MSI Z97-G43 anyone?

[Mr Drummer]

I'm thinking alot what motherboard to go along with the 4690K (second hand) i just bought and wonder if anyone have tried the "MSI Z97-G43" and if it's a good board?

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/Z97-G43.html#hero-overview

 

[Tradesman1]

Let us know 😉

 

[Mr Drummer]

Let us know 😉

Oh no don't say that! Encourage me 😉

 

[Tradesman1]

Go for it

 

[Mr Drummer]

Go for it

Thanks Atleast i'll have some wind in my back when the PSU explodes in my face.

 

[Y0GI]

HERE is a more objective picture of the CURRENT mobo market.

I've had a MSI Z87-G43 for 3 years now with no problems. MSI Tech Support is also excellent. Many ppl on THG report that Asus Tech Support is hard to contact and slow to respond to problem requests for help.

Yogi

 

[Tradesman1]

That list is a bit subjective as it's primarily based on features as it states, and to a degree the results of a printed review or two, and all should know the mobos sent out for review are hand picked and pre tested, just as most any and all components are that are sent out for written review. That's been an axionm of the industry since enthusiast building first started 😉

 

[Mr Drummer]

That list is a bit subjective as it's primarily based on features as it states, and to a degree the results of a printed review or two, and all should know the mobos sent out for review are hand picked and pre tested, just as most any and all components are that are sent out for written review. That's been an axionm of the industry since enthusiast building first started 😉

Yeah, that's actually the truth.

 

[Y0GI]

That list is a bit subjective as it's primarily based on features as it states, and to a degree the results of a printed review or two, and all should know the mobos sent out for review are hand picked and pre tested, just as most any and all components are that are sent out for written review. That's been an axionm of the industry since enthusiast building first started 😉

So, I guess that my board was "Hand picked and pre-tested too."

Your bad experiences are 4 years old. A lot has changed since then.

You are a Moderator here. Have you not noticed the complaints and problems with Asus? Especially their shoddy Tech Support?

Yogi

 

[Tradesman1]

You got a good board, and many do, then again many don't. For me, problems with MSI continue to this day - I don't build on them at all - only on Asus, the Rock and GB, yet I still get more system problem calls (that end up being mobo related), on MSI mobos than I do on ANY two manufacturers put together. I've worked with and played with some 'good' MSI mobos, and they aren't bad at all...As a builder though we look deeper at the mobos than do most that just one and build a rig - they get a good mobo and may be fans for life or until they get a bad one. Working on rigs everyday, and seeing bad mobos, say 5-6 of the same exact model that have all been or gone bad and each from a different problem, tends to make you rather introspective as far as their quality control...it also tends to jade your thoughts when a particular model has a given problem that is well covered on the web and elsewhere, and you call tech support and are told this is something they have never heard of before and they offer an immediate RMA, no troubleshooting at all even mentioned 😉

As far as Asus problems - I try and help those OPs as well as I do for any other mobo manufacturer, and I see complaints about their tech support same as I do from other manufacturers. I would also say I would expect them to have far more people that might run into problems, given that Asus sells about 3 times as many mobos as MSI does. Should actually prob see at least twice as many with GB as MSI also, but GB seems to be far less as is the Rock, which also sells many more than MSI.

I myself am not really a very big fan of any of the mobo makers tech support (or DRAM makers, or GPU makers, etc). They generally run off checklists, you seldom run into ones that that will really go digging to find a problem, especially when in the long run it's cheaper to do a RMA. There are techs that really know the products and will dig in but seldom encounter those that can talk at the level of the user calling.

 

[Mr Drummer]

You got a good board, and many do, then again many don't. For me, problems with MSI continue to this day - I don't build on them at all - only on Asus, the Rock and GB, yet I still get more system problem calls (that end up being mobo related), on MSI mobos than I do on ANY two manufacturers put together. I've worked with and played with some 'good' MSI mobos, and they aren't bad at all...As a builder though we look deeper at the mobos than do most that just one and build a rig - they get a good mobo and may be fans for life or until they get a bad one. Working on rigs everyday, and seeing bad mobos, say 5-6 of the same exact model that have all been or gone bad and each from a different problem, tends to make you rather introspective as far as their quality control...it also tends to jade your thoughts when a particular model has a given problem that is well covered on the web and elsewhere, and you call tech support and are told this is something they have never heard of before and they offer an immediate RMA, no troubleshooting at all even mentioned 😉

As far as Asus problems - I try and help those OPs as well as I do for any other mobo manufacturer, and I see complaints about their tech support same as I do from other manufacturers. I would also say I would expect them to have far more people that might run into problems, given that Asus sells about 3 times as many mobos as MSI does. Should actually prob see at least twice as many with GB as MSI also, but GB seems to be far less as is the Rock, which also sells many more than MSI.

I myself am not really a very big fan of any of the mobo makers tech support (or DRAM makers, or GPU makers, etc). They generally run off checklists, you seldom run into ones that that will really go digging to find a problem, especially when in the long run it's cheaper to do a RMA. There are techs that really know the products and will dig in but seldom encounter those that can talk at the level of the user calling.

It's explanations like these that makes me trust what your saying and i'm glad i took your advice and bought an Asus board instead of the MSI one i first thought about. Thanks for all the info.

 

[Tradesman1]

You got a good board, and many do, then again many don't. For me, problems with MSI continue to this day - I don't build on them at all - only on Asus, the Rock and GB, yet I still get more system problem calls (that end up being mobo related), on MSI mobos than I do on ANY two manufacturers put together. I've worked with and played with some 'good' MSI mobos, and they aren't bad at all...As a builder though we look deeper at the mobos than do most that just one and build a rig - they get a good mobo and may be fans for life or until they get a bad one. Working on rigs everyday, and seeing bad mobos, say 5-6 of the same exact model that have all been or gone bad and each from a different problem, tends to make you rather introspective as far as their quality control...it also tends to jade your thoughts when a particular model has a given problem that is well covered on the web and elsewhere, and you call tech support and are told this is something they have never heard of before and they offer an immediate RMA, no troubleshooting at all even mentioned 😉

As far as Asus problems - I try and help those OPs as well as I do for any other mobo manufacturer, and I see complaints about their tech support same as I do from other manufacturers. I would also say I would expect them to have far more people that might run into problems, given that Asus sells about 3 times as many mobos as MSI does. Should actually prob see at least twice as many with GB as MSI also, but GB seems to be far less as is the Rock, which also sells many more than MSI.

I myself am not really a very big fan of any of the mobo makers tech support (or DRAM makers, or GPU makers, etc). They generally run off checklists, you seldom run into ones that that will really go digging to find a problem, especially when in the long run it's cheaper to do a RMA. There are techs that really know the products and will dig in but seldom encounter those that can talk at the level of the user calling.

It's explanations like these that makes me trust what your saying and i'm glad i took your advice and bought an Asus board instead of the MSI one i first thought about. Thanks for all the info.

______________________

No worries, I try and help anyone regardless of hardware being used, but for suggestions for hardware, I treat the members the same as I would a client in my shop 😉

 

[Mr Drummer]

You got a good board, and many do, then again many don't. For me, problems with MSI continue to this day - I don't build on them at all - only on Asus, the Rock and GB, yet I still get more system problem calls (that end up being mobo related), on MSI mobos than I do on ANY two manufacturers put together. I've worked with and played with some 'good' MSI mobos, and they aren't bad at all...As a builder though we look deeper at the mobos than do most that just one and build a rig - they get a good mobo and may be fans for life or until they get a bad one. Working on rigs everyday, and seeing bad mobos, say 5-6 of the same exact model that have all been or gone bad and each from a different problem, tends to make you rather introspective as far as their quality control...it also tends to jade your thoughts when a particular model has a given problem that is well covered on the web and elsewhere, and you call tech support and are told this is something they have never heard of before and they offer an immediate RMA, no troubleshooting at all even mentioned 😉

As far as Asus problems - I try and help those OPs as well as I do for any other mobo manufacturer, and I see complaints about their tech support same as I do from other manufacturers. I would also say I would expect them to have far more people that might run into problems, given that Asus sells about 3 times as many mobos as MSI does. Should actually prob see at least twice as many with GB as MSI also, but GB seems to be far less as is the Rock, which also sells many more than MSI.

I myself am not really a very big fan of any of the mobo makers tech support (or DRAM makers, or GPU makers, etc). They generally run off checklists, you seldom run into ones that that will really go digging to find a problem, especially when in the long run it's cheaper to do a RMA. There are techs that really know the products and will dig in but seldom encounter those that can talk at the level of the user calling.

It's explanations like these that makes me trust what your saying and i'm glad i took your advice and bought an Asus board instead of the MSI one i first thought about. Thanks for all the info.

______________________

No worries, I try and help anyone regardless of hardware being used, but for suggestions for hardware, I treat the members the same as I would a client in my shop 😉

...and i'm buying what you're selling 😉

 

[Tradesman1]

😉

 

[Tradesman1]

The Intel is the base driver for the Chipset, the turbo works alongside the Asus provided software for managing your connections from within Win, so both. Rapid Storage is Intels drivers for managing Drives overall and includes thoseneeded for RAID, hotswap and more, yes would install. The hot fix registration is included with all their mobos and rigs to allow for easy registration of their products on-line - it's an optional thing

 

[Mr Drummer]

The Intel is the base driver for the Chipset, the turbo works alongside the Asus provided software for managing your connections from within Win, so both. Rapid Storage is Intels drivers for managing Drives overall and includes thoseneeded for RAID, hotswap and more, yes would install. The hot fix registration is included with all their mobos and rigs to allow for easy registration of their products on-line - it's an optional thing

I'm one of those that wants to install as little of these programs that Asus provides as possible (fan controllers, overclocking software and so on). I like to manage as much as possible from the BIOS. Should i still install the "Turbo LAN V1.04.01" driver eventhough i won't install any of the Asus provided software for managing my connection?

 

[Tradesman1]

No real need then for it 😉

 

[Mr Drummer]

No real need then for it 😉

Ok, i won't. What programs do you recommend installing from the installation cd/Asus site by the way? There are alot on the "Drivers and tools" section of the Asus page but most if not all seems optional with functions that are better controlled directly from the BIOS.

 

[Tradesman1]

I generally load the base drivers and don't really mess with any of the add on tools/software, get chipset drivers, Intel drivers, base LAN, USB, etc

 

[Mr Drummer]

I generally load the base drivers and don't really mess with any of the add on tools/software, get chipset drivers, Intel drivers, base LAN, USB, etc

The same as me then, With Windows 7 the USB 2.0 drivers came with the OS. From what i can see i've gotta install the drivers for USB 3.0 though?

 

[Tradesman1]

Generally yes, I do 😉

 

[Mr Drummer]

Generally yes, I do 😉

Ok, thanks. Will i have to disable the GPU that's built in to the "i5 4690K" manually in the BIOS or i this done automatically when i install and use my GTX770?

 

[Tradesman1]

Once the 770 is in and recognized - look in BIOS for primary video and set to PEG/PCI-E, and can disable the iGPU through Win (in device manager)

 

[Mr Drummer]

Once the 770 is in and recognized - look in BIOS for primary video and set to PEG/PCI-E, and can disable the iGPU through Win (in device manager)

Is it recomended that i do this or can i just let it be?

 

[Tradesman1]

If you leave the iGPU enabled it may take some of your DRAM away from the system

 

[Mr Drummer]

If you leave the iGPU enabled it may take some of your DRAM away from the system

How much of the DRAM you think? I talked to a person on another forum who said that it does not hurt keeping the "Intel HD Graphics 4600 " enabled. That it'll make it easier to leave it enabled if i ever have problems with my GPU or should i swap it. He also said i won't even notice it's presence. I trust your opinion more though.