeance 2x4gb/Samsung Evo 250GB/Seasoniuc S12G 650W/Corsair 200R....let me know if you have any suggestion.

 

[zeyuanfu]

Depending on your budget and what will you be doing, the upgrades I would suggest, in order of best performance gains, are:

Add 8 GB of RAM

Add another 970 (requires a PSU upgrade)

Add an HDD

 

[andranos]

Hmm I've seen some good review regarding Asrock Z97 Extreme 6 as well, how does it fare against the Z97X SOC Force?

 

[zeyuanfu]

The Extreme6 wins by far for price/performance, but if you're into extreme overclocking, the SOC Force might be better for you.

 

[andranos]

Hmm alright I'm moving to Extreme6 then... Man choosing the right mobo is so hard....

 

[MeteorsRaining]

prodavid, glad to know this list could be of some help

The instructions and key to easily browsing through the list has been provided in the directory article (HERE, refer to 'understanding the motherboard tier list' and consequent sections). Hope it isn't that hard, if it is, let me know.



0x1eef, in all real world sense, all the three board on a given chip will yield similar results and OCing will be limited by the temperatures (cooling) rather than by Motherboard. I'd go with the cheapest of the three.

Thanks Man for the link, that's exactly what i wanted...would have been Great to put just those Color representation in this thread too as sometimes people like me just come from search results/ direct link to child thread ...and some of the information can be missed.

I am upgrading my rig next week... with i7-4790k/MSI Gaming 5/MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G/ Corsair Vengeance 2x4gb/Samsung Evo 250GB/Seasoniuc S12G 650W/Corsair 200R....let me know if you have any suggestion.

Sure thing, I'll try to update all thread with color key asap.

Your rig looks well balanced, I'd however change the PSU to either a 520W or 750W, as a GTX 970 rig can be contained easily with a good quality 500W+ PSU. And 650W will be too close if you plan to SLI in future, 750W will be good for SLI.

 

[prodavid]

Great!

Yeah..actually I am really middle of the this dilemma of making my rig SLI-ready or not. As i can't find a better option than Msi Gaming 5 in terms of Performance/features/looks in lower segment....and this one is SLI - ready. I won't be using 3 monitors or 4K setup. So, do i really need SLI ready rig on 1080p...or should i save some on 650W ( 550W seems to be very close when ocing & in efficiency ratio). Won't 650W Gold will have good headroom for OCing CPU & GPU both in non-SLI scenario in near-future when needed.

 

[zeyuanfu]

Depends on what games you're playing and what settings are they on.

 

[prodavid]

Well, i specially upgrading to play Gta 5 and Witcher 3...& don't wanna look back for next 3 years atleast below High if not ultra.

 

[MeteorsRaining]

A good quality 550W will be plenty for substancial OCing on both given CPU and GPU. A very high quality (Like SeaSonic Plat. efficiency units) 650W+ unit can actually take up the SLI rig, although it's not recommended if you have the option to go for higher wattage. A 750W is plenty for SLI 970s with OC on both CPU & GPU.

"Won't 650W Gold will have good headroom for OCing CPU & GPU both in non-SLI scenario in near-future when needed."

Well, more than you'd need, provided it's good enough quality wise

PSU Tier List

 

[prodavid]

So, What you will prefer yourself given the Non-SLI Scenario for atleast 2 years.

Seasonic S12G 550W Gold - Tier 2 OR SeaSonic M12II-750W Bronze - Tier 1

 

[zeyuanfu]

The 80+ Gold unit would be better as it's more efficient.

 

[MeteorsRaining]

I'd go with 550W Gold, 750W will really be a waste unless you SLI.

 

[prodavid]

So, what's the reason behind Tier difference in these:

SeaSonic M12II-750W (Bronze) is Tier 1 & Seasonic S12G 550W (Gold) is Tier 2

 

[Darkbreeze]

Hey Meteors, either I'm blind, which is entirely possible these days, or the Z97P-D3, which is a different board than the Z97-D3H from what I can see, is missing from the list.

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4958#ov

 

[Darkbreeze]

So, what's the reason behind Tier difference in these:

SeaSonic M12II-750W (Bronze) is Tier 1 & Seasonic S12G 550W (Gold) is Tier 2

Entirely different internal structure and component quality. They are built on entirely different platforms but this is a conversation better suited for the PSU tier list.