Z97 or H97 for my build?

[Trivecta]

Hey LTT Forums,

 

     I am planning on making my first build quite soon! I have a 750$ budget and I am going Intel for the cpu, in particular and i5 4590. The trouble I am having is which series of motherboard I should pick. My original idea was to get a z97 board right off the bat so I could upgrade my non-overclockable cpu down the line (~6-12 months that is). However, z97 boards tend to be much more expensive then h97 boards, so I would be forced to get a lower end GPU. Is it worth the future upgradeability to get a z97 off the bat? Or will it be old news by the time I am ready to upgrade? If I were to get an h97 board, I would be able to fit a GTX 970. If I were to get a z97 board I would have to downgrade to an r9 280x or a GTX 960. Please help me out with your opinions. My other components going into the rig will be listed below

 

RAM - 8 GB Kingston HyperX Black Edition

HDD - WD Caviar Blue 1 TB HDD

Case - NZXT S340 

PSU - EVGA 600B 600w PSU

 

[hypnodog]

Go with H97 since the 4590 is locked so you can't overclock it.

[mikat]

Hey LTT Forums,

 

     I am planning on making my first build quite soon! I have a 750$ budget and I am going Intel for the cpu, in particular and i5 4590. The trouble I am having is which series of motherboard I should pick. My original idea was to get a z97 board right off the bat so I could upgrade my non-overclockable cpu down the line (~6-12 months that is). However, z97 boards tend to be much more expensive then h97 boards, so I would be forced to get a lower end GPU. Is it worth the future upgradeability to get a z97 off the bat? Or will it be old news by the time I am ready to upgrade? If I were to get an h97 board, I would be able to fit a GTX 970. If I were to get a z97 board I would have to downgrade to an r9 280x or a GTX 960. Please help me out with your opinions. My other components going into the rig will be listed below

 

RAM - 8 GB Kingston HyperX Black Edition

HDD - WD Caviar Blue 1 TB HDD

Case - NZXT S340 

PSU - EVGA 600B 600w PSU

H97, Z97 is for overclocking, H97 is Z97 - overclocking and since you dont have a k series cpu you won't be overclocking anyway

[niofalpha]

H97. Upgrading to an overclockable CPU would give no benefit in most tasks. H97 would save you some cash

 

Or if you don't mind a Bios update you could get a H/Z87 and save more.

@Trivecta

[KING OF SCOTLAND]

Is this the actual Trivecta

[Clyne]

H81 or B85, the difference between chipsets in the locked range is just more ports, like sata, usb. 

[TheAmazingCookieFromSquare]

Go with H97 since the 4590 is locked so you can't overclock it.

[,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,]

Get a H97, overclocking is fun but having a better GPU is worth it.

[mroz10]

H81

[Trivecta]

Thank you all for the help

[Captain_WD]

Hey LTT Forums,

 

     I am planning on making my first build quite soon! I have a 750$ budget and I am going Intel for the cpu, in particular and i5 4590. The trouble I am having is which series of motherboard I should pick. My original idea was to get a z97 board right off the bat so I could upgrade my non-overclockable cpu down the line (~6-12 months that is). However, z97 boards tend to be much more expensive then h97 boards, so I would be forced to get a lower end GPU. Is it worth the future upgradeability to get a z97 off the bat? Or will it be old news by the time I am ready to upgrade? If I were to get an h97 board, I would be able to fit a GTX 970. If I were to get a z97 board I would have to downgrade to an r9 280x or a GTX 960. Please help me out with your opinions. My other components going into the rig will be listed below

 

RAM - 8 GB Kingston HyperX Black Edition

HDD - WD Caviar Blue 1 TB HDD

Case - NZXT S340 

PSU - EVGA 600B 600w PSU

Hey Trivecta,

 

As the guys explained, the Z97 type supports multiple GPUs and the ability to OC the CPU. Since you have a non-overclockable CPU, I would go with the H97 to save some money and afford a better GPU. The better GPU would have much more impact on gaming than the motherboard or an overclockable CPU.

 

Captain_WD.

[Trivecta]

Thanks for the response @Captai_WD. And maybe I am @KING OF SCOTLAND

[asusfan]

Hey LTT Forums,

 

     I am planning on making my first build quite soon! I have a 750$ budget and I am going Intel for the cpu, in particular and i5 4590. The trouble I am having is which series of motherboard I should pick. My original idea was to get a z97 board right off the bat so I could upgrade my non-overclockable cpu down the line (~6-12 months that is). However, z97 boards tend to be much more expensive then h97 boards, so I would be forced to get a lower end GPU. Is it worth the future upgradeability to get a z97 off the bat? Or will it be old news by the time I am ready to upgrade? If I were to get an h97 board, I would be able to fit a GTX 970. If I were to get a z97 board I would have to downgrade to an r9 280x or a GTX 960. Please help me out with your opinions. My other components going into the rig will be listed below

 

RAM - 8 GB Kingston HyperX Black Edition

HDD - WD Caviar Blue 1 TB HDD

Case - NZXT S340 

PSU - EVGA 600B 600w PSU

can you give us a full rundown on the specs and needs you require. what you intend to use it for etc.

I can see what you mean about getting a Z-series m/board and just put a non k cpu in it and later on you can just do a swap out and not have to change m/board and do a full re-install etc. so if i was you i would push to get a z-series now, even if its a Z87 and if you can't afford a gtx 970 after that then save until you can or try to cut down on other components. 

the non k cpu should be fine if you want just games and you can get away with cooling with a nice Zalman air cooled cpu cooler at about 20 - 30 bucks so save on that and put it all in your m/board & GPU. you can also save money and get performance by getting a single SSHD (hybrid drive) as it will still be quick transfer rates and good boot speeds. 

you can get pretty good 50 bucks cases now to. 

if your really stretched you can get perfectly good working re-furbished Z87 m/boards for a good price.  look on newegg 

[Trivecta]

Holy moly that was a nice response @asusfan I will look into a z87 board possibly. Also I have run out of places to cut down. The cas is only 60$ and it is my favorite looking so I honestly don't want to change it. 8gb of ram is needed. And the PSU is the lowest I can go. I just want to run games at 1080p 50-60 fps on high-ultra settings. Also may be doing some mild video editing and rendering.

[jorik.wittevrongel]

Go with H97 since the 4590 is locked so you can't overclock it.

Yes do that!

[asusfan]

have you found a m/board now? and what price and form factor are you looking for? 

location & total budget?