Z87 (Haswell) vs Z77 (Ivy Bridge)

[hawaiims]

So the Haswell is worth giving up a more robust board? I'm just looking to get the most bang for my buck, and the Asus board with the Ivy Bridge Xeon seemed to offer that.

it's up to you really. 

 

If you think you're going to use thunderbolt or esata, then go for the Z77. Otherwise the 2 boards don't have much of a difference feature wise and I would go z87 from gigabyte or asrock.

 

The rest of the features that the asus z77 has over the gigabyte h87 are pretty meaningless. Thunderbolt is the main point here. 

[Hank_Tech]

it's up to you really. 

 

If you think you're going to use thunderbolt or esata, then go for the Z77. Otherwise the 2 boards don't have much of a difference feature wise and I would go z87 from gigabyte or asrock.

 

The rest of the features that the asus z77 has over the gigabyte h87 are pretty meaningless. Thunderbolt is the main point here. 

So I can get this board http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128592&clickid=xu%3AzMzz74UqlyUx3163d6VYrUkTTOsX8ETM%3A0Q0&iradid=97618&ircid=2106&irpid=79301&nm_mc=AFC-IR&cm_mmc=AFC-IR-_-na-_-na-_-na and a E3 1230v3 for the same price before MIR. It has E-SATA and more USB 3.0, plus it's Haswell. It will also leave me open for OCing in the future if I switch over to the Core series, and will make hackintoshing much easier if I decide I want to do that (which I probably will). In total, it would be 20 bucks more if I go with Gigabyte (50 bucks if I do the MIR). Think thats my best bet?

[hawaiims]

So I can get this board http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128592&clickid=xu%3AzMzz74UqlyUx3163d6VYrUkTTOsX8ETM%3A0Q0&iradid=97618&ircid=2106&irpid=79301&nm_mc=AFC-IR&cm_mmc=AFC-IR-_-na-_-na-_-na and a E3 1230v3 for the same price before MIR. It has E-SATA and more USB 3.0, plus it's Haswell. It will also leave me open for OCing in the future if I switch over to the Core series, and will make hackintoshing much easier if I decide I want to do that (which I probably will). Think thats my best bet?

Yeah I would go for something like that or the 50$ cheaper H87 gigabyte board I posted before (honestly OCing is not that worth it these days with haswell and the new brodwell that's going to come out) 

 

I don't understand how it would make hackintoshing easier though? I know a lot of people seem to use gigabyte boards for hckintoshing but I'm not sure why.

[Hank_Tech]

Yeah I would go for something like that or the 50$ cheaper H87 gigabyte board I posted before (honestly OCing is not that worth it these days with haswell and the new brodwell that's going to come out) 

 

I don't understand how it would make hackintoshing easier though? I know a lot of people seem to use gigabyte boards for hckintoshing but I'm not sure why.

Their UEFI requires very little to no modification to get mac to run and you don't need to modify the kexts (drivers) that much. They pretty much work right out of the box for hackintoshes. This makes it really easy because you can spend hours trying to get little things like sleep mode and turbo boost to work, but for some reason the gigabyte boards just work with little effort.

And what do you think about me running that board without a case on an antistatic surface for a week? Is it a bad idea or should I be fine until I get my case?

[hawaiims]

Their UEFI requires very little to no modification to get mac to run and you don't need to modify the kexts (drivers) that much. They pretty much work right out of the box for hackintoshes. This makes it really easy because you can spend hours trying to get little things like sleep mode and turbo boost to work, but for some reason the gigabyte boards just work with little effort.

And what do you think about me running that board without a case on an antistatic surface for a week? Is it a bad idea or should I be fine until I get my case?

I would feel very uncomfortbale running the thing without any case or test bench like enclosure because the motherboard's bottom pcb is going to touch the surface and you could damage or destroy your motherboard completely very easily. 

[Hank_Tech]

I would feel very uncomfortbale running the thing without any case or test bench like enclosure because the motherboard's bottom pcb is going to touch the surface and you could damage or destroy your motherboard completely very easily. 

So what if I got a backplate of an old case and put some standoffs on it? The case is for a smaller mobo, but I could just take the backplate and drill the necessary holes so the standoffs line up, and then mount it up to that. Would that be a better option?

[hawaiims]

So what if I got a backplate of an old case and put some standoffs on it? The case is for a smaller mobo, but I could just take the backplate and drill the necessary holes so the standoffs line up, and then mount it up to that. Would that be a better option?

yeah that wouldn't be a problem at all. It might just be annoying to have to turn on the computer using a paperclip each time haha.

 

Heck it could work just on a regular antistatic surface for a week, it's just that I personally would be a little cautious. Just try it out on the antistatic surface and see how it works out. It's just a week so it SHOULD be ok, but you never know. 

[Hank_Tech]

yeah that wouldn't be a problem at all. It might just be annoying to have to turn on the computer using a paperclip each time haha.

 

Heck it could work just on a regular antistatic surface for a week, it's just that I personally would be a little cautious. Just try it out on the antistatic surface and see how it works out. It's just a week so it SHOULD be ok, but you never know. 

I got an old button I can short the pins with, so I won't have to use a paperclip lol. And depending on what board I go with I can get a power button on board. And I have been running an old AMD board out of the case for a little over a month, but I just wanted to be sure that I won't damage my new components that are actually nice.