EVGA

Helpful ReplyWhich Z97 mobo? advice please?

Author
fatuti2
New Member
  • Total Posts : 8
  • Reward points : 0
  • Joined: 2014/01/11 20:54:22
  • Status: offline
  • Ribbons : 0
2015/01/11 17:23:42 (permalink)
I'm basically taking parts from my old system into the new one. New rig is mostly for games. A little photoshop, but nothing more.
 
My current system:
Intel core duo
zalman air cpu cooler
LGA 775 evga 780i mobo
8 gb memory 
SLI evga 580 gtx's
corsair 850w
crucial ssd m500
Wd 1tb hdd
CM scout case
 
I'm upgrading my rig with a i5 4690k devil's canyon. Best price for the performance I think. At least for this new rig. I'll be putting this in a new Fractal Design Arc XL case, Using my Corsair 850w psu, SSD, HDD, a new set of 8gb of DDR3 1600 memory, two of my EVGA 580 gtx gpus. (I might get a CM Hyper 212 and possibly new 970 sli with complete water cooling in the future. Hence the case.) But I still haven't decided on a mobo yet and looking for some advice. 
 
I try to read as many reviews, features I want, price, etc. I'm going with either a EVGA Z97 FTW at $200. Or Asrock Fatal1ty Z97x killer for $157 with $30 rebate currently on newegg. At least these were my top 2. Also looked at a ASUS and gigabyte boards. When I looked up Intel's compatibility, the evga z97 ftw was not on their list. Obviously this board supports socket 1150. I shouldn't worry on that or should I? Despite the price, the reason I may spend the extra money for the EVGA mobo is the support. I do like the reviews on newegg despite having only 16 at the time of this post and averaging 4 eggs. 
 
The Asrock z97x has a really nice review on techpowerup! 9.7\10. In June '14, the price was at $200 and the most critical review was the bios needed updated. SATA express not working. Now, it's  $157 with a $30 rebate. I'm guessing the bios are updated by now. But being new to building a new rig, I don't know how much of a hassle it would be with the bios issues or the support. The 50 reviews gives me a better idea than EVGA's 16.
 
I haven't finished reading the manuals for either of these boards yet. But your 2 cents would be appreciated! What z97 board would you recommend for the system that I'm building? Price range $150 +/- $50.
#1
aka_STEVE_b
EGC Admin
  • Total Posts : 17692
  • Reward points : 0
  • Joined: 2006/02/26 06:45:46
  • Location: OH
  • Status: offline
  • Ribbons : 69
Re: Which Z97 mobo? advice please? 2015/01/11 17:55:04 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby fatuti2 2015/01/11 20:01:49
Well all I can say is that after reading, researching and reviews - I built 2 systems in the past 4 months or so and I chose the ASROCK Z97 . They both are easy to work with, built well, reviewed well & working great.
 
 

AMD RYZEN 9 5900X  12-core cpu~ ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero ~ EVGA RTX 3080 Ti FTW3~ G.SKILL Trident Z NEO 32GB DDR4-3600 ~ Phanteks Eclipse P400s red case ~ EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 G+ PSU ~ Intel 660p M.2 drive~ Crucial MX300 275 GB SSD ~WD 2TB SSD ~CORSAIR H115i RGB Pro XT 280mm cooler ~ CORSAIR Dark Core RGB Pro mouse ~ CORSAIR K68 Mech keyboard ~ HGST 4TB Hd.~ AOC AGON 32" monitor 1440p @ 144Hz ~ Win 10 x64
#2
HRPuffnstuff
FTW Member
  • Total Posts : 1321
  • Reward points : 0
  • Joined: 2007/11/30 11:58:01
  • Status: offline
  • Ribbons : 4
Re: Which Z97 mobo? advice please? 2015/01/11 19:53:13 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby fatuti2 2015/01/11 20:01:52
After the disastrous experience I've had with the z87 and 97 ftw's I am definitely telling you to stay away from them.  I'm very satisfied with my asus maximus hero vii board and its full feature set.  Gigabyte also has some very nice offerings as well that you might also consider.  Whatever you do be sure to install windows in uefi mode for maximum performance.

MSI MEG Z790 ACE, Intel i9 13900k, G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 32gb 6600, ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III 420 ARGB in push/pull, Gigabyte RTX 4090 Gaming OC, EVGA Nu Audio, Samsung 990 & 980 Pro's, WD SN850X & Black hdd, EVGA Supernova 1300 G2, Windows 11 Professional, Thermaltake Level 20 XT w/Antec Prizm X 120mm argb fans
 
 
#3
fatuti2
New Member
  • Total Posts : 8
  • Reward points : 0
  • Joined: 2014/01/11 20:54:22
  • Status: offline
  • Ribbons : 0
Re: Which Z97 mobo? advice please? 2015/01/11 20:01:00 (permalink)
HRPuffnstuff
After the disastrous experience I've had with the z87 and 97 ftw's I am definitely telling you to stay away from them.  I'm very satisfied with my asus maximus hero vii board and its full feature set.  Gigabyte also has some very nice offerings as well that you might also consider.  Whatever you do be sure to install windows in uefi mode for maximum performance.




I was actually looking at the Asus Maximus hero VII as well. Thanks for the tip. 
 
I have my OS cloned to my SSD. Not sure what part of the forums where I could ask, but I simply wanted plug the ssd's with all of my programs already installed and run it on the new motherboard and cpu. Know what section I can post that question in the forums?
 
Edit: Nevermind. I just found a couple of post about it. Looks like I have reintall everything. Otherwise, I'll  have driver issues. And install windows in uefi mode. Thanks!
post edited by fatuti2 - 2015/01/11 20:11:21
#4
Squall_Rinoa86
FTW Member
  • Total Posts : 1735
  • Reward points : 0
  • Joined: 2010/07/26 14:09:48
  • Location: The Empire State -> Hyde Park
  • Status: offline
  • Ribbons : 5
Re: Which Z97 mobo? advice please? 2015/01/11 22:39:57 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby fatuti2 2015/01/11 22:56:18
I'm also enjoying my Maximus VII Hero. This thing has been amazing sense day 1. New bio's have given me some issues however nothing wrong with the 1104 Bio's so if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Not to mention the fact I REALLY REALLY Like AI Suit 3.. It's damn amazing as well as the Dual Intelligent Processors 5 also makes Overclocking a dream. Having the fan xpert 3 stuff as well...love it.

I Strongly recommend the VII Hero.




PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 1300 G2
My Affiliate Code: AN1FW0VMG6
#5
HRPuffnstuff
FTW Member
  • Total Posts : 1321
  • Reward points : 0
  • Joined: 2007/11/30 11:58:01
  • Status: offline
  • Ribbons : 4
Re: Which Z97 mobo? advice please? 2015/01/12 05:21:02 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby fatuti2 2015/01/12 15:00:39
AI Suite 3 is the most comprehensive utility I've seen from a manufacturer....and it works.  E-leet tune was randomly crashing my z97 ftw board back to the bios, and I mean instantly doing it upon launch.  Be sure to register at the ROG forum so you can join in the conversations with other board owners.  In the asus bios is a utility called qfan and if you run it will generate a profile of all fans attached to the mb headers.  Then it will work with ai suite 3 and you will be able to control them each manually or with different profiles.  Then take a look at the board construction itself.  Asus uses 8+2 phase power and doesn't require an additional power connector to the pcie slots plus look at the heatpipe covering them around the cpu socket.  I missed being able to have all of my front panel usb ports connected to the mb and the hero has the headers for them.  With this board I have never had my 4790k go all weird like it did on the z97 ftw, and it has the latest bios on it.  What it did was just slow down performance wise while still showing it was at 4ghz.  Slowed down to slower than my i3 4130 that I swapped onto it just to test things out.  The asus bios is very thorough and offers features that are not available in the evga bios.  When you go to flash your bios there are several ways to do it and it is different than the evga method so pay attention when you do it and do not disturb anything until it has finished.  Asus has developed a way to address each of the 3 bios stages individually and sometimes a flash will address all three and other times it will only address one of the stages.  The manual is detailed and covers everything you need to know about setting up the bios so I suggest that you read it.
 
I still have an old asus 775 striker II formula in service with a q6600 and everything still works on it.  I'm running windows 10 technical build in raid 0 on it.  Asus also offers extended warranties if that is something that interests you.  A lifetime warranty is meaningless to me if the replacements are not as good as the item they are replacing.  Asus is constantly improving their product line and pushing the limits which is why they are the number one supplier of motherboards on the planet with gigabyte a close second.  The other thing that I've spoken about before it still true.  The last time that I was a local retailer with an evga board on the shelf is when CompUSA was still in business.  After TigerDirect took them over the only way that you can get an evga board from them is to order online.  We have two large retail stores here in town and neither of them will put evga motherboards on their shelves as they have been deemed to be problematic.  When I go in there are three brands on the shelves; Asus, Gigabyte and MSI.

MSI MEG Z790 ACE, Intel i9 13900k, G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 32gb 6600, ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III 420 ARGB in push/pull, Gigabyte RTX 4090 Gaming OC, EVGA Nu Audio, Samsung 990 & 980 Pro's, WD SN850X & Black hdd, EVGA Supernova 1300 G2, Windows 11 Professional, Thermaltake Level 20 XT w/Antec Prizm X 120mm argb fans
 
 
#6
fatuti2
New Member
  • Total Posts : 8
  • Reward points : 0
  • Joined: 2014/01/11 20:54:22
  • Status: offline
  • Ribbons : 0
Re: Which Z97 mobo? advice please? 2015/01/13 10:03:46 (permalink)
Thanks for the tips! 
I've downloaded the manual for the ASUS Maximus VII Hero mobo and read up. Plus registered at ROG forums.
#7
CptSpig
SSC Member
  • Total Posts : 736
  • Reward points : 0
  • Joined: 2011/11/21 11:12:11
  • Location: Sunny California
  • Status: offline
  • Ribbons : 1
Re: Which Z97 mobo? advice please? 2015/01/27 11:43:17 (permalink)
You have probably already purchased your board. I have both the EVGA Z87 FTW and Z97 Classified with the 4790K processor. I have never had any problems with either one of these boards.
Hope your happy with whatever you decide to buy. Go take a look at the review of the EVGA Z97 Classified on overclockers http://www.overclockers.com/evga-z97-classified-motherboard-review/




 
#8
8IronBob
Superclocked Member
  • Total Posts : 206
  • Reward points : 0
  • Joined: 2007/11/09 12:08:47
  • Location: Cleveland...The final frontier.
  • Status: offline
  • Ribbons : 0
Re: Which Z97 mobo? advice please? 2015/02/13 19:02:59 (permalink)
I have been eyeing ASUS Sabretooth Z97s as well as the FTWs here, and it does seem that ASUS might be most worth the look...

Galacticus Prime - PC Specs:
Intel i7 4790K
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
ASUS Z97 Maximus VII Hero
Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR3-2400 32GB (4 x 8GB)
EVGA GTX 1080 SC2 iCX
Corsair HX620W PSU
Cooler Master CM Storm Trooper ATX
1 TB Samsung 850 EVO - Boot and Gaming
2 TB Crucial MX300 - Storage/Backup
Pioneer 16x BDR-2209 BD-RE Drive
ASUS ROG Front Base Control Panel
Windows 10 Pro x64
Dell UltraSharp 27" U2718Q
Logitech Z-2300 2.1 THX Speakers
Logitech G710 KB/Logitech G502 Mouse
#9
CptSpig
SSC Member
  • Total Posts : 736
  • Reward points : 0
  • Joined: 2011/11/21 11:12:11
  • Location: Sunny California
  • Status: offline
  • Ribbons : 1
Re: Which Z97 mobo? advice please? 2015/02/14 21:55:03 (permalink)
The Z97 Classified is amazing! I absolutely love mine. I have found the asus boards can't match the speed and overclocking ability of the classified. What ever you get I hope you enjoy your board.




 
#10
Jump to:
  • Back to Mobile