Maximus Hero is a good MoBo I would recommend, but it's definitely a bit on the pricey side. Just know that there are some good MoBo's out there that are not red lol. Okay, so in the price range that I think you are going for, the socket you want is a z97 because it is a good, cheap MoBo socket to buy. I'd go for a MSI GAMING 5. If you have the money, ASUS hero all day. If you want to know what I did, because I was in the exact same situation, I actually bought the ASUS z97 Sabretooth mark1 because it's on sale on neegg, making it the same price as the Hero, and the MOBO has a BACKPLATE and the "thermal armour" will help cool your CPU. So yeah, and good luck.