Motherboard upgrade

[anonym]

Hi, i currently have a Gigabyte Z97 HD3 paired with a 4690k in my build (and GTX 970 MSI). I have problems overclocking the cpu voltage. The mb dont support adaptive voltage, just fixed and offset. It works good using fixed. But with offset, ot crashes in stresstesting. I want the voltage to drop at idle, which it does using offset. I know thifs mb aint the best, i was on a tight budget when i bought it. Im wondering if a mb upgrade would be worth it. To get better voltage? Also maybe for m2 and sli support if i want that in the future. Or should i buy a better cpu cooler, so i can run it at higher voltage? I now have a 212 Evo.

[ClobberXD]

5 minutes ago, anonym said:

Hi, i currently have a Gigabyte Z97 HD3 paired with a 4690k in my build (and GTX 970 MSI). I have problems overclocking the cpu voltage. The mb dont support adaptive voltage, just fixed and offset. It works good using fixed. But with offset, ot crashes in stresstesting. I want the voltage to drop at idle, which it does using offset. I know thifs mb aint the best, i was on a tight budget when i bought it. Im wondering if a mb upgrade would be worth it. To get better voltage? Also maybe for m2 and sli support if i want that in the future. Or should i buy a better cpu cooler, so i can run it at higher voltage? I now have a 212 Evo.

 

If you want serious overclocking capacity, I suggest the ASUS ROG series ,the ASUS Z97 Deluxe, or the ASUS Z97-A (if you are on a tight budget) motherboard(s).

 

As for cooling, the 212 Evo is excellent for mild overclocks, but if you are going as far as manually increasing voltages, albeit in small amounts, I'd advise you to get a liquid cooler...

[anonym]

46 minutes ago, anandgeforce said:

 

If you want serious overclocking capacity, I suggest the ASUS ROG series ,the ASUS Z97 Deluxe, or the ASUS Z97-A (if you are on a tight budget) motherboard(s).

 

As for cooling, the 212 Evo is excellent for mild overclocks, but if you are going as far as manually increasing voltages, albeit in small amounts, I'd advise you to get a liquid cooler...

Ok, thanks. But i cant afford both a new motherboard and cooler now. Which one should i get first?

[ClobberXD]

1 hour ago, anonym said:

Ok, thanks. But i cant afford both a new motherboard and cooler now. Which one should i get first?

 

That's totally up to you... If you feel that your CPU is always on the warmer side, go for the cooler, else go for the motherboard.

 

BTW Let me in on your choice of a motherboard... and also why you chose it.

[anonym]

Ok, but is it really worth it? To pay that much just to get adaptive voltage?

[ClobberXD]

1 hour ago, anonym said:

Ok, but is it really worth it? To pay that much just to get adaptive voltage?

 

The Z170 Deluxe and even the Z170-A have a specialized processor called the TPU - TurboV Processing Unit. The function of the TPU is to apparently tweak your voltages depending on your temps, and there is also this BCLK generator. Together this BCLK Generator and the TPU overclock the CPU close to 5 GHz! So says ASUS (I'd say, atleast 4.7-4.8GHz is achievable, even on the Z170-A).

 

 

Even higher overclocks are easily possible, but for that, the ASUS ROG Series motherboards would be better, like the Maximus VIII Extreme.

[anonym]

But i need a Z97 board. As i have a 4690k

[ClobberXD]

3 minutes ago, anonym said:

But i need a Z97 board. As i have a 4690k

 

Oh! I'm very sorry, I really forgot!

 

But they are almost the same, in terms of overclocking mettle. There are just a little more bells and whistles in the Z170-A, than the Z97-A, but they have nothing to do overclocking!

 

They are :

• Sexy looks, with huge white VRM heatsinks, and IO-Shield.
• Few extra ports internally and in the rear IO due to the new Z170 Chipset.

That's more or less it, no other difference in features!

 

But if you think that the Z97-A is too much, then go for the ASUS Z97-K!

 

The Z97-K loses some of the features from Z97-A, primarily SLI support (it does support crossfire x), TurboV Processing Unit (you might be able to overclock only upto 4.9GHz rather than 5GHz.), rear IO, and internal IO headers. If you are fine with this trade-off, go for the Z97-K. All the best.

 

P.S. Forgive me for the long post!

[anonym]

But still, i have a motherboard, and i dont know if the improvment is going to be worth it. Maybe investing in a new cpu cooler would be better. Im very confused about this. I have no idea. 

[ClobberXD]

1 minute ago, anonym said:

But still, i have a motherboard, and i dont know if the improvment is going to be worth it. Maybe investing in a new cpu cooler would be better. Im very confused about this. I have no idea. 

 

It is always your choice... Nobody is mandating you to do something. If you think a CPU cooler (I hope it is liquid cooling) would be worth investing, then go for it - it definitely is worth it!

[alexyy]

You really don't need super high end boards to overclock on Haswell, something like a UD5 or a gaming 5 board will be more than enough my mate has a 4790k at 4.8ghz on a krait. 

[anonym]

Ok. is there any other benefits from upgrading the motherboard from cheap to a more expensive one?

[ClobberXD]

1 minute ago, anonym said:

Ok. is there any other benefits from upgrading the motherboard from cheap to a more expensive one?

not much other than what has been mentioned before... it's up to you!

[anonym]

Forgot to write back, got a Asus Z97-A, a couple of days ago, works great!

[ClobberXD]

8 hours ago, anonym said:

Forgot to write back, got a Asus Z97-A, a couple of days ago, works great!

Awesome - happy to know you're happy!