MSI Z97A Gaming 7 vs Anything else

Pulssqt

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Oct 21, 2014
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Hello guys and girls 😀

I'm replacing my Phenom 965 with i5 4690k, so i need a new motherboard.

I was looking around and found few of them:
Asus Z97-A
Asus Z97-K
Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 3
Asus Sabertooth(used)
Asus Maximus VI Ranger(it's unavaliable in my country atm)

And after some research, i found a post here by 'feelingtheblanks'. He said that Gaming 7 is the best motherboard i could find for this money.
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2160179/msi-z97-gaming7-asus-z97.html

Is there maybe any other Mobo that could be better, any newer Mobo for this price ?
I think i wont have problems with overclocking due to its real power phases.

Thank you!

 
Solution


Yeah, the Gaming 3 is good too but Pulssqt seems to want a good overclocking board, not that the Gaming 3 is bad, just has less phases than the Gaming 5, which has less than the Gaming 7, but the Gaming 5 makes a good compromise.
See if you dont have mazimus ranger then you should go for new asus sabertooth but if you cant afford a new one then you should probably go for gigabyte z97x because gigabyte has never been a issue to anyone and I dont think that for i5 4690k you need to go for MSI Z97A.

Thanks! Nishant
 


Best choice buddy its perfect for 4th generation processors
 
I would take Asus Z97-A because I've been using their products for last 16 years, both motherboards and GPU's and never had problems with them, they never died etc. so... ASUS from my side.

If you go for skylake build take ASUS z197-a
 


I would, but im too tight with my budget.. I maybe would even go for Skylake if i did not found cheap 3 months old 4690k, and cheapest skylake is almost 2x price of 4690k. Sadly.
 

You can also go for asrock mobos they are also good in budget pc
 
Considering you were looking at more entry-mid level boards... do you really need a high end board like the Gaming 7? I mean, if you can get a Gaming 7 for a similar price as an ASUS Z97-K, then snap it up. MSI also have a Z97 Gaming 5 which is another obscenely good motherboard and cheaper than the Gaming 7.
 


I wouldnt even go for gaming 5.
I would rather go for Gaming 3.
Right now I use Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 3 and its just awesome
 


Yeah, the Gaming 3 is good too but Pulssqt seems to want a good overclocking board, not that the Gaming 3 is bad, just has less phases than the Gaming 5, which has less than the Gaming 7, but the Gaming 5 makes a good compromise.
 
Solution


 
Here are prices in my country.
Used 4690k is 230$
New 4790k is 400$
New 6600k is 400$

Gaming 7 is 250$
Gaming 5 is 210$
Gaming 3 is 170$
Asus Z97-A is 220$
Asus Z97-K is 140$

Asus Z97-K and Gaming 3 are out because of low power phases.

Now, it's about Asus Z97-A(220$), Gaming 5(210$) and Gaming 7(250$).

And yes, i would like my mobo to be a good platform for overclocking.
 


No wonder Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 5 is cheaper when it uses more PSU wattage, is hotter by 10 degrees C and is worst overclocker compared to asus z97-a, gaming7 and gaming5 from MSI

Just choose between Gaming5 and z97-a, both will do an awesome job overclocking 4690k.. I have 4690k with z97-a from asus with stable OC on 4.8GHz using Noctua nd-h15 cooler

Here's some review on Z97 motherboards from toms hardware tech

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/mainstream-gaming-z97-motherboard,review-32948.html