Skylake Z170 Mobo and Cooler recommendation

[naturesninja]

Well, I took the guard's advice and have decided to stop lollygagging on upgrading my gaming PC. Skylake it is! BUT It seems that most, if not all Z170 mobos are having MUCH higher than normal negative reviews. I have usually stuck with ASUS's higher tier motherboards in the past, but like the others, bad reviews abundant. Can someone throw me a hint as to a good board(s) I should look out for? My budget is open to whatever is the best for the price.

Needs: ATX, OCing obviously, Multiple GPU capable @ x8/x8, Native 7.1 capable if Pcie for soundcard is blocked by multiple GPUs, and USB charging when powered off. Also, good cooling (vrm's, nb, sb, etc...) as this build will be a fourth stringer in my workflow when not gaming, and may need to run continuously for days on end.

I really like the Sabertooth (Matches my GPU's and PSU, as well as my hopefully okay to use Noctua NH-D14), but reviews are leaving a bad taste in my mouth. Should I wait for revisions to come out, or do you think they will just drop features instead of adding new ones?

Finally, I have a few dozen coolers laying around, but have heard some bad mojo about Skylake and common coolers not meshing too well. So, I would like some feedback about this if possible, and a good air cooling heatsink recommendation to hold me off until I can run a custom loop through the system. Otherwise, is my Noctua NH-D14 fine for Skylake?

This is what I have in mind:
i7-6700k
NH-D14 (or?)
Sabertooth Z170 (or?)
2x Sapphire R9 390X
SeaSonic X-1250
Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB
Samsung 500GB SSD
2x WD Black 4TB
Corsair Vengeance C70 Mil Green Case (I like the color, know of anything similar?)

Thanks for your time!

 

[Tradesman1]

I went with the Hero - and no problems, have to understand, many have trouble going to a new platform, and here it's not only a new mobo/CPU platform, but also new DRAM (DDR4) and for most a new OS (Win10), many were cringing over the across the board new stuff. I also took a hard look at the Asus Z170 Pro Gaming, but the Hero has been the creme of the crops the last two releases and I'm happy I went with it. Still playing at the moment, but have run numerous GPUs including and up to XFire with 290Xs and SLI with 980s, a few different sets of DRAM, currently 4x8GB 3200 Trident Z, and for your other question on coolers, I've run a 212 EVO, a H7 from Grorig, the CM GTS V8, a Seidon 120, Lepa 240 Aquachanger and their new Exllusion - with no problems on any.

 

[naturesninja]

Awesome info, I appreciate your time Tradesman1. I ended up ordering the Hero. It makes sense that people are having conflicts with new hardware, and I had been specifically holding out on a new build until the smoke cleared on this new platform to see which motherboards rose to the top. Thanks again!

 

[Tradesman1]

No worries, let us know how you like it and how the rig comes out 😉