Z97 or Z87?

[pm4]

Hello

I got question about new Z97, is it worth waiting for it, or generally should I get new Z97 when available or stick with Z87? Some shops already list Z97, but in local shops I plan to use they are bit lazy/slow to get new stuff, or just want to sell out older items before they would be forced to sell them for less.

Some main features for Z97 should be support of SATAe (not all boards have it) and it should if I'm right support both Haswell Refresh and Broadwell.

But new CPUs wont be here for some time and I guess I probably wont upgrade anyway right to new CPU if my i7-4770k will be working fine. And I'm not sure if there are any consumer SATAe SSD these days and if prices wont be just extremely high for those few new which we can expect.

Are these 2 features worth it?
Or I'm missing some other nice key feature Z97 should have?

 

[Danbuscus25]

if you plan on upgrading your cpu to one from the intel refresh or broadwell, then get the z97. if you plan on staying with haswell, z87 is fine.

 

[firo40]

Z97 should overclock better aswell newer chipsets tend to. I would recommend getting Z97 now that its out there is no point getting an older chipset unless you have to

 

[pm4]

As you will have noticed by recent board prices it takes 6 months for sensible price tags on new chipsets. It just comes down to can you wait?
I cant see any reason to hold off as that cpu and platform will be good for 5 years or more anyway.

Well when I looked many Z97 on newegg got same price tag as Z87 version. I guess Z87 will quickly go down with price and Z97 will just replace them. Mainly I'm interested in Z97 Sabertooth, not sure yet if Mark 1 or Mark 2, but more expensive mark 1 got same price tag around 250 usd as current Z87 Sabertooth. I hope local shop will copy that price, but so far they were not been able to answer even when they will be getting Z97 boards.

EDIT:
Guess I ll try to get new Z97 if it will be here by time I'll be buying my new build. If no will just go with good old Z87.

 

[Tradesman1]

Yep I'd go the Z97, they are due to be released the 11th of this month (NewEgg is taking preorders on many of the models), will OC bettter and handle temps (heat better), on many additional SATA and USB...am planning to pick up the new version of my Hero and maybe do a 4690K build with the refresh K CPU

 

[arrowshoot]

Yep I'd go the Z97, they are due to be released the 11th of this month (NewEgg is taking preorders on many of the models), will OC bettter and handle temps (heat better), on many additional SATA and USB...am planning to pick up the new version of my Hero and maybe do a 4690K build with the refresh K CPU

makes sense to go for Z97 if prices are at the same level. New always means better, but new almost always means higher price..

 

[Tradesman1]

Generally yes, the Z97 Hero is based $20 higher the version Z87 model, but the Z87 came out $20 higher than it is now so basically the same....

 

[pm4]

Local store I want to use just listed Z97 Sabertooth Mark1 just 5 euro higher than older Z87 Sabertooth. It's still just preorder but with such price it's sure I get it. It's very nice that new Z97 have pricing as older Z87 so people won't need to decide if to pay extra for new chipset or stick with older.

 

[Tradesman1]

Makes sense to me, let us know how you like it 😉