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Motherboard selection

zJordan
By zJordan
in CPUs, Motherboards, and Memory
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I've narrowed down my motherboard options to the following:

 

ASUS Z170-Pro (https://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/Z170-PRO/))

ASUS Z170-Pro Gaming (https://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/Z170-PRO-GAMING/)

ASUS Z170-A (https://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/Z170-A/)

 

So which one is best? They are all roughly the same price in the UK (£130 on Amazon) but the Pro Gaming doesn't really fit my case's colour scheme (Which is a white NZXT S340).

 

I've read the Z170-Pro is very similar to the A but has less fan headers and better onboard audio.

 

Feel free to recommend any other motherboards (Except MSI) for this price range (up to £140 basically)

 

Thanks!

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Motherboards are strange beings. There are literally a billion of them and they're all different in some way :P

 

What colour scheme are you going for in you build? Those boards are pretty similar, but you could slim down your choice by picking which one(s) look best first. What's your grudge against MSI, out of curiosity?

 

P.S If it end up being a tie between the A and the Pro, I'd take better on board audio for less fan headers any time :P

“sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic still going to require driver rollbacks when it stops working for no reason“

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1 minute ago, Thorimus said:

Motherboards are strange beings. There are literally a billion of them and they're all different in some way :P

 

What colour scheme are you going for in you build? Those boards are pretty similar, but you could slim down your choice by picking which one(s) look best first. What's your grudge against MSI, out of curiosity?

 

P.S If it end up being a tie between the A and the Pro, I'd take better on board audio for less fan headers any time :P

Well of the two MSI boards I have purchased since 2014, both came DOA. The first one came DOA, then the replacement so I got a refund.

 

I know motherboards really aren't that important these days, but I want a solid board that will give me some good overclocking headroom with lots of expansion. Colour scheme is anything that is really neutral with a white case (NZXT S340), so the pro gaming seems to be off the table for that. Laputacake's suggestion of a Asrock Z170 Extreme4 is something I am looking at now.

7 minutes ago, Laputacake said:

Why not the Asrock Z170 Extreme4?

I think I may actually go with it. Doesn't have as much gimmicky features as ASUS such as Sonic Radar 2 (No big deal AT ALL!) but it looks like a very solid board, everything I need and its only £110. I will research a bit and update the thread.

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1 minute ago, zJordan said:

Well of the two MSI boards I have purchased since 2014, both came DOA. The first one came DOA, then the replacement so I got a refund.

 

I know motherboards really aren't that important these days, but I want a solid board that will give me some good overclocking headroom with lots of expansion. Colour scheme is anything that is really neutral with a white case (NZXT S340), so the pro gaming seems to be off the table for that. Laputacake's suggestion of a Asrock Z170 Extreme4 is something I am looking at now.

I think I may actually go with it. Doesn't have as much gimmicky features as ASUS such as Sonic Radar 2 (No big deal AT ALL!) but it looks like a very solid board, everything I need and its only £110. I will research a bit and update the thread.

The Extreme4 looks pretty good, however I'm not sure how AsRock's OC features and performance compare to ASUS's, especially the Z170-Pro

“sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic still going to require driver rollbacks when it stops working for no reason“

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1 minute ago, Thorimus said:

The Extreme4 looks pretty good, however I'm not sure how AsRock's OC features and performance compare to ASUS's, especially the Z170-Pro

Should be fine. It was the board I was going for but I got my Z170-A for £90

Steve

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Just now, Thorimus said:

The Extreme4 looks pretty good, however I'm not sure how AsRock's OC features and performance compare to ASUS's, especially the Z170-Pro

It doesn't compare greatly, whilst it is cheaper ASUS's boards seem to perform better in overclocking but providing I can get a 4.5-4.6GHz overclock with a Noctua NH-D14 (and providing I am lucky with silicon) it isn't a deal breaker.

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Z170 Pro. I love my Z87 Pro, don't see why it wouldn't be amazing in this gen as well

[ASUS onboard audio is pretty amazing]

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38 minutes ago, zJordan said:

I've narrowed down my motherboard options to the following:

 

ASUS Z170-Pro (https://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/Z170-PRO/))

ASUS Z170-Pro Gaming (https://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/Z170-PRO-GAMING/)

ASUS Z170-A (https://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/Z170-A/)

 

So which one is best? They are all roughly the same price in the UK (£130 on Amazon) but the Pro Gaming doesn't really fit my case's colour scheme (Which is a white NZXT S340).

 

I've read the Z170-Pro is very similar to the A but has less fan headers and better onboard audio.

 

Feel free to recommend any other motherboards (Except MSI) for this price range (up to £140 basically)

 

Thanks!

The difference between the 3 is as follows:

 

Z170-A: Base model Z170 board.  Built to Intel's spec with ASUS's standards.

Z170-Pro: Slightly better NIC, onboard audio, and power delivery.

Z170-Pro Gaming: Slightly better audio and better gaming oriented software (which some people value, others unvalued)

Please spend as much time writing your question, as you want me to spend responding to it.  Take some time, and explain your issue, please!

Spoiler

If you need to learn how to install Windows, check here:  http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/324871-guide-how-to-install-windows-the-right-way/

Event Viewer 101: https://youtu.be/GiF9N3fJbnE

 

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4 minutes ago, JefferyD90 said:

The difference between the 3 is as follows:

 

Z170-A: Base model Z170 board.  Built to Intel's spec with ASUS's standards.

Z170-Pro: Slightly better NIC, onboard audio, and power delivery.

Z170-Pro Gaming: Slightly better audio and better gaming oriented software (which some people value, others unvalued)

Alright, that was pretty helpful.

 

So basically I've decided I am not interested in the Pro Gaming (It's more expensive and colour theme doesn't fit my case). So right now its down to Z170-Pro or ASRock Extreme4 (Which I really like, it's cheaper)

 

Also I've never been a fan of updating BIOS's and the ASRock has a dual bios, in which both BIOS ROMS are removable (aka I can replace them if I somehow manage to fuck up both)

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1 minute ago, zJordan said:

Alright, that was pretty helpful.

 

So basically I've decided I am not interested in the Pro Gaming (It's more expensive and colour theme doesn't fit my case). So right now its down to Z170-Pro or ASRock Extreme4 (Which I really like, it's cheaper)

 

Also I've never been a fan of updating BIOS's and the ASRock has a dual bios, in which both BIOS ROMS are removable (aka I can replace them if I somehow manage to fuck up both)

Look, I don't want to really throw AsRock under the bus...  But like, they make pretty spotty motherboards.  Like, they don't overclock well, they use cheap Korean capacitors, and generally speaking don't have great software or driver support.

 

If you want something cheaper, look at MSI or Gigabyte.

Please spend as much time writing your question, as you want me to spend responding to it.  Take some time, and explain your issue, please!

Spoiler

If you need to learn how to install Windows, check here:  http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/324871-guide-how-to-install-windows-the-right-way/

Event Viewer 101: https://youtu.be/GiF9N3fJbnE

 

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20 minutes ago, zJordan said:

Alright, that was pretty helpful.

 

So basically I've decided I am not interested in the Pro Gaming (It's more expensive and colour theme doesn't fit my case). So right now its down to Z170-Pro or ASRock Extreme4 (Which I really like, it's cheaper)

 

Also I've never been a fan of updating BIOS's and the ASRock has a dual bios, in which both BIOS ROMS are removable (aka I can replace them if I somehow manage to fuck up both)

Why don't you go to the Asus Z170 PRO Gaming/Aura?
It have a more neutral color, have the same feature that the not aura have, plus have RGB led behind the board to match your setup.

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