Upgrading from FX-8350

[Bloodkil933]

Any Z97 motherboard will be able to overclock the 4790k equally well, unless you are doing extreme LN2 type stuff.  The result of your overclock is going to come down to luck of your chip, not the "quality" of your motherboard.  Find a Z97 motherboard that comes with the specific features that you need, and has the aesthetic that you want.  I recommend the Asus Z97-AR.  Comes with Asus' high build quality, it uses the same material on all of its motherboards.  Comes with AI Suite III and Fan Xpert II, which I find invaluable.  It also has a very unique and aesthetically pleasing look to it that will match up well with any color scheme.  It also comes with all of the necessary and some premium features.  The only potential downside of this motherboard is having only 4 SATA ports.  4 is enough for most everyone, but I want to mention it in case you need more than 4 SATA ports.

It says there's 8 on the specifications?

 

you should do an update on how is the experience going from the 8350 to the i7 on those games.

For me going from the 8150 to the 2500k was night and day, i would not have believed if it wasnt me trying it.

Maybe you could enlighten others in whether is worth (or not) the change

Certainly will ^^

[Faceman]

It says there's 8 on the specifications?

 

Certainly will ^^

Direct from Asus' website:

Intel® Z97 chipset :

1 x SATA Express port, compatible with 2 x SATA 6.0 Gb/s ports

1 x M.2 Socket 3, , with M Key, type 2260/2280 storage devices support (PCIE mode)

4 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), gray

Support Raid 0, 1, 5, 10

Supports Intel® Smart Response Technology, Intel® Rapid Start Technology, Intel® Smart Connect Technology *²

[Bloodkil933]

 

Direct from Asus' website:

Intel® Z97 chipset :

1 x SATA Express port, compatible with 2 x SATA 6.0 Gb/s ports

1 x M.2 Socket 3, , with M Key, type 2260/2280 storage devices support (PCIE mode)

4 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), gray

Support Raid 0, 1, 5, 10

Supports Intel® Smart Response Technology, Intel® Rapid Start Technology, Intel® Smart Connect Technology *²

 

I'm getting this one: http://www.ebuyer.com/641274-msi-z97-mpower-max-ac-socket-lga1150-hdmi-displayport-8-channel-audio-atx-z97-mpower-max-ac

[harrynowl]

Bit of a waste but at least if you ever do LN2 overclocking you'll be sorted.

[Faceman]

I'm getting this one: http://www.ebuyer.com/641274-msi-z97-mpower-max-ac-socket-lga1150-hdmi-displayport-8-channel-audio-atx-z97-mpower-max-ac

Unless you absolutely need some of those features, you are grossly overpaying.

[Faa]

I've had a look around and all I can see is most review sites saying it's 12 phase?

 

Unless i'm misreading something

Uhm they advertised it as a 20 phase but thats with doublers, the true pwm phase count is 5 which isn't special. Doublers are just doubling, doing nothing besides being useless and they do this to trick people $$$. Anything above 8 phase doesnt exist for motherboards, there are 10 phase pwm chips but they aren't VDR12.5 certified yet. Cheapest z97 boards out there have 4 phases. Also this a list that discovers the lies: http://sinhardware.com/images/vrmlist.png

You could have gotten the maximus vii hero (8 phases) and a bunch of more features for the same price but anyways seems like you're only interested in performance

[Bloodkil933]

Uhm they advertised it as a 20 phase but thats with doublers, the true pwm phase count is 5 which isn't special. Doublers are just doubling, doing nothing besides being useless and they do this to trick people $$$. Anything above 8 phase doesnt exist for motherboards, there are 10 phase pwm chips but they aren't VDR12.5 certified yet. Cheapest z97 boards out there have 4 phases. Also this a list that discovers the lies: http://sinhardware.com/images/vrmlist.png

You could have gotten the maximus vii hero (8 phases) and a bunch of more features for the same price but anyways seems like you're only interested in performance

Well... as long as this motherboard can push 4.8 - 5GHz on this chip, then i'm happy.

 

Now let's hope I get lucky in the lottery ^^