H81 vs H97 for i5 4460/4590

[PierreCCesario]

What are the disadvantages and advantages of each motherboard chipset and which one should I get?

 

Thanks

[pomaranc]

Get cheapest good brand MBO with all the features you need.

[Silverer]

H97 otherwise you need to bios update which requires an older cpu in most cases.

[ker2015]

What are the disadvantages and advantages of each motherboard chipset and which one should I get?

Thanks

H87 seems like the better option unless you are on a big budget. No overclocking though.

[PierreCCesario]

H97 otherwise you need to bios update which requires an older cpu in most cases.

Mmm... I see. I'm looking at the H97 Pro4 by Asrock.

[PierreCCesario]

H87 seems like the better option unless you are on a big budget. No overclocking though.

Yeah, I can't oc anyway because of my CPU but that's fine. The new CPUs coming out by Intel can go onto the 1150 socket right?

[pomaranc]

Mmm... I see. I'm looking at the H97 Pro4 by Asrock.

Most H87 MBOS should have new BIOS alredy and it is not hard to update it either, and also one you will need to upgrade you will need different socket anyway

[ker2015]

Yeah, I can't oc anyway because of my CPU but that's fine. The new CPUs coming out by Intel can go onto the 1150 socket right?

I'm pretty sure.

[PierreCCesario]

Most H87 MBOS should have new BIOS alredy and it is not hard to update it either, and also one you will need to upgrade you will need different socket anyway

I see. I might save some money going that route. The only difference is the support for m.sata drives right?

 

EDIT: My grammar... Jeez.

[i_build_nanosuits]

I see. I might save some money going that route. The only difference is the support for m.sata drives right?

 

EDIT: My grammar... Jeez.

no, has mentionned already, the difference is CPU COMPATIBILITY out of the box only H97 and Z97 motherboard are GUARANTEED to support haswell REFRESH sku's without the need of a BIOS update.

So unless the board you're looking at came out AFTER haswell refresh launched, i wouldnt take the gamble that it will be on a newer BIOS unless you already own a non-refresh chip to perform a bios update if needed.

[NumLock21]

Price difference not much compare to a Z97, then just grab a Z97.

[i_build_nanosuits]

Price difference not much compare to a Z97, then just grab a Z97.

no!

H97 is the chipset for these processors...for the unlocked chips he want Z97 OR if he plan on using dual graphics cards down the road...otherwise, H97 is what you want...or a recently released B85 motherboard would do the trick as well.

[Clyne]

no!

H97 is the chipset for these processors...for the unlocked chips he want Z97 OR if he plan on using dual graphics cards down the road...otherwise, H97 is what you want...or a recently released B85 motherboard would do the trick as well.

Or you could pick up a Z87 board that has one of those BIOS update without the CPU(like asus boards).

Their cheap now since Z97 came out, around 80-120USD for a new/refurbished one for a good board(like Z87-Pro or Sabortooth).

[i_build_nanosuits]

Or you could pick up a Z87 board that has one of those BIOS update without the CPU(like asus boards).

Their cheap now since Z97 came out, around 80-120USD for a new/refurbished one for a good board(like Z87-Pro or Sabortooth).

could be an option if the user has plan on running an SLI or CFX config down the road...it's the only reason why you would want a Z series motherboard paired with a locked processor IMHO.

Side note: Looking at your status: AMD/Fermi Enthusiast ... Kepler/Maxwell Disliker ?!

Is it that you like super power hungry hot running inneficient components or you just have something against efficient top of the line architecture?

Where are you going with this?

[NumLock21]

no!

H97 is the chipset for these processors...for the unlocked chips he want Z97 OR if he plan on using dual graphics cards down the road...otherwise, H97 is what you want...or a recently released B85 motherboard would do the trick as well.

You need to get that idea out of your head, that only unlock CPUs can go with a Z97 chipset. Price difference between Asrock H97 Performance vs Asrock Z97 Extreme 3 is about $18 bucks.

[don_svetlio]

Eh, the 4590 works perfectly with a good H97 board. Don't bother with OCing if you ask me as the stock clocks on the locked chips are already great

[i_build_nanosuits]

You need to get that idea out of your head, that only unlock CPUs can go with a Z97 chipset. Price difference between Asrock H97 Performance vs Asrock Z97 Extreme 3 is about $18 bucks.

yes and the H97 PRO4 or H97 performance are flawless motherboards where as the extreme 3 is a piece of crap full of issues...just look at reviews on newegg and see for yourself...

More often than not the mid-range H97 board or even higher end in the case of something like the H97 performance is a much better board than the lower end Z97...that's all.

It's not all about the chipset.

[SteveGrabowski0]

Advantages of H97 over H81 from most important to least in my opinion:

 

1. All Haswell Refresh CPUs work out of the box. With an H81 board you might need to flash your BIOS before your CPU will work, since the i5-4590 and i5-4460 are both Haswell Refresh CPUs. Sometimes you can do this BIOS flash with just a USB stick, sometimes you'd need to pop in an original Haswell CPU to do. 

 

2. H97 boards usually have more SATA ports. An H81 board will let you do a setup like one SSD and one HDD on the two SATA6 ports, and one HDD and one DVD-RW or a second HDD on the two SATA3 ports. With an H97 board you can often do an SSD, a DVDRW, and four HDDs all on SATA6.

 

3. H97 boards have a PCIE-3.0x16 slot instead of the PCIE-2.0x16 slot in an H81 board. This makes no difference in most games out there, but it will actually cost 10% of your framerate at 1080p in Ryse Son of Rome with a GTX 980. I personally use a GTX 970 on a PCIE-2.0x16 slot on an H81 board, and it's very fast, but maybe Ryse is a canary in the coal mine warning about PCIE-2.0x16?

 

4. H97 boards support front panel USB-3.0, H81 don't.

 

5. H97 boards support hardware RAID, which is useful if you have data you can't lose, so you could take two HDDs of the same capacity and use them in a RAID-1 setup to protect against data loss when one of your drives dies (and all hard drives die in a few years).

 

6. H97 ATX and Mini-ATX boards usually have four DIMMS for memory. Not a big deal since you can buy 8GB sticks and thus have either 8GB or 16GB in an H81 system.

[Clyne]

could be an option if the user has plan on running an SLI or CFX config down the road...it's the only reason why you would want a Z series motherboard paired with a locked processor IMHO.

Side note: Looking at your status: AMD/Fermi Enthusiast ... Kepler/Maxwell Disliker ?!

Is it that you like super power hungry hot running inneficient components or you just have something against efficient top of the line architecture?

Where are you going with this?

I just dislike current Nvidia products, i'm fine with Kepler but i hate Maxwell.....

I dislike Nvidia business practices and they way that their running things now.

I wish it was back in the good old days where they didn't give a carp about efficiently or features(DSR, shadowplay, or anything like that) and focused like raw power, like Tesla and Fermi cards. 

[PierreCCesario]

Advantages of H97 over H81 from most important to least in my opinion:

1. All Haswell Refresh CPUs work out of the box. With an H81 board you might need to flash your BIOS before your CPU will work, since the i5-4590 and i5-4460 are both Haswell Refresh CPUs. Sometimes you can do this BIOS flash with just a USB stick, sometimes you'd need to pop in an original Haswell CPU to do.

2. H97 boards usually have more SATA ports. An H81 board will let you do a setup like one SSD and one HDD on the two SATA6 ports, and one HDD and one DVD-RW or a second HDD on the two SATA3 ports. With an H97 board you can often do an SSD, a DVDRW, and four HDDs all on SATA6.

3. H97 boards have a PCIE-3.0x16 slot instead of the PCIE-2.0x16 slot in an H81 board. This makes no difference in most games out there, but it will actually cost 10% of your framerate at 1080p in Ryse Son of Rome with a GTX 980. I personally use a GTX 970 on a PCIE-2.0x16 slot on an H81 board, and it's very fast, but maybe Ryse is a canary in the coal mine warning about PCIE-2.0x16?

4. H97 boards support front panel USB-3.0, H81 don't.

5. H97 boards support hardware RAID, which is useful if you have data you can't lose, so you could take two HDDs of the same capacity and use them in a RAID-1 setup to protect against data loss when one of your drives dies (and all hard drives die in a few years).

6. H97 ATX and Mini-ATX boards usually have four DIMMS for memory. Not a big deal since you can buy 8GB sticks and thus have either 8GB or 16GB in an H81 system.

Thank you so much for listing it out! I think I'll be going for H97. I can still use the motherboard in the future that way.

[PierreCCesario]

no, has mentionned already, the difference is CPU COMPATIBILITY out of the box only H97 and Z97 motherboard are GUARANTEED to support haswell REFRESH sku's without the need of a BIOS update.

So unless the board you're looking at came out AFTER haswell refresh launched, i wouldnt take the gamble that it will be on a newer BIOS unless you already own a non-refresh chip to perform a bios update if needed.

This is going to be my first PC so just to make things easier I'll just get the H97 motherboard.

[PierreCCesario]

Eh, the 4590 works perfectly with a good H97 board. Don't bother with OCing if you ask me as the stock clocks on the locked chips are already great

I need that thank you gif.

[PierreCCesario]

no!

H97 is the chipset for these processors...for the unlocked chips he want Z97 OR if he plan on using dual graphics cards down the road...otherwise, H97 is what you want...or a recently released B85 motherboard would do the trick as well.

I'm going with a H97 motherboard.. I don't like CFX.

[i_build_nanosuits]

I just dislike current Nvidia products, i'm fine with Kepler but i hate Maxwell.....

I dislike Nvidia business practices and they way that their running things now.

I wish it was back in the good old days where they didn't give a carp about efficiently or features(DSR, shadowplay, or anything like that) and focused like raw power, like Tesla and Fermi cards.

i think Maxwell IS focused on ''raw power''...all the rest is a free bonus.

Just look at GTX 980ti or titan X gaming benchmarks and look at the perf/watt you get...also, last time i checked: pretty sure the top-end kepler and maxwell GPU's where completely slaughtering the old fermi cards in modern games? So that would mean some serious focus on ''raw power'' i think...

[kondziowy]

I have Asrock H81M and it came out of the box with Haswell support - I use i5-4460. I paid 49$ for it (http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/H81M/index.pl.asp this one) like 9 months ago and I think it's best option, I prefer to keep money and use it to buy new Skylake CPU + board than burn money on such platform today. 

 

And it has front panel USB 3.0 - it's supported not by mobo chipset but by additional third party chip.