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Hey guys, I have a little question for you. I don't want to start a war with it but: Which one of these two motherboards is the better choice for overall performance like gaming, Audio, Tools, SLI and stuff. Because I searched for hours now but I haven't found any real comparison between the Deluxe board and the ROG series of z97 boards.

I recently found out about this motherboard and I really don't know why Asus has not made a bigger deal about it. Judging by its lack of I/O, this motherboard is probably meant for one of Asus's own OEM PC's. The thing that makes me excited about this is it's color scheme. Asus ditched the gold/champagne color in favor of silver which looks much better and is perfect for any grey scale themed build. It is available at Tiger Direct and Fry's Electronics for $149.99 which rules out the possibility of being a non-US product. Onto some quick specs It's ATX Z97 Chipset Supports Haswell/Haswell Refresh CPU's as well as Broadwell when it comes out Supports up to 32GB of RAM across 4 DIMMs with speeds of up to 3200 mhz (OC) Pretty Basic I/O w/ 4 USB 3.0 and 2 USB 2.0 ports, 5.1 audio w/ S/PDIF out, Intel gigabit LAN, PS2 port, Display Port and HDMI As far as expansion slots go it has 3 PCI-E x16 slots (x16, x8, x2 with all but the x2 one being 3.0), 2 PCI-E 1x slots, and a single PCI slot Supports Quad SLI/CrossfireX with dual GPU cards or 3-way SLI/CF with the top 2 PCI-E slots running in 8x and the bottom at 2x For storage, it has 4 SATA 3 ports with 2 being taken up by the SATA express and a single M.2 port It has a Realtek ACL892 audio chip on a separated part of the PCB with all the other audio stuff on the board, there is a single USB 3 header and 3 USB 2 headers along with your standard fare of audio and front panel connectors. It has all of the Asus exclusive stuff like 5-way optimization, header for Thunderbolt EX2 card/NFC/Wireless charging things, TPU/EPU, Asus AI suite 3, DIGI+ 8 phase VRM, Mem-OK! button, the Q-connector, a nice UEFI bios, and all of the other software and hardware features Asus puts on their boards. Here are some pics of it: Source of images and info: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z97AR/

I have the Sabertooth Z97 Mach 1 and im tring to decide on Ram spec's. I'm using the I7-4790k (if it ever gets here) under specifications it says it supports 1333/1600/1866 MHs Dual chan. Supports intel XMP (extreme mem profile) and Hyper DIMM. What i'm confused about is in the manual it lists them all the way to 2666 with preferred vendors for each. there is a warning that anything over 2133MHs depends on the CPU. So my question is this, what should i use 1600/1866/2133? If someone could explain why it is writen this way i would appreciate it. (why the box says up to 1866 and the man says up to 2666 and what XMP is and Hyper DIMM?) I know its a lot but one place having all these answers would be nice. Thanks for your time and help, this is my first build so its a learning opportunity. FpsStang

Any other audiophiles out there that can elaborate the differences between Realtek ALC1150, Creative SoundCore3D, etc.? Thanks.

So I am building a z97 PC and I am having a hard time deciding between the Asus z97 Pro or the Maximus VII Hero. To me the Pro seems to be supirior in many ways except maybe looks but I see people getting and or being very excited about the Hero VII. What am I missing? some things that I have been looking at: Pro Hero Price 209.99 > 254.99 PCI Express x1 4 > 3 SATA 6Gb/s 6 < 8 SATA Express 1 > 0 Audio Chipset Realtek ALC1150 ?<ROG SupremeFX Audio LAN Chipset Intel I218-V = Intel I218-V DisplayPort 1 >0 Onboard USB 4 x USB 3.0 + 4 x USB 2.0 > 2 x USB 3.0 + 5 x USB 2.0 I can even get a Pro wifi for less then the Hero. I feel like I am not seeing something that everyone else is, what is it? edit: formating

Asrock Z97 EXTREME4 Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 GA-Z97X-UD3H Asrock Fatal1ty Z97X Killer Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ASUS Z97-A my price range is 120 euros for motherboard. so which is the best ? if i get one of these i would get i5-4690K . if i went with z87 g45 i would get i5 4670k but new motherboards are more future proof and new i5 has less heat and it overclocks better and price difference is little. i will overclock the cpu . if there are better motherboards in this price range please say Thanks !

So yeah, I'm unable to hard wire so i have to go wireless, is it possible with this board?

Hi all. I'm building my first PC, and thank also to the precious advices given me on this forum I've been able to select all the components, except for the motherboard. I can't decide between four models: Asus Gryphon Z97 ARMOR EDITION: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/GRYPHON_Z97/ Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-GAMING 5: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4968#ov MSI Z97M Gaming: http://us.msi.com/product/mb/Z97M_GAMING.html#overview MSI Z97M-G43: http://www.msi.com/product/mb/Z97MG43.html#hero-overview I fancy particularly the MSI Z97M Gaming for its OC Genie button and its MSI GAMING APP (which I still don't know if its present also on the g43 one) "which allows simultaneous control of both your Motherboard and Graphics Card's overclocking" since I want to over clock but I'm not an expert. The g43 seems to be pretty similar to the z97m gaming but it costs 50 euros less. There's one thing though that makes me wonder if the gryphon would be the best solution. Since I'm building a Bitfenix Prodigy M, the mobo will be placed vertically and I'm afraid that the weight of the cooler (noctua nh-d14, 1,2 kg) and that of the video card (asus gtx 780, 900g) will stress too much the mobo and eventually break it; therefore the TUF fortifier placed on the back of the GRYPHON z97, as written also in their website, seemed to me as something useful to avoid such risk. Is this just a futile concern of mine? Are motherboards enough resistant event for such components? If that so, which Mobo would you suggest? Thanks

Hi, so I'm looking at some Z97 motherboard options and I was wondering if you guys could help me out with a few questions I have. Now I know the whole 'motherboards don't have any real effect on performance' etc. etc. spiel. I care a lot about the aesthetics, onboard audio, useful features, good CPU air cooler compatibility and having 2 16X GPU slots with good spacing between them. I am willing to pay up to $200 ($214 for the Hero VII) for a good one. I started with looking at Gigabyte, MSi and Asus. Gigabyte is out because I just don't like the look of their motherboards. I narrowed it down to a few and have some comparison questions. 1. MSi Z97 Gaming 7 vs MSi Z97 gaming 5, what are the main things the 7 has that the 5 doesn't. 2. Differences between the MSi Z97 Gaming 7 and the MSi Z97-GD65 Gaming? 3. Asus Maximus Hero VII or MSi Z97 Gaming 7? Thanks for reading this little story, your help is very much appreciated.

Hi guys. Over the past couple of month's me and my fiancee have been looking to build a system that will suit our college and personal needs. We will be using the system for task's such as Web Design, Programming, Virtual Machines, Photo editing and high-performance gaming. We have a budget of £1300 GBP ($2001 Dollars). We narrowed it down to two different builds one in the micro ATX form factor and one ATX. Micro ATX: PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/cXKjgs Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/cXKjgs/by_merchant/ CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£268.97 @ Ebuyer) CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£84.99 @ Amazon UK) Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£107.96 @ Scan.co.uk) Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£54.98 @ Novatech) Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.95 @ CCL Computers) Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card (£449.99 @ Amazon UK) Case: Corsair Air 240 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (£72.62 @ Scan.co.uk) Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£90.11 @ Amazon UK) Total: £1169.57 ATX Build: PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/76B24D Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/76B24D/by_merchant/ CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor (£310.00 @ Novatech) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler (£74.72 @ CCL Computers) Motherboard: Asus X99-A ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard (£187.43 @ More Computers) Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (£184.71 @ Amazon UK) Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.95 @ CCL Computers) Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£279.98 @ Novatech) Case: Corsair Air 540 ATX Mid Tower Case (£99.99 @ Amazon UK) Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£90.11 @ Amazon UK) Total: £1266.89 We are both unsure on which build to go with. We would like the build to last until skylake comes out, and when skylake comes out we don't want to have to upgrade the whole system again so if possible we want to try and keep the same motherboard and Ram for our future skylake build

Good People of LTT! (Insert stuff about this being my first post) 1. Budget & Location 1.500-2.500 Euros and Luxemburg (Europe) 2. Aim This will be my daily driver. I will be using it for gaming, browsing, internet, slight photo and video editing. I usually buy my games when they cost less than 10 Euros (looking at you, steam sales), so not playing latest AAA titles, I do however enjoy some eye candy every now and then. 3. Monitors Planning to buy LG 34UM95-P. 4. Peripherals No need. Have mouse, keyboard, OS, loudspeakers. 5. Why are you upgrading? My current rig is from 2007 I came up with this: 1 x Intel Core i7-5820K, 6x 3.30GHz, boxed ohne Kühler (BX80648I75820K) 1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport DIMM Kit 16GB, DDR4-2400, CL16-16-16 (BLS2C8G4D240FSA/BLS2K8G4D240FSA) 1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 Gaming G1, 4GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, 3x DisplayPort (GV-N970G1 GAMING-4GD) 1 x Gigabyte GA-X99-UD4 1 x LG Electronics 34UM95-P, 34" 1 x be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 (BK019) 1 x Fractal Design Define R5 Black, schallgedämmt (FD-CA-DEF-R5-BK) 1 x TP-Link TL-WDN4800, PCIe x1 1 x Corsair RM Series RM650 650W ATX 2.31 (CP-9020054-EU) Total about 2.100 Euro Looking for your input on: 1) Processor: I picked the 5820k over the 4790k because I would like to have an upgrade path without having to replace the MoBo. Sound decision or not? 2) MoBo: Is that a good one? 3) RAM: good choice? 16GB for the time being, leaving upgrade path for 32GB if needed. 4) SSD: will be taken over from current rig. Not planning to add further HDDs to the rig. Have 2 1TB external drives, which should be enough for my needs. 5) Video Card: good choice? Is 1 970 good enough to power that resolution? As said before, I don't need to max out the latest AAA titles - I am totally fine dialing down a bit if required. 6) PSU: Not sure how much I need, so I just picked one. 7) Case Fans: How many and which? Bonus Point) I would like to try and make a Hackintosh out of this at some point in the future (only if possible). Your opinion on this? I tried picking components according to tonymacx86 where possible. Let me know what you think!

Hello All, I want to build a new PC but first some history on why and what I had Z77 Custom Build Coolermaster CM690 ll Advanced Fatal1ty Z77 Professional Intel Core i7 3770K Scythe Mugen 4, PC Games Edition 16GB Corsair vengeance LP RAM Stiil going as PC for my brother (he is super happy with it) Alienware X51 R2 SOLD.. Because of a fight with dell on the CPU Cooler The NEW Z97 build CoolerMaster CM690 lll Intel Core i7-4790K Motherboard i am still not sure on (advice is welcome) Corsair Hydro H100i GTX Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB Nvidia Geforce GTX 970 (ideas an brand or coolers welcome) PSU i am no sure in thinking about the Corsair HX750i Other Information I want to play AAA Gaming Titles and lots of Photoshop and Coding, Also it has te be future proof My location is Arnhem, The Netherlands and my budget is €1200,- about $1259 dollars What do you guys think about the build? and do you have any advice on a motherboard and does the H110i GT for in the CM690 lll?

Looking for a good average priced PSU for an i5 4690K & GTX 980. Planning to upgrade to the above in a few weeks, currently have an EVGA 500W White PSU (P/N 100-W1-0500-KR) but I have been recommended to upgrade it to a better quality one. Multiple options would be a great help, PS: any mobo recommendations as well ? Cheers in advance! x

What's up guys i was just wondering which motherbard i should get for my new PC. i'm not looking to overclock it. My budget is about $100 dollars, but a little higher is fine. Thanks in advance! Specs: Cpu - Core i7 4790K Motherboard - ??? Memory - 2x4GBs Corsair Vengeance Gpu - Gigabyte Geforce GTX 770 SSD - 120GBs Samsung 840 EVO SSD HDD - Western Digital Black 1TB Psu - 750W CoolerMaster V750 Semi-Modular

I am going to be building a new computer, and want to know which one is better. My Z97 Option: Intel core i7 4790k Corsair Dominator Pro RAM 1600mhz 16gb (2x8) Samsung 840 evo ssd 256gb WD Caviar Blue 1TB HDD NZXT Kraken X61 CPU cooler 2 x Nvidia geforce gtx 970 in SLI (or whatever nvidia announces at CES 2015) Corsair AX760 PSU Phanteks Enthoo Luxe Msi gaming 7 motherboard My X99 build is the exaxt same but with: i7 5820k MSI Mpower motherboard Corsair Vengeance LpX DDR4 2400mhz 16gb (4x4) So which one should I go with? I will overclock the CPU's quite a bit as well as the graphics cards and RAM. I play a lot of games, do some 3D rendering, and do a lot of light work. I want something that won't need replacing anytime soon. Thanks! Btw, both will cost the exact same due to an offer I got. I also don't care about electricity bills.

Hello there After a long time in dessided now to go with a lga 1150 build.

Hey Everybody! This is my first time posting on the forums (being a new member and all), and basically I just wanted some input/recommendations on what direction I should take this build in. I will first qualify by saying that money is pretty much no object, I have around $4000 (AUD) to spend. The main uses for the system will be; Gaming, Programming and some light Video Editing. I also want to (I know that a lot of you will hate this, I am aware) 'future-proof' the system as much as possible without waiting any longer to build the thing (I've been waiting around 10 years now to build my first PC haha). I've been researching (edit, watching a lot of YouTube videos) for a long time and I think that I'm on the right track, also I plan to overclock this system. Lastly, I am a bit of an audiophile and also I would like to (in the distant future) install a customer waterloop. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. CPU - 4790K Mobo - EVGA Z97 Classified RAM - (?) 32GB, at around 2133Mhz Power - (?) Something in the Platinum class would be good Graphics - EVGA 780 TI Dual Classified x 2 in SLI (I've decided on Nvidia, no AMD for me haha) Case - Corsair Obsidian 750D SSD - Samsung Pro 840 256 x 2 (in Raid 0) HDD - (?) 4 x 4GB, I like WD as I've had a few of there external drives and they've not let me down yet. Don't suggest Seagate though...terrible. Fans - NF-F12 & NF-A14 PWM AIO Cooler - Swiftech H220-X (Due to the expandability) Monitor - ASUS PG278Q (Like I said, money isn't an issue at the moment...) Keyboard - (?) Mechanical Mouse - Razor 2013 Deathadder (?, not 100% on this one) Thanks in advance for any info/suggestions. Cheers!

Hi. I'm from Germany and I created my account here, because I think you as an community could help me out better than anyone else. I'm asking you to be a little bit nicer about grammar and stuff because I'm convinced, I'm going to make mistakes. Oh lord, I probably already made a real fool outta myself, didn't I? So, this would be my first gaming orientated computer and I really don't prefer any brands whatsoever. I already spent quite some time trying to understand what is absolutely necessary and what isn't, but I still feel like a blind dude in a 3d movie. Considering it will be my first rig, I think its smarter to go a little bit more the conventional way, if you know what I mean. So, no LC Loops or other really cool but maybe a little to much for a first timer, gear. I'm most likely going to start with my build until november 2014. 1. Budget & Location My budget is roundabout 1800€ which is, as I write this, equal to 2322 USD. But considering that I, as an german, have to pay 19% taxes on everything its more about 1880 USD. There will be a slightly to noticeable difference in pricing, too. (At least, I think so) So I know this could add quite some difficulty to this, but I'm having good hopes. Location is Germany of course. =) 2. Aim The system is mostly going to be used for FPS titles like "BF 3/4" and should be abled, to be played maxed out on 1080p and above. I wan't to be as prepared as I can for titles like "Dying Light" or "GTA V" as well. 3. Monitors & Cases I'm planning on running a single monitor with 1080p-1600p maxed out on a single GPU system. I'm fine with 1080p for the beginning, since I still have an 60hz BenQ monitor from my Xbox. It won't be perfect but I could deal with this situation until I can afford the right one. Smoother, windowed cases with decent cooling options are prefered. I'm not a fan of those crazy wild ones. 4. Peripherals Mouse: Yes! Keyboard: Yes! Os: Yes! Monitor: Kind of, Yes! Headset: No! But in fact it could be a smarter idea, considering I'm living nearby an well sorted computer store, to check out such gear in person. Except monitors of course since I'm so new to all that. But I'm open for any suggestions, period. 5. Why are you upgrading? Because there is nothing relevant to upgrade on an Xbox One and I'm so tired of all the restrictions. ^^ 6. Personal thoughts I've never built a computer but I think I can do it, even if it means I have to struggle a little bit. I know two great german computer gear websites and I'm most likely going to order there because sadly our import taxes turn you into a poor man, if you do a little mistake. I'm also hoping, I'm not appearing like a complete dummy to you, because of my poor english. Please, excuse me! This is a link to a setup, I've thrown together but I can understand if nobody looks it up, since I'm a random outta the WWW. https://www.mindfactory.de/shopping_cart.php/basket_action/load_basket_extern/id/9aa9682200bc4b978447524ab6888549890a5b36eb718288406 There is still stuff, such as some cables, adapters etc. missing but there is also still quite some headroom for a mouse, keyboard and so on. Thanks for reading this! Because Retarded

Hey guys, First post so I figured I'd start by asking a question. I'm looking to build this computer and I'm just trying to figure some stuff out. 1. If I decide to overclock the CPU and GPU/get a second GPU for SLI, is that power supply going to be enough? 2. Any suggestions on a case (I just sort of picked one at random) 3. General comments Thanks for all your help guys. P.S. If you're wondering why there are no drives shown it's just because I have them already. PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/t8dJ99 Price breakdown by merchant: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/t8dJ99/by_merchant/ CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($310.73 @ DirectCanada) CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.62 @ DirectCanada) Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($188.47 @ Newegg Canada) Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($115.47 @ NCIX) Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($462.40 @ Newegg Canada) Case: Thermaltake Core V41 ATX Mid Tower Case ($114.71 @ Vuugo) Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($105.98 @ NCIX) Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($25.25 @ Vuugo) Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($131.23 @ Memory Express) Total: $1488.86 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-12 18:12 EDT-0400

Does anyone know what kind of thermal sensor/thermal proble/thermistor does Asus use for the t_sensor headers? I've got a Z97 board and I'd like to use a sensor on my videocard waterblock to control the fans on the radiator for it. Or at least test it. Unfortunately on ebay there were a few different ones with different part numbers and I'm not sure. The manual for the mobo does not say anything specific about it, only that you can buy one separately. Also I'm going to order from moddiy. could this be OK?: http://www.moddiy.com/products/PC-Thermometer-Temperature-Sensor-Probe-Cable-%2860cm%29.html

Which one provides the better value?