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MSI Z87-G45 GAMING vs Gigabyte GA-Z87-D3HP

Warnoq
By Warnoq
in CPUs, Motherboards, and Memory
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So the MSI board is slightly more expensive in most places, it was my first choice for a new build... however I've come across the Gigabyte boards and can't find anything worse about it! 

 

Infact the D3HP has on/off charge for USB devices unlike the MSI board, so can anyone shed some light on something I might be overlooking? 

 

 

 

At the end of the day, which one? 

 

thanks in advance

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I personally prefer Gigabyte boards over every other board. If avaiable, I usually go for the Gigabyte model, if it suits my needs ofc.

 

But MSI makes very good boards aswell, hard to go wrong with either.

 

In case you plan on doing SLI, check if the D3HP does support CFX and SLI and not just CFX. [uD3 boards only support CFX, not sure bout that one though]

Frost upon these cigarettes.... lipstick on the window pane...

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I personally prefer Gigabyte boards over every other board. If avaiable, I usually go for the Gigabyte model, if it suits my needs ofc.

 

But MSI makes very good boards aswell, hard to go wrong with either.

 

In case you plan on doing SLI, check if the D3HP does support CFX and SLI and not just CFX. [uD3 boards only support CFX, not sure bout that one though]

Yeah I checked while posting and the D3HP & HD3 only support CrossFire however I'm confident that I will stick with one GTX 760 anyways. (The UD3H does support SLI too FYI).

 

I respect both of these brands and their boards but the Gigabyte is £20 cheaper and I cannot see why 

 

EDIT: Maybe I'm just splitting hairs?

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Im running the msi G45 and it is a very good board

I wouldn't doubt it at all, I've spoken to renowned hardware experts that have tested it compared to the GD65 and they say it is infact better but my point is, will if fair any better than the D3HP which is £20 less... hmm

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The MSI boards also have their MSI SuperCharger, which is basically the same thing gigabyte has. I'm not sure if it charges while off though... In my opinion you should always charge your phone with the OEM charger. Charged your phone too fast will make the battery not last as long, where as a slower charge will extend the life.

I have the Z87 G45, and it does everything exactly the way I want it to.

They'll most likely perform exactly the same for over clocking. And if there's a $20 difference you my as well get the cheaper one. ( I got mine for $90 at microcenter)

But if you like the Red + black + dragons get the Msi... Dragons are cool. And in my opinion looks way better than blue.

I'm not sure if the gigabyte board has a onboard audio, but the MSI board has very good sound quality built in.

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Oh don't get me wrong, I will probably never use the SuperCharger function, I have a wireless charger for my Nexus anyways but its just a nice feature to have, for that one rare time I may need it or whatever.

 

I think I may sway towards the Gigabyte now tbh because £20 is a set of fans for example and although i like the dragons, it really doesn't suit my theme. 

 

As for audio the Gigabyte has Realtek ALC892, although the G45 has some Creative Audio, Killer E2200 Ethernet and MSI VGA boost... PLUS SLI capabilites so idk. Too difficult hah.

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Oh don't get me wrong, I will probably never use the SuperCharger function, I have a wireless charger for my Nexus anyways but its just a nice feature to have, for that one rare time I may need it or whatever.

I think I may sway towards the Gigabyte now tbh because £20 is a set of fans for example and although i like the dragons, it really doesn't suit my theme.

As for audio the Gigabyte has Realtek ALC892, although the G45 has some Creative Audio, Killer E2200 Ethernet and MSI VGA boost... PLUS SLI capabilites so idk. Too difficult hah.

G45 also has a built in amplifier for the sound which just gives you a cleaner stronger signal. I don't know how much you care about audio, but the g45 is the better choice for that.

Do you have a gaming series graphics card? Their vga boost only works with their gaming cards.

It's all personal preference.

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id say go for the msi, the gigabyte is by no means a bad board but my msi board just has a great look and feel to it and once i got my system up ad running i have had absoloutely no problems =) i am running the gd65 but the 45 cant be that different......

 

-Anubikai

| i5-4670k at stock until I do a custom WC loop | H80i | Asus Matrix Platinum 7970 at stock until I do a custom WC loop  | MSI Z87 GD65 | 1TB CAVIAR BLACK | 250gb Blue Scorpio | HX750 80 PLUS GOLD modular | 16GB INTEL EXTREME EDITION PATRIOT 1866MHZ | Coolermaster Storm Enforcer with two Red 20cm fans intake and exhaust |

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id say go for the msi, the gigabyte is by no means a bad board but my msi board just has a great look and feel to it and once i got my system up ad running i have had absoloutely no problems =) i am running the gd65 but the 45 cant be that different......

-Anubikai

Yeah, they're basically the same board the gd65 has a few extra sata ports and physical OC genie buttons on the board. Everything else is 99% identical

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Yeah, they're basically the same board the gd65 has a few extra sata ports and physical OC genie buttons on the board. Everything else is 99% identical

 

the gd65 has a bit of extra cooling around the cpu...dont know how much of an effect it has though...

 

-ANubikai

| i5-4670k at stock until I do a custom WC loop | H80i | Asus Matrix Platinum 7970 at stock until I do a custom WC loop  | MSI Z87 GD65 | 1TB CAVIAR BLACK | 250gb Blue Scorpio | HX750 80 PLUS GOLD modular | 16GB INTEL EXTREME EDITION PATRIOT 1866MHZ | Coolermaster Storm Enforcer with two Red 20cm fans intake and exhaust |

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Yeah, they're basically the same board the gd65 has a few extra sata ports and physical OC genie buttons on the board. Everything else is 99% identical

 

the gd65 has a bit of extra cooling around the cpu...dont know how much of an effect it has though...

 

-ANubikai

I doubt it really does anything extra unless your going for extreme overclocks... 1.5v+

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I doubt it really does anything extra unless your going for extreme overclocks... 1.5v+

 

yeah probably =)

 

-Anubikai

| i5-4670k at stock until I do a custom WC loop | H80i | Asus Matrix Platinum 7970 at stock until I do a custom WC loop  | MSI Z87 GD65 | 1TB CAVIAR BLACK | 250gb Blue Scorpio | HX750 80 PLUS GOLD modular | 16GB INTEL EXTREME EDITION PATRIOT 1866MHZ | Coolermaster Storm Enforcer with two Red 20cm fans intake and exhaust |

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I doubt it really does anything extra unless your going for extreme overclocks... 1.5v+

 

yeah probably =)

 

-Anubikai

I would buy the gd65 just to have cool buttons... ;p

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