Your advice, please -- should I go z87 or z97?

[42trays]

I know, there are probably 500 topics just like this, but I was hoping sharing the rest of my setup would help me narrow it down some and help me get some advice on whether I should go with a z87 or z97 board (or even stay with what I have now).

I currently have an ASRock h97 Pro ATX, with an i5-4690k with a BIOS overclock of 4.4. I do not plan on running SLI in the future (I'd rather just upgrade a single card), and I have a separate 802.11ac WiFi adapter card, so on-board network doesn't matter much to me. The M.2 SSD isn't very important to me. Overclocking could be, even though I consider myself pretty damn lucky to get it where it is considering my board wasn't even "supposed to be" an overclocking board when I got it.

I will be keeping my CPU and GTX 760 for the foreseeable future (probably at least until Christmas), but I like the thought of future-proofing where I can. I like to game in ultra where I can, and don't do a ton of processing-heavy stuff — I do work on it in addition to gaming, and I of course just like to have a fast computer.

If I were to upgrade, I'd spend around $100-140, tops, and at that range I've seen some ones I've really liked. If it were your money, in my situation but with YOUR building smarts, would you stick with the h97 Pro, or go up to z87 or 97? Thank you!

 

[junkeymonkey]

well z97 is the latest generation board z87 is a step back ? the newest features will be for the most part on the z97.. also new fresh support of the board where z87 may be getting forgot about ??

 

[yeskay]

I know, there are probably 500 topics just like this, but I was hoping sharing the rest of my setup would help me narrow it down some and help me get some advice on whether I should go with a z87 or z97 board (or even stay with what I have now).

I currently have an ASRock h97 Pro ATX, with an i5-4690k with a BIOS overclock of 4.4. I do not plan on running SLI in the future (I'd rather just upgrade a single card), and I have a separate 802.11ac WiFi adapter card, so on-board network doesn't matter much to me. The M.2 SSD isn't very important to me. Overclocking could be, even though I consider myself pretty damn lucky to get it where it is considering my board wasn't even "supposed to be" an overclocking board when I got it.

I will be keeping my CPU and GTX 760 for the foreseeable future (probably at least until Christmas), but I like the thought of future-proofing where I can. I like to game in ultra where I can, and don't do a ton of processing-heavy stuff — I do work on it in addition to gaming, and I of course just like to have a fast computer.

If I were to upgrade, I'd spend around $100-140, tops, and at that range I've seen some ones I've really liked. If it were your money, in my situation but with YOUR building smarts, would you stick with the h97 Pro, or go up to z87 or 97? Thank you!

Even though Intel has confirmed that their new processors "Skylake" are coming at the later half of 2015, I see that i5 4690K has plenty of fire power left in it, at least till the beginning of 2017. Also the GTX 760 would serve at least till the end of this year. Like you mentioned Christmas would be a great time to upgrade the GPU, as AMD is coming up with new R9 300 Series cards starting from June 2015 and their new higher end cards with HBM memory (HBM is the successor of GDDR5), promised to be a game changer, is expected in August 2015.

So by keeping the GPU and CPU, you've made an excellent decision. With regard to the motherboard, its pretty simple.

If you're going to overclock the i5 4690K and turn it into even more powerful beast, get this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
If you overclock you definitely need this cooler. Stock cooler won't do any good
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.89 @ OutletPC)
A Z97 board with great combination of longevity and performance for awesome price.
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $118.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-24 19:25 EDT-0400

If not going to overclock, stick to H97, that still has plenty of mileage left in it to serve your purpose well into the future.

Cheers!

 

[junkeymonkey]

''but I like the thought of future-proofing where I can. I like to game in ultra where I can, and don't do a ton of processing-heavy stuff ''

nothing is future proof and I really don't see where that h97 got you hurt by what you said above ? running ultra on it should be the same as a z board single card wise-- and your chip you got in it now should do all needed for some more time -- I'd say save your cash and keep running it

 

[42trays]

''but I like the thought of future-proofing where I can. I like to game in ultra where I can, and don't do a ton of processing-heavy stuff ''

nothing is future proof and I really don't see where that h97 got you hurt by what you said above ? running ultra on it should be the same as a z board single card wise-- and your chip you got in it now should do all needed for some more time -- I'd say save your cash and keep running it

Thanks a lot for the response -- I think you're right, the h97 is running fine and I should consider myself pretty lucky with what I've gotten out of it. Definitely helps having someone else take a look -- I might've spent the money to upgrade when it would have been pretty marginal, all considered. Really appreciate the responses.

 

[yeskay]

''but I like the thought of future-proofing where I can. I like to game in ultra where I can, and don't do a ton of processing-heavy stuff ''

nothing is future proof and I really don't see where that h97 got you hurt by what you said above ? running ultra on it should be the same as a z board single card wise-- and your chip you got in it now should do all needed for some more time -- I'd say save your cash and keep running it

Assuming that the performance will be the same, after getting a Z97 motherboard is wrong. What you said may only be applicable to the graphics card. But the same cannot be said for i5 4690K. When you put the 4690K on Z97, you're sure going to overclock it from its default 3.5GHz (the speed at which it was operating on H97) to an impressive 4.4 to 4.7Ghz.

So when that happens, it will easily give you anywhere from 8-10 FPS boost in games minimum with the same graphics card. Now that's huge, especially when you try to capture your game play using FRAPS (usually gobbles min 8-10 FPS) or Shadowplay (gobbles 5 FPS). Also that extra 900Mhz to 1200Mhz will do wonders when you use video encoding or editing or 3D rendering or data compression applications.

Cheers! Mate!

 

[nikoli707]

he already overclocked the 4690k on his h97. some h97 boards allow unoffical overclocking. there would be no real performance gain by going with a z97. the only difference would be possible overclocking stability.

 

[yeskay]

he already overclocked the 4690k on his h97. some h97 boards allow unoffical overclocking. there would be no real performance gain by going with a z97. the only difference would be possible overclocking stability.

Then everyone would ignore Z97 and be happy to buy H97, overclock on them like hell. Wouldn't they? Despite of what you said, people still prefer the Z97 for overclocking. You know why?

Intel Core i5-4690K Review - Image Editing and Video Encoding
Intel Core i5-4690K Review - Multi-tasking and Overall Performance
Intel Core i5-4690K Review - Gaming Performance

Mate, the links posted above emboldens my suggestion that z97 offers more than just stability in all areas including the gaming and the i5 is stably operational at 4.8Ghz. The H97 through BIOS update may allow you to overclock up to 4.4Ghz, which is commendable for a H97 board. But still there is a 400Mhz difference, which will certainly be appreciated by many in the areas, like it has been test above.

Thank you.

 

[junkeymonkey]

on that h97 if he got a nice oc and just wnates to run a nice single vid card I don't see where hes loosing out ?? wow gain 8 frames for added new motherboard expense ??

 

[nikoli707]

of course if hes buying new buy a z97. otherwise 4.8ghz on a 4690k is not going to happen for the op unless he has a higher than noctua/phantek/h100i.

 

[junkeymonkey]

theres no guarantees it will hit that with a z97 .. just seems to me that h97 he got now is doing a fine job ? why ruin a good thing that's up and going ?? [opinion]