buying Z97/X99 ATX / eATX - what mobo do I get?

[Cheddle]

I have an mATX z87 Gryphon currently. I want to upgrade to full ATX or even eATX for future SLIing and expansion cards and to take advantage of 5th gens.

 

I am not 100% sure if I want to stay with 1150 or go to 2011-v3 - I ONLY game on my machine and watch media, I use it for work but its all via citrix so NONE of the work is done locally...

 

I need something with SLI and good spacing between the two high speed SLI slots 

 

Other none-essential but nice to haves are 8 sata 3 ports. heaps of USB 3.0 ports and AC wireless onboard. something with a REAL soundcard built in would be nice as I digital out straight to a 7.1 receiver.

 

the problem is I am spoilt for choice.... 

 

What do you think is a good choice in the Z97 chipset range, and should I consider x99? if x99 I would get a 5820k and 32gb ddr4

[kameshss]

Get a Z97 if you are only into gaming!

Asus Z97-PRO(Wi-Fi ac) suits your need!

 

or 

 

Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming G1 WIFI-BK

[Cheddle]

Get a Z97 if you are only into gaming!

Asus Z97-PRO(Wi-Fi ac) suits your need!

 

or 

 

Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming G1 WIFI-BK

 

Cant find a G1 gaming via my fav retailer...

 

this one

 

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_1491&products_id=27541

 

seems like a good choice. but 

 

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_1491&products_id=29802

 

is cheaper but drops the Wifi

[Cheddle]

What about the Gaming 7 as oposed to the G1 

 

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_1491&products_id=27513

[WoodenMarker]

I would save upgrading for later when you are going to sli instead of preemptively upgrading. 

[Cheddle]

I would save upgrading for later when you are going to sli instead of preemptively upgrading. 

 

good advice. 

 

I have the chance to score a mobo as a Christmas gift, asking for another card is a bit of a stretch :-P... given there isn't likely to be a platform change until late 2015/2016 I don't see the harm in pre-emptively going down this path without the second card yet.

 

If my current mobo could take two cards without spacing issues I wouldn't bother replacing it.

 

im so confused though...

 

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_1491&products_id=27642 - $179 - Gigabyte gaming 3

 

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_1491&products_id=27513 - $239 - Gigabyte gaming 7

 

I cant really see a big difference between these boards :-s

[WoodenMarker]

 

good advice. 

I have the chance to score a mobo as a Christmas gift, asking for another card is a bit of a stretch :-P... given there isn't likely to be a platform change until late 2015/2016 I don't see the harm in pre-emptively going down this path without the second card yet.

 

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_1491&products_id=27642 - $179 - Gigabyte gaming 3

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_1491&products_id=27513 - $239 - Gigabyte gaming 7

I cant really see a big difference between these boards :-s

In that case, it doesn't really matter what board you get as long as it supports sli and is z97. The rest of the features can be up to you. Things like 'built in sound card stuff' doesn't actually make that much of a difference from other boards of the same chipset. The Gaming 7 has more bells and whistles like more sata ports, a killer nic, and a bunch of other things like an extra fan header. 

[Cheddle]

 

 

In that case, it doesn't really matter what board you get as long as it supports sli and is z97. The rest of the features can be up to you. Things like 'built in sound card stuff' doesn't actually make that much of a difference from other boards of the same chipset. The Gaming 7 has more bells and whistles like more sata ports, a killer nic, and a bunch of other things like an extra fan header. 

 

 

Do I need to be worried about a "lemon" board or any particular speced boards that are bad value for money? 

 

ATX and SLI are my two main concerns. a real sound card is important to me as my onboard realtek thing on the Z87 only outputs 2 channels in games, not 7.1

[WoodenMarker]

Do I need to be worried about a "lemon" board or any particular speced boards that are bad value for money? 

ATX and SLI are my two main concerns. a real sound card is important to me as my onboard realtek thing on the Z87 only outputs 2 channels in games, not 7.1

Prices vary so you can always potentially get a bad deal.

Your current board should support 7.1 just fine--what are you using for audio and is it correctly plugged in?

[kameshss]

Get whatever is cheaper!

A SLI and good onboard audio means get ASUS Z97-PRO GAMER and add a internal wifi to it!

[SystemSpectre98]

evga z97 classified asus z97-a /deluxe / ws msi z97s sli krait edition

[Cheddle]

Prices vary so you can always potentially get a bad deal.

Your current board should support 7.1 just fine--what are you using for audio and is it correctly plugged in?

 

using digital out to a DTS/ dolby receiver... plays blue-rays and movies correctly but games are only 2-channel

 

Get whatever is cheaper!

A SLI and good onboard audio means get ASUS Z97-PRO GAMER and add a internal wifi to it!

 

Leaning towards the Pro wifi/ac board over the gamer - even though the price difference is there -  it has more pcie and no pci, built in wifi and looks like it has more hardcore power supply to the CPU? not that it matters on my current cpu... thinking ahead.

[WoodenMarker]

using digital out to a DTS/ dolby receiver... plays blue-rays and movies correctly but games are only 2-channel

That issue is probably due to the games and not the motherboard.

[Najuno]

The thing is you need to make sure to find out what you want the most. If it´s just gaming, browsing and 'normal' usage of the computer and if your intensions with SLI/CF never go beyond a 2way setup, then I´d probably go with a Z97 mainboard and get an unlocked Broadwell CPU in the future. This won´t be too pricey and it´s very planable due to the fact that you could buy that hardware piece by piece at the time.

 

Now the other side of the coin X99. For me as enthusiast there´s only one way to go. If you want the best for what ever you have in your mind you need the enthusiast/extreme grade hardware. For me it was clear, for I know how PLX works, that a 3way SLI requires a powerful base. And if you want to go a bit more (for you seem to like benchmarking a lot) into extreme when it comes to benchmarking an Asus X99 + i7 5820K might be the better, though more expensive, route for you.

And don´t forget we´ll see Broadwell E as well and it´s almost certain that it will fit on 2011-V3.

[Sintezza]

The thing is you need to make sure to find out what you want the most. If it´s just gaming, browsing and 'normal' usage of the computer and if your intensions with SLI/CF never go beyond a 2way setup, then I´d probably go with a Z97 mainboard and get an unlocked Broadwell CPU in the future. This won´t be too pricey and it´s very planable due to the fact that you could buy that hardware piece by piece at the time.

 

Now the other side of the coin X99. For me as enthusiast there´s only one way to go. If you want the best for what ever you have in your mind you need the enthusiast/extreme grade hardware. For me it was clear, for I know how PLX works, that a 3way SLI requires a powerful base. And if you want to go a bit more (for you seem to like benchmarking a lot) into extreme when it comes to benchmarking an Asus X99 + i7 5820K might be the better, though more expensive, route for you.

And don´t forget we´ll see Broadwell E as well and it´s almost certain that it will fit on 2011-V3.

 

For gaming  X99 is a total waste of money.

[Najuno]

For gaming  X99 is a total waste of money.

Did you even read my poste? And the 'it´s a total waste of money' argument is not true, if you go the route of an enthusiast with more than 2 GPUs than why again is it a waste of money, when you want the best for 4K?

[Cheddle]

The thing is you need to make sure to find out what you want the most. If it´s just gaming, browsing and 'normal' usage of the computer and if your intensions with SLI/CF never go beyond a 2way setup, then I´d probably go with a Z97 mainboard and get an unlocked Broadwell CPU in the future. This won´t be too pricey and it´s very planable due to the fact that you could buy that hardware piece by piece at the time.

 

Now the other side of the coin X99. For me as enthusiast there´s only one way to go. If you want the best for what ever you have in your mind you need the enthusiast/extreme grade hardware. For me it was clear, for I know how PLX works, that a 3way SLI requires a powerful base. And if you want to go a bit more (for you seem to like benchmarking a lot) into extreme when it comes to benchmarking an Asus X99 + i7 5820K might be the better, though more expensive, route for you.

And don´t forget we´ll see Broadwell E as well and it´s almost certain that it will fit on 2011-V3.

 

Well I really do like benchmarking a lot... haha... though I am not sure I like it enough to go beyond 2 way SLI... given that the card is $800 aud and the platform upgrade is a good $1000... 

 

I dont really want to spend more than another $1000 on my rig - I could just buy a Z97 ATX and another gtx980 for $1000 and get where I want to be (gaming @ 4k at 60fps) or I could spend that $1000 on swapping to x99.

 

the change to x99 would give me very little benefit (compared to the added gtx980) for gaming.  sure it would improve my 3dmark score and get that redonculous epeen going on  :-P but I would still want to spend another $800 on another gtx980... 

 

-----

 

so in conclusion I am ruling out x99 - even though when my friend buys it (in feb) it will troll the crap out of me.

 

I think the Asrock Z97 Extreme9 is where I will go - it is a z97, has a PLX chip, lacks wifi but ticks the other boxes