H170/Z170/B150 chipsets - does it all matter?

[Murasaki]

Yesterday, I asked what i7 should I go for and I got some answers.

While looking for motherboards for an i7 6700, I saw some motherboards with different chipsets.

I've looked around and honestly I have no idea if selecting either one of these is a bad choice.

 

The only problem is my case can fit only mATX, and most I see were ATX form factor.

So my choice was ASUS H170M-PLUS since its mATX, good or bad?

[Philcat101]

B series: Budget oriented

H series: Mid range, more features (depends on motherboard)

Z series: Overclock-able if you have the CPU for it

 

Your choice is good. If you ever upgrade to a K series CPU, and want to overclock, you might want a Z series chipset now.

[Murasaki]

2 minutes ago, Philcat101 said:

B series: Budget oriented

H series: Mid range, more features (depends on motherboard)

Z series: Overclock-able if you have the CPU for it

 

Your choice is good. If you ever upgrade to a K series CPU, and want to overclock, you might want a Z series chipset now.

I'm not into overclocking so yeah, most Z boards are ATX anyway so thats no problem. My budget isnt limited so i'll stick with my choice.

Got any idea what "more features" do these boards punch? BIOS stuff?

[dizmo]

14 minutes ago, ModuleLFS said:

I'm not into overclocking so yeah, most Z boards are ATX anyway so thats no problem. My budget isnt limited so i'll stick with my choice.

Got any idea what "more features" do these boards punch? BIOS stuff?

BIOS options, some H series boards only support Crossfire and not SLI, most Z boards have more USB ports etc.

You really need to look at all the options; a lot of the time a cheaper Z series board will have more features than an H series board.

[Moonzy]

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Z170-H170-H110-B170-Q150-Q170---What-is-the-Difference-635/

 

tl;dr version: MOAR PORTS! MOAR PCIE!!!

 

tl;dr of tl;dr version: doesnt really matter unless you're getting a k-series chip `-`

[Murasaki]

1 minute ago, dizmo said:

BIOS options, some H series boards only support Crossfire and not SLI, most Z boards have more USB ports etc.

You really need to look at all the options; a lot of the time a cheaper Z series board will have more features than an H series board.

I haven't really seen any cheaper but they're ATX, I did see ASUS Z170M-PLUS for a higher price, I'll compare them and choose between the two.

[dizmo]

3 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Z170-H170-H110-B170-Q150-Q170---What-is-the-Difference-635/

 

tl;dr version: MOAR PORTS! MOAR PCIE!!!

 

tl;dr of tl;dr version: doesnt really matter unless you're getting a k-series chip `-`

Or you need those additional USB ports

3 minutes ago, ModuleLFS said:

I haven't really seen any cheaper but they're ATX, I did see ASUS Z170M-PLUS for a higher price, I'll compare them and choose between the two.

What's your budget? I see many, many Micro ATX LGA1151 boards...

[Murasaki]

6 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Or you need those additional USB ports

What's your budget? I see many, many Micro ATX LGA1151 boards...

I would use 3 usb ports at once max.. 

 

Yes they are many, this is the online store I order from.

http://www.pro-bg.com/product/index.php?category_id=7&manufacture_id=0&param_446=1377

The stuff I go for is 200~250 лв though I'm leaning towards ASUS boards.

I'm not making a killer machine here so no EXTREME GAMING Z OVERDRIVE boards are needed  

 

[Moonzy]

8 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Or you need those additional USB ports

those are the available USB ports from the CHIPSET

it's up to the board manufacturers to implement however much ports they want

 

i havent seen much motherboard with more than 10 usb ports built in, let alone 20

[dizmo]

6 minutes ago, ModuleLFS said:

I would use 3 usb ports at once max.. 

 

Yes they are many, this is the online store I order from.

http://www.pro-bg.com/product/index.php?category_id=7&manufacture_id=0&param_446=1377

The stuff I go for is 200~250 лв though I'm leaning towards ASUS boards.

I'm not making a killer machine here so no EXTREME GAMING Z OVERDRIVE boards are needed  

 

Ahhh yes that changes things completely. Always useful to include that information in the original post, especially if you're from another country

If you're not going to use more than that, and you're not overclocking or wanting to use SLI, then I'd just go with a basic B series motherboard.

Are you sure you'd only use that many? I use 7.

1. Keyboard
2. Keyboard
3. Mouse
4. USB hub (monitor)
5. Printer
6. External drive
7. WiFi adapter

Soon I'll be adding another external drive. It's different for each person of course, but worth thinking about.

3 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

those are the available USB ports from the CHIPSET

it's up to the board manufacturers to implement however much ports they want

 

i havent seen much motherboard with more than 10 usb ports built in, let alone 20

Right, but generally Z series boards have the most ports. I don't think I've ever seen an H or B series board with 8 ports, for example, but a lot of Z series boards do.

Or, an H and Z board, at the same price, the Z usually has more ports.

[Murasaki]

9 minutes ago, dizmo said:

snip~

1. Keyboard + Wireless mouse (keyboard has additional 2 usb ports on the side, using 1 of them)

2. Phone

3. For a flash drive (USB3)

 

haha im way more compact than you  

 

B series look... plain af somehow I don't like it 

[dizmo]

11 minutes ago, ModuleLFS said:

1. Keyboard + Wireless mouse (keyboard has additional 2 usb ports on the side, using 1 of them)

2. Phone

3. For a flash drive (USB3)

 

haha im way more compact than you  

Haha, yes. But you don't have a printer

I use the front ports on my case to hook up portable HDD's and my flash drives.

I have 2 mice hooked up, I use the USB port on my keyboard for one of them. Oy. Never enough ports!

 

Yeah, you'll definitely pay more to get a certain look. If your case doesn't have a window, I wouldn't bother.

[Murasaki]

6 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Haha, yes. But you don't have a printer

I use the front ports on my case to hook up portable HDD's and my flash drives.

I have 2 mice hooked up, I use the USB port on my keyboard for one of them. Oy. Never enough ports!

 

Yeah, you'll definitely pay more to get a certain look. If your case doesn't have a window, I wouldn't bother.

True it doesn't but i'll stick to my initial choise, the prices aren't very different and if im gonna get a motherboard, ill get a motherboard.