Which motherboard for i5 6600K

[Taylor Dettling]

I am doing a build based on a Intel i5 6600K and plan to do overclocking. There are so many motherboards out there that I have no idea which one will perform the best. I have a budget for the motherboard between 100 and 150 USD and looking at either a MSI or ASUS board. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!

[TeeTwo]

Anything Z170 will work. You can get pretty good looking ones for about 100-130 USD. I use an Asus Z170 Pro Gaming, and ive had no issues with it.

[Amazingasian]

3 minutes ago, Taylor Dettling said:

I am doing a build based on a Intel i5 6600K and plan to do overclocking. There are so many motherboards out there that I have no idea which one will perform the best. I have a budget for the motherboard between 100 and 150 USD and looking at either a MSI or ASUS board. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!

Asus Z170-A or MSI Z170a Gaming M5 are good.

[Taylor Dettling]

Thanks for fast reply! Ok those both look like they have all the features I need..... I'll probably go with MSI.

 

[DunePilot]

I second the Gigabyte idea. I usually stick with them or Asus... I haven't used MSI in probably 10 years.

[Darkseth]

How much overclock?

 

Are you an 100% enthusiast who wants to break 4,7 Ghz and above?

 

Or are you someone, who can be happy with 4,5 or maybe 4,6 Ghz?

If yes, those are the Boards i would R ecommend:

 

Asus: Z170 Pro Gaming

AsRock: Z170 extreme 4

MSI: Z170 Sli Plus 

Gigabyte: Z170X UD3

 

All Those have at least 10 CPU Phases, only PCIe Slots (not the old, dead PCI), 1-2x M.2 slots, USB Type C, and enough cooled CPU phases. The AsRock Extreme 4 also has a Diagnostic LED, and DTS Connect (if you want to use 5.1  Surround sound via spdif/Toslink), making all of them into a REALLY great bang for the buck.

 

If 100 Mhz more or less is important for you, maybe 1 or max 2 steps above. Like, Ranger, MSI Z170 Gaming m5, etc. But this isnt really neccessary.

 

Also: Some of them have CashBack actions in some countries. Look for them. Asus has the Third Z170 Cashback running here in Germany.

[Taylor Dettling]

Quote

 

I plan on overclocking to at least 4.7 Ghz and I am building a custom water cooled system which should have the capacity to cool a 6600k at those frequencies. I ended going with the Asus Sabertooth Z170 Mark I because of its backplate, thermal armor, and excellent cooling options. It was outside of my original budget but there happened to be a 20% sale on it at my local Fry's. It may not have been the best bang for the buck motherboard but I have tested overclocking it with a air cooler first and I reached 4.6 Ghz stable with comfortable temps and with my custom loop I should be able to reach 4.7 easily and maybe try for 4.8

 

[typographie]

On 4/3/2016 at 2:23 PM, Taylor Dettling said:

I am doing a build based on a Intel i5 6600K and plan to do overclocking. There are so many motherboards out there that I have no idea which one will perform the best. I have a budget for the motherboard between 100 and 150 USD and looking at either a MSI or ASUS board. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!

Within a $100–150 budget, there probably aren't a lot of boards that are massively better or worse for overclocking.

 

I personally own the Asus Z170-A and it seems to be a fine choice for overclocking, both from my experience and from several professional reviews I've read. I don't necessarily know if it's much better than other $150 motherboards, though.