Just bought an i7 4790k and a Z97

[Agazed]

Woohoo just telling everyone what I spent my money on! Upgrading from an i5 2320 and Asrock B75. Only using the stock cooler because my Hyper 212 EVO hasn't arrived yet. Bought it here: http://www.microcenter.com/site/brands/intel-processor-bundles.aspx

 

[TheSLSAMG]

I question the choice of motherboard (it's not bad, but for some reason I expect people to get higher end boards for i7 CPUs) but overall great. I also probably wouldn't have recommended the Hyper 212 EVO, since you can get better coolers for the same price.

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

I was considering picking one up but with the new processors soon to be launched in a year or so with DDR4, USB C and faster sata connections over PCI-E? I just can't.

[Atmos]

noice! 

I actually made that same upgrade not too long ago :3 

 

I was vain though and only got the pro 4 because of it color matching my system well.

[Comessy]

[Agazed]

I question the choice of motherboard (it's not bad, but for some reason I expect people to get higher end boards for i7 CPUs) but overall great. I also probably wouldn't have recommended the Hyper 212 EVO, since you can get better coolers for the same price.

Why would I need anything higher end? What are some better coolers also?

[TheSLSAMG]

Why would I need anything higher end? What are some better coolers also?

It's not that you would need something higher end, but more expensive boards have things this one doesn't (and I know they're not necessarily relevant to you):

• Full ATX layouts (this board has a narrow layout, the end of the board tends to flex when plugging in the 24-pin. No real issue here, but full layout boards IMO look better)
• SLI support (Like I said, not relevant to you, but it is to me and a lot of other users)
• More features, such as built in WiFi/BT, dual NICs, more USB ports, more VRM phases (not that relevant on Z97), larger heatsinks, etc.

As for coolers, the be quiet! Shadow Rock 2 costs $35 and performs better while operating more quietly, the Cryorig H5 is a little bit more expensive but puts stuff like the Dark Rock 3 on the porch, etc.

[Agazed]

It's not that you would need something higher end, but more expensive boards have things this one doesn't (and I know they're not necessarily relevant to you):

• Full ATX layouts (this board has a narrow layout, the end of the board tends to flex when plugging in the 24-pin. No real issue here, but full layout boards IMO look better)
• SLI support (Like I said, not relevant to you, but it is to me and a lot of other users)
• More features, such as built in WiFi/BT, dual NICs, more USB ports, more VRM phases (not that relevant on Z97), larger heatsinks, etc.

As for coolers, the be quiet! Shadow Rock 2 costs $35 and performs better while operating more quietly, the Cryorig H5 is a little bit more expensive but puts stuff like the Dark Rock 3 on the porch, etc.

 

The shadow rock 2 costs $45 right now. 

[TheSLSAMG]

The shadow rock 2 costs $45 right now. 

Whoops, you're right.

[ltguy]

I question the choice of motherboard (it's not bad, but for some reason I expect people to get higher end boards for i7 CPUs) but overall great. I also probably wouldn't have recommended the Hyper 212 EVO, since you can get better coolers for the same price.

Uggh i dont. I was liking the motherboard choice. He could have done far worse and got an Asus. Though I would have went with the evga z87 classified thats on sale right now from EVGA for $99. Quite the steal.  Microcenter ftw!

[TheSLSAMG]

Uggh i dont. I was liking the motherboard choice. He could have done far worse and got an Asus. Though I would have went with the evga z87 classified thats on sale right now from EVGA for $99. Quite the steal.   Microcenter is so amazing. I got the 4690k for $180 and also got $40 off any motherboard.

I don't see why getting an ASUS board would have been worse... Explain. At that tier sure, but their boards tend to be better than AsRock's.

 

And I know of Micro Center's sweet deals, that's why I have an i7 instead of an i5.

[ltguy]

I don't see why getting an ASUS board would have been worse... Explain. At that tier sure, but their boards tend to be better than AsRock's.

 

And I know of Micro Center's sweet deals, that's why I have an i7 instead of an i5.

Not a fan of Asus quality control or customer support.  I've had too many flakey products from them.  My $300 Rampage III Formula had bad ram slots, my $600+ radeon 5970 never have a stable firmware release from Asus, crashed almost daily until over a year later i found a sapphire bios that gotta it mostly stable, this list goes on. I buy Asus routers.. monitors.. and absolutely nothing else.  I dont care how many features a motherboard has, if it has over 20 DOA reviews on newegg, im not touching it.

[ltguy]

bump

[Agazed]

It's not that you would need something higher end, but more expensive boards have things this one doesn't (and I know they're not necessarily relevant to you):

• Full ATX layouts (this board has a narrow layout, the end of the board tends to flex when plugging in the 24-pin. No real issue here, but full layout boards IMO look better)
• SLI support (Like I said, not relevant to you, but it is to me and a lot of other users)
• More features, such as built in WiFi/BT, dual NICs, more USB ports, more VRM phases (not that relevant on Z97), larger heatsinks, etc.

As for coolers, the be quiet! Shadow Rock 2 costs $35 and performs better while operating more quietly, the Cryorig H5 is a little bit more expensive but puts stuff like the Dark Rock 3 on the porch, etc.

 

Decided on getting the beQuiet! Pure Rock instead. The Hyper 212 was waiting to be shipped by Amazon for like 5 days so I just canceled it.