Z97 MPOWER MAX AC vs Asus Z97-A

[Benja81]

Hello,

I'm trying to decide between a new Asus Z97-A and a manufacturer refurbished MSI Z97 MPOWER MAX AC. I was just about 99% sold on the Z97-A but then I noticed I can get the refurb MPOWER MAX AC for about the same price as a brand new Z97-A.

I do plan to overclock which is why I'm tempted to go for the MPOWER, it comes with a 90 day manufacturer's warranty, obviously not as good as the 3 year on the new ASUS board. What are the pros and cons of each and would the overclocking/features be that much better on the MSI to warrant it? I'm planning to pair this with a new i5-4690k and already have a 290x Tri-X GPU along with 8GB G.Skill 2133mhz.

I will use this for heavy gaming to replace the dinosaur 775 system I have now, though its been chugging along with a Core2 Extreme qx9650, I'm almost sad to say goodbye to it! Thanks in advance for any thoughts or suggestions!

 

[nostall]

You have plans for a dynamite video card and CPU. Why put new parts with an unknown board, and with only a 90 day warranty. Go with the ASUS ; if anything bad starts to happen you know that you started with new parts.
Also, you didn't mention power supply, but don't skimp on that either; buy a quality unit from Tier 1 or 2 in this list:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html
AMD recommends a minimum psu of 650 watts and Sapphire recommends 750 watts. and since you intend to overclock I would recommend 850 watts or more.

 

[Benja81]

You have plans for a dynamite video card and CPU. Why put new parts with an unknown board, and with only a 90 day warranty. Go with the ASUS ; if anything bad starts to happen you know that you started with new parts.
Also, you didn't mention power supply, but don't skimp on that either; buy a quality unit from Tier 1 or 2 in this list:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html
AMD recommends a minimum psu of 650 watts and Sapphire recommends 750 watts. and since you intend to overclock I would recommend 850 watts or more.

Thank you, that's a great point. I'd be taking a chance I probably don't need to take with a refurb board.

What I have now is a Rosewill HIVE-750S, which is 750 watt. Will I be able to overclock at all with this power supply on either board?

Am I correct in thinking that for moderate level overclocking I wont benefit much from the MSI board vs the ASUS?

 

[Tradesman1]

No, I'd go with the Asus Z97-A, I've done 9 builds with that mobo and it's a dream to work with, OCs well, handles DRAM well, very good BIOS, runs cool. I myself won't build on MSi due to poor QC, wouldn't even give thought to a refurb mobo of theirs (may have had to be refurbished due exactly to their poor QC 😉 )

 

[nostall]

You have plans for a dynamite video card and CPU. Why put new parts with an unknown board, and with only a 90 day warranty. Go with the ASUS ; if anything bad starts to happen you know that you started with new parts.
Also, you didn't mention power supply, but don't skimp on that either; buy a quality unit from Tier 1 or 2 in this list:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html
AMD recommends a minimum psu of 650 watts and Sapphire recommends 750 watts. and since you intend to overclock I would recommend 850 watts or more.

Thank you, that's a great point. I'd be taking a chance I probably don't need to take with a refurb board.

What I have now is a Rosewill HIVE-750S, which is 750 watt. Will I be able to overclock at all with this power supply on either board?

Am I correct in thinking that for moderate level overclocking I wont benefit much from the MSI board vs the ASUS?

Second question first: You are correct. You probably would not benefit, possibly not even be able to use, the features that are on the MSI board for OCing that are not available on the ASUS board. (That make sense?) Tradesman pretty much points out the good stuff with the ASUS board. Maybe MSI is improving, don't know, but have only used two MSI boards in 16 years, and one failed miserably and took several months to track the problem down to 'the f&^*(%! mobo because of the intermittent failure. I pretty much stay with ASUS. My original M2N32SLI Deluxe DID finally give up the ghost about 3 weeks ago - after 8 years and multiple moves, processors and users.

Power: That HIVE is a tier 3 unit, so might not be dependable once you start overclocking. The Sapphire card, and the R9 series in general, use a lot of power. Somewhere on Tom's there is an article documenting nearly 400watts on, if I recall correctly, an R9-290 under a heavy gaming load. It will probably be o.k., even when gaming, but once you start OCing you will add stress to the PSU.
Try it.
If the machine becomes unstable while overclocked, but becomes stable again when you dial back the OC; I would suspect the PSU first.

UPDATE 5/9/15 2129hrs PDT: Just this then calling it a night. I found at least one article here on power consumption. Note the over 300watt power spike from an R9 290 card in this graph. NO, it doesn't mean the card is bad or no good - just that it can take that much power and that can cause other problem. The whole article is pretty good reading. Something to think about regarding power and PSU's.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-card-power-supply-balance,3979-2.html

 

[Benja81]

Thank you both, I believe I'll go with the ASUS board and one of the PSUs from that list before I try any major overclocking. Since I might as well plan ahead, how many watts would you recommend for a crossfire in addition to a moderate/high cpu overclock? In case I decide to pickup another 290x in the future.

 

[Tradesman1]

I'd look to a good 850 or so

 

[nostall]

Per this site and their chart, I would look at a 1000 - 1200 watt unit if you are thinking of Crossfire
http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm
Possibly the best bang for the buck right now in that power range is the EVGA PS, GS and P2, and G2 units.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=Search
Not a bad price;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G28N5238
Though the price difference is pretty hefty, the power requirements drop quite a bit, as will heat from your PC, if you go with an Nvidia GTX970 or 980. Something to consider.

 

[Tradesman1]

Think you'll find RealHardTech, estimates very high, JohnnyGuru and most others recommend 800 - I like a little extra, have run both my 290Xs (Matrix, and HIS water cooled) just fine on both a Thermal Take Smart M 850 and a Antec Gamer 900 OCed with no problems and that's running a 4770K at 4.8. As I said though a 'Good' 850, not something that is 850 peak and only showing 700 or the like on the 12 volt 😉

 

[nostall]

Think you'll find RealHardTech, estimates very high, JohnnyGuru and most others recommend 800 - I like a little extra, have run both my 290Xs (Matrix, and HIS water cooled) just fine on both a Thermal Take Smart M 850 and a Antec Gamer 900 OCed with no problems and that's running a 4770K at 4.8. As I said though a 'Good' 850, not something that is 850 peak and only showing 700 or the like on the 12 volt 😉

Thanks for that information, I will keep that in mind for future reference. I know the card manufactures usually estimate on the high end, but thought RHT was using more accurate measurements.
Benja81 -- Tradesman1 has the answer.

 

[Tradesman1]

I think they simply look at the advertised Watts, since so many now advertise the PSU at it's ppeak and total for the PSU, where with the base system, one really needs the attention to the 12 volt rail(s)