Asus Z97-P vs MSI Z97 U3 Plus

[Raiden60]

Basically want to know which is better. My pros for both boards so far are:

Asus:

Great UEFI BIOS

 

MSI:

Crossfire capability

 

I'll probably be able to live with the crossfire incapability, and the Z97-P is cheaper, but what do you think? Which is better?

[VincentiusIV]

ASUS is love, ASUS is life

[NeatSquidYT]

I personally love Click BIOS 3.

[Raiden60]

I personally love Click BIOS 3.

I might want to mention that this will be my first build and first time overclocking. Which one is more intuitive? I do know how to OC btw

[NeatSquidYT]

I might want to mention that this will be my first build and first time overclocking. Which one is more intuitive? I do know how to OC btw

Not sure, but the first time I OCd, I had no troubles with it.

[NumLock21]

Both those boards support CFX but it runs at x16/x4 which is not something you want. What you want is the pcie lanes to be spread evenly like x8/x8

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Motherboard: Asus Z97-E ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $99.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-12 14:18 EDT-0400

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Motherboard: Asus Z97-E/USB3.1 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($128.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $128.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-12 14:20 EDT-0400

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($112.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $112.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-12 14:20 EDT-0400

[Raiden60]

Both those boards support CFX but it runs at x16/x4 which is not something you want. What you want is the pcie lanes to be spread evenly like x8/x8

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Motherboard: Asus Z97-E ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($99.99 @ NCIX US)

Total: $99.99

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-12 14:18 EDT-0400

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Motherboard: Asus Z97-E/USB3.1 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($128.99 @ Amazon)

Total: $128.99

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-12 14:20 EDT-0400

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($112.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $112.99

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-12 14:20 EDT-0400

Why do the PCIe lanes need to be spread out like that? Also, the Z97-P does not have CFX compatibility. I checked multiple times.

[NumLock21]

Why do the PCIe lanes need to be spread out like that? Also, the Z97-P does not have CFX compatibility. I checked multiple times.

So CFX can run at a balance setup. This is why SLI requires a minimum of x8 by x8. AMD is more flexible where you can run at x16 by x4, but the 2nd card is crippled by the limited number of PCIe lanes. Some high-end Z97 board with a PLX chip lets cards run at x16 by x16. Now if you got 2 GTX 980s, I doubt you want the 2nd card be crippled at x4.

[Raiden60]

So CFX can run at a balance setup. This is why SLI requires a minimum of x8 by x8. AMD is more flexible where you can run at x16 by x4, but the 2nd card is crippled by the limited number of PCIe lanes. Some high-end Z97 board with a PLX chip lets cards run at x16 by x16. Now if you got 2 GTX 980s, I doubt you want the 2nd card be crippled at x4.

Keep in mind that I'm not gonna be running top of the line cards in CFX, maybe a 260X, maybe not at all. For the single card though, it'll act fine, won't it? And what about M.2?

[NumLock21]

Keep in mind that I'm not gonna be running top of the line cards in CFX, maybe a 260X, maybe not at all. For the single card though, it'll act fine, won't it? And what about M.2?

For a single card it's fine as it will run at x16. M.2? Just find a board that has it, no difference between any of the Z97 boards.