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New build time again: Budget Z97 board

So my MSI gaming board blew up my 8350, sold my i5 and i7 PCs because I needed a new car, so I'm going with a budget motherboard, the choices I've got:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00K8KLPJC/?tag=pcp0f-21

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asrock-z97-anniversary-intel-z97-s1150-ddr3-pcie-30-(x16)-hdmi-atx

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-z97-p-intel-z97-motherboard-s1150-ddr3-pcie-30-(x16)-m2-d-sub-(vga)-dvi-d-hdmi-atx

I'm not overly happy with the MSI as I've had issues with them last year, Asrock I've had before but not for a long time so no idea on how good that board will be.

The ASUS I'm only interested in IF I can turn off fans/the bios is as good as people say. My limit for a board is about £70 so it doesn't leave much choice.

I have an GTX 970 to go with the CPU (either a 4460/4590/4670k)

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Only the amazon link work. Msi make great motherboard i take them over asrock.

Mainboard:ROG-STRIX-B360-G-GAMING/Cpu:I5 8400 /Gpu: Galax RTX 2070 /Ram: Corsair Vengeance 16 GB DDR4/ Storage:1TB HDD 2 Corsair SSD PSU : Corsair 550W/Cooling: Silverstone Air Cooler/ / Case : Corsair/Keyboard:Razer Chroma TKL/Mouse:Mionix Castor+Steelseries Qck Mass/Headphone:V Moda M100 

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http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-z97kcsm

 

Over budget but worth it. The Asus BIOS is as good as they say it is. It'll even overclock your CPU for you if you want. MSI is good, I don't know why that happened. Definitely a 4690K if you can afford it. 

 My Buyer’s Guide!   

Build:                                               

CPU: Intel Core i5 4690K Cooler: Cryorig R1 Ultimate RAM: Kingston Fury White Series 8GB SSD: OCZ 100 ARC 240GB HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition Graphics Card: Powercolor PCS+ R9 390 Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro (White) Power Supply: EVGA G2 750W Monitor: LG 29UM67-P 29" 21:9 Freesync Sexiness Mouse: Razer Deathadder ChromKeyboard: Razer Blackwidow 2014 Headset: Turtle Beach Ear Force XP400

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http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-z97kcsm

Over budget but worth it. The Asus BIOS is as good as they say it is. It'll even overclock your CPU for you if you want. MSI is good, I don't know why that happened. Definitely a 4690K if you can afford it.

Keep in mind, OP, that it's only worth it if you're OC'ing. Otherwise I would recommend the 4690/4590/4460. If you're not going to be OC'ing, may a recommend an H97? The Asrock H97 Pro4 is great, and I believe the Gigabyte H97 HD3 is also another great board. Though I trust the Asrock board more. Keep in mind the HD3 supports 1333/1600MHz ram also.

PC and Peripherals:

Intel Core i3 4150 @3.5GHz - ASRock H97M Anniversary - Kingston Fury HyperX Black 8GB DDR3 @1866MHz - Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 G1 Gaming 2GB GDDR5 - EVGA 500W 80+ Certified - WD Caviar Blue 1TB - WD Caviar Blue 160GB - Lian Li PC-50 - Linux Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS - Acer P221w 21.5" 1680x1050 60Hz - Kingston Fury HyperX Clouds - Razer Deathadder 3.5G - CM Storm Quickfire Rapid w/ Cherry MX Blues

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i must admit ASROCK more than MSI.. have NO issues with asrock, i use ASUS in all my private builds, but used ascrock for a lot of budget builds for friends, you get a lot for the money, compared to ASUS i can move a tier up, and get a better chipset for the same price.

 

no issues with quality... fan controllers and so on..

 

MSI / Gigabyte for me has been defective boards and a awful support (haven´t had defective ASUS products but heard their support aren´t that great either) but from a pc seller friend, i heard that asrock just replaces without to much fuzz, and they actually se them as the easiest producer to work with...

 

but thats here in scandinavia .

 

so i would go with the Z97 Anniv board, from asrock i can see its around 60 pounds .. DAMN boards are cheap in the UK

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Only the amazon link work. Msi make great motherboard i take them over asrock.

Try now

Keep in mind, OP, that it's only worth it if you're OC'ing. Otherwise I would recommend the 4690/4590/4460. If you're not going to be OC'ing, may a recommend an H97? The Asrock H97 Pro4 is great, and I believe the Gigabyte H97 HD3 is also another great board. Though I trust the Asrock board more. Keep in mind the HD3 supports 1333/1600MHz ram also.

H97 are the same prices by a few pennies but thanks

i must admit ASROCK more than MSI.. have NO issues with asrock, i use ASUS in all my private builds, but used ascrock for a lot of budget builds for friends, you get a lot for the money, compared to ASUS i can move a tier up, and get a better chipset for the same price.

no issues with quality... fan controllers and so on..

MSI / Gigabyte for me has been defective boards and a awful support (haven´t had defective ASUS products but heard their support aren´t that great either) but from a pc seller friend, i heard that asrock just replaces without to much fuzz, and they actually se them as the easiest producer to work with...

but thats here in scandinavia .

so i would go with the Z97 Anniv board, from asrock i can see its around 60 pounds .. DAMN boards are cheap in the UK

yeah but the processors fluctuate in price a lot, the 4690k was £165 a week ago now its floating £180 - £200. I'm only looking at the 4670k because my wife has about £35 of vouchers.
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Try now

H97 are the same prices by a few pennies but thanks yeah but the processors fluctuate in price a lot, the 4690k was £165 a week ago now its floating £180 - £200. I'm only looking at the 4670k because my wife has about £35 of vouchers.

True, but why spend

even 5 extra for just the OC'ing features? I understand some z97's have better quality, but for something actually worth it, you'd want to stretch your money. Otherwise you're just wasting money if you're not OC'ing.

PC and Peripherals:

Intel Core i3 4150 @3.5GHz - ASRock H97M Anniversary - Kingston Fury HyperX Black 8GB DDR3 @1866MHz - Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 G1 Gaming 2GB GDDR5 - EVGA 500W 80+ Certified - WD Caviar Blue 1TB - WD Caviar Blue 160GB - Lian Li PC-50 - Linux Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS - Acer P221w 21.5" 1680x1050 60Hz - Kingston Fury HyperX Clouds - Razer Deathadder 3.5G - CM Storm Quickfire Rapid w/ Cherry MX Blues

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True, but why spend

even 5 extra for just the OC'ing features? I understand some z97's have better quality, but for something actually worth it, you'd want to stretch your money. Otherwise you're just wasting money if you're not OC'ing.

depending on when I buy the z97 boards are the same price if not cheaper.

The ASUS board I don't want for OCing but the fan control and BIOS.

MSI's BIOS is disappointing.

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It depends what is important to you but here are the differences that I see that would matter:

 

MSI: Best on paper. Only one with 2 USB 3 headers.  Has 1 more PCI slot than the others but it will be blocked by a graphics card so doesn't really matter.

 

Asus: Good bios.  Only has 4 SATA ports when the other two have 6.

 

ASRock: No M.2 port like the other two boards have.

Fractal Design Define R5 | i7-4790k | Corsair H80 | Asus Z97-Pro WiFi | 2 x EVGA GTX 970 SSC+ | 16GB G.Skill Sniper@1866MHz | Samsung 840 Evo 256 GB | 1TB + 750GB drives | EVGA 750W G2 | 27" BenQ IPS 1440p@60Hz | Windows 10

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depending on when I buy the z97 boards are the same price if not cheaper.

The ASUS board I don't want for OCing but the fan control and BIOS.

MSI's BIOS is disappointing.

Yes but what if the H97 has better quality than that board?

PC and Peripherals:

Intel Core i3 4150 @3.5GHz - ASRock H97M Anniversary - Kingston Fury HyperX Black 8GB DDR3 @1866MHz - Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 G1 Gaming 2GB GDDR5 - EVGA 500W 80+ Certified - WD Caviar Blue 1TB - WD Caviar Blue 160GB - Lian Li PC-50 - Linux Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS - Acer P221w 21.5" 1680x1050 60Hz - Kingston Fury HyperX Clouds - Razer Deathadder 3.5G - CM Storm Quickfire Rapid w/ Cherry MX Blues

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Yes but what if the H97 has better quality than that board?

What the hell are you on about?
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What the hell are you on about?

I'm saying that not all z97's are great, and for a balanced build, it could be better to possibly get something along the lines of a Pro4. Depends on what you buy though really.

PC and Peripherals:

Intel Core i3 4150 @3.5GHz - ASRock H97M Anniversary - Kingston Fury HyperX Black 8GB DDR3 @1866MHz - Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 G1 Gaming 2GB GDDR5 - EVGA 500W 80+ Certified - WD Caviar Blue 1TB - WD Caviar Blue 160GB - Lian Li PC-50 - Linux Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS - Acer P221w 21.5" 1680x1050 60Hz - Kingston Fury HyperX Clouds - Razer Deathadder 3.5G - CM Storm Quickfire Rapid w/ Cherry MX Blues

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I'm saying that not all z97's are great, and for a balanced build, it could be better to possibly get something along the lines of a Pro4. Depends on what you buy though really.

Ah I get you now, the issue is catch 22 tho, I have a limited budget due to a string of bad luck this year.

I either buy a 4690k and a budget board or a midrange board and a locked i5.

If anything it makes sense to buy the 4690k now and upgrade to a better board at a later date.

As for H97 and Z97, take the MSI PC Mate board. The are the exact same price, the issue is I'm not sure (like the boards I've had in the past) if the bios is limited or if they set the voltage on variable or static etc.

The PRO4 is £20 more expensive which would mean the by 4690k would be out of range.

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