Z97 board or H97?

[AmJay]

I am thinking of building a new pc. Primarily used for Android development and gaming.
I am on a tight budget.

Processor: Intel Core i5-4440
GPU: Nvidia Geforce GTX 650 Ti Boost (Already own)
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB x 2 DDR3 1600Mhz

Questions:
I am confused which motherboard to go for : Z97 or H97?
What are the advantages of Z97 board over H97?

 

[raihan4]

Your CPU is a locked, non-OC model. Z97 boards are intended for overclocking with unlocked "-K" chips, while H97s are not. You should save your money and get the H97

 

[Darkbreeze]

If you want to use RAM faster than 1600mhz, or use dual graphics card configurations, or overclock, go with the Z97. If you have no plans to do any of those things, then the H97, H81 or B85 boards would be fine for your build.

Unless the build is strictly a business machine or you're using a Pentium G3258, I'd stick with the H97 chipset if you don't go with Z97.

 

[AmJay]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Actually the unlocked processors are way too costly here in India (over my budget).

So what i understand is that Z97 boards have overclocking capability whereas H97 does not have that.
I searched on internet and found that non-K processors have a locked multiplier, but still can be overclocked by adjusting the "base clock" from bios.

So if i go for H97 board, and in future if i want to overclock little, will i be able to do it with H97?

 

[raihan4]

Some mobos can, like my H81. But not by much

 

[junkeymonkey]

I go with the most feature rich one. like I would go z97 .. true maybe you don't need all it offers today, but what if you decide to do a upgrade that the h97 may not cover and then you may wish you went ahead and got the z97 in the first place ?

that's the way I look at it

 

[Darkbreeze]

If you go with a locked chip, forget about overclocking. You don't want to overclock these days using the base clock like in the old days. Those kinds of overclocks affect the rest of the hardware like PCI and USB circuits and generally create more issues than it's worth on modern systems. If you want to overclock, at all, save a while longer and get an unlocked chip.

More important is the factor of not being able to use faster than 1600mhz RAM on H97, B85 and H81 boards and also the consideration that they do not support XMP profiles. If you want to use 1866 or faster RAM you'll want a z97 board. If you think you might add a second graphics card for SLI or Crossfire later down the road, you'll want a Z97 board. Otherwise, H97 is fine and the H97 Anniversary board is probably just as good a choice as any other with that in mind.