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AnsweredWhats the big difference between the Z97 and Z87 classy boards?

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zophar
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2015/04/18 05:46:38 (permalink)
Ok, I'm getting a test bench from a forum member. I'm not going to tear down my full tower and swap everything over due to it not supporting enough radiator space for my X99 system. So I had decided I was going to pick up a B-stock Z97 classy board. Well last night I got EVGA's news letter and they had a link to their spring cleaning sale. In that sale they have the Z87 Classy board with the full 3 year warranty for $99, instead of $160 for the B-stock Z97 with 1 year warranty. So my question is, what are the main differences? Obviously the chipset, but am I missing something else? Just trying to wrap my head around this so I make the right decision. Which right now would seem to be the Z87 board due to warranty length.


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    _JamesR
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    Re: Whats the big difference between the Z97 and Z87 classy boards? 2015/04/18 06:38:40 (permalink) ☼ Best Answerby zophar 2015/04/18 08:35:50
    The Z97 has an updated chipset revision. Plus, the Z97 series has a more streamlined UEFI BIOS interface. There are a few other differences, but they end up being pretty minor. Also, the Z87 had built-in Bluetooth. 
    post edited by EVGATech_JoeyC - 2015/04/18 07:23:12

    EVGA Z97 Classified w/ i7 4790 | 32GB Crucial Ballistix Elite | 2x EVGA GTX 980 Ti ACX 2.0 | EVGA 1000w G2 | Samsung EVO 840 120GB | Samsung 850 EVO 250GB | Seagate 3TB | 3x WD 2TB (Raid-5) | Corsair H100i GTX | 3x Asus VS278P-Q 27" 1080p 1ms GTG monitor (surround) | 1 Monoprice 28" 4K 5ms GTG (accessory)
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    zophar
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    Re: Whats the big difference between the Z97 and Z87 classy boards? 2015/04/18 07:20:34 (permalink)
    EVGATech_JamesR
    The Z97 will support Broadwell (5th gen) CPUs when they're released. Plus, the Z97 series has a more streamlined UEFI BIOS interface. There are a few other differences, but they end up being pretty minor. Also, the Z87 had built-in Bluetooth. 



    I see. Thank you for the reply Mr. James, I really appreciate it. I don't have much of a need to go main stream with this machine so I'll probably just go with the Z87. I don't think my wallet could afford another mainstream build anyway after going X99 with 5930K in my build.


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    RainStryke
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    Re: Whats the big difference between the Z97 and Z87 classy boards? 2015/04/18 15:18:32 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby zophar 2015/04/18 17:33:58
    M.2 support is about the only thing worth mentioning going from Z87 to Z97 for most manufacturers. But I am not seeing M.2 support on EVGA's Z97 boards, nothing listed officially at least. The only problem you might have with Z87 boards is lack of CPU support for the latest devil's canyon processors if you don't have the latest BIOS. You might need to purchase a Celeron 1820 off eBay to get it updated before it recognizes your processor if it's not up to date.
     
    I would definitely go with the Z87 board. I did the same thing, but I got mine on a super deal through microcenter. I got my MSI Z87 MPOWER MAX for $40 after I purchased a i7 4790K for $279. Luckily my board all ready had the BIOS that supported devil's canyon processors.
     

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    the_Scarlet_one
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    Re: Whats the big difference between the Z97 and Z87 classy boards? 2015/04/18 15:29:46 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby zophar 2015/04/18 17:34:01
    Rain nailed my point with the m.2. The m.2 on the z97 is between lane 4 and 5. Not sure what it supports, but I would just go for the 3 year warranty over the 1 year, personally.
    post edited by Scarlet-Tech - 2015/04/18 15:32:27


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    zophar
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    Re: Whats the big difference between the Z97 and Z87 classy boards? 2015/04/18 17:36:32 (permalink)
    Thanks all. No need for m.2 for this build. And I decided that the 3 year warranty was worth more than the ability to run the latest 1150 CPU's. Now to wait until Monday so sales can call me and verify my info because I ship to work and Bill to my home address. You would think after a couple times they would just save that info in their system so they didn't have to call every time.


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    RainStryke
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    Re: Whats the big difference between the Z97 and Z87 classy boards? 2015/04/18 17:50:03 (permalink)
    To be honest, the broadwell processors are just a die drop... Performance difference is maybe 10-15% faster at the same clock speeds. BUT the problem is, a i7 4790K is stock 4.0GHz with 4.4GHz boost while the new i7 5775C is stock 3.3GHz with a 3.7GHz boost. I see no reason for anyone to really want to make the move over to broadwell unless they plan on using the Iris 6200 IGP to game on or something.
     
    http://www.techpowerup.co...0-broadwell-parts.html

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