Best X99 mobo for gaming

[Thelillypad123]

Simple enough: I like the prospect of getting x99 for future proofing my system rather than z170, I'm afraid if I buy a 6700k, I'm gonna get screwed if games start preferring and being optimized for more cores. I'm gonna pair with a 6800k. I'm looking for a mobo that can overclock the 6800k without hesitation, but also only give me the features that are beneficial to gaming. Is there a board around $200-$250 that would suit these needs? I also have the privilege of being located close to a microcenter.

[Guest]

Budget friendly: ASRock x99 Extreme and whatever the number after that

 

[shadowbyte]

if you live near a microcenter, do what I did

go there and look at the open box X99 boards

I scored an X99 pro with all accessories still sealed for 117.97 after a $50 MIR and 30 dollars off for purchasing with a 6800k.

[Energycore]

2 minutes ago, Thelillypad123 said:

Simple enough: I like the prospect of getting x99 for future proofing my system rather than z170, I'm afraid if I buy a 6700k, I'm gonna get screwed if games start preferring and being optimized for more cores. I'm gonna pair with a 6800k. I'm looking for a mobo that can overclock the 6800k without hesitation, but also only give me the features that are beneficial to gaming. Is there a board around $200-$250 that would suit these needs? I also have the privilege of being located close to a microcenter.

I like the MSI X99A SLI Krait.

[Arkratos]

As a programmer with plenty of friends in the game industry, multithreading games is hard and I mean really hard.  I don't expect games to utilize more than 4 cores for a good long while.  Even on the other hand if they could, they have to realize the hardware their target audience is using... until Intel decides to bring >4 core systems to mainstream I wouldn't worry about it.  That said x99 is a great platform and has excellent uses, just make sure you aim for high clock frequencies.

 

If you are still set on getting an x99 system, I've heard great things about the ASRock x99 Taichi.  Personally I'm a sucker for mini-itx now and would love to get my hands on the x99 mini itx board and try some pcie bifurcation.

[Thelillypad123]

49 minutes ago, Arkratos said:

As a programmer with plenty of friends in the game industry, multithreading games is hard and I mean really hard.  I don't expect games to utilize more than 4 cores for a good long while.  Even on the other hand if they could, they have to realize the hardware their target audience is using... until Intel decides to bring >4 core systems to mainstream I wouldn't worry about it.  That said x99 is a great platform and has excellent uses, just make sure you aim for high clock frequencies.

 

If you are still set on getting an x99 system, I've heard great things about the ASRock x99 Taichi.  Personally I'm a sucker for mini-itx now and would love to get my hands on the x99 mini itx board and try some pcie bifurcation.

While I agree with you by the simple fact that you do know what you are talking about and you are more experienced in this field, I'm still cautious because I was unfortunate enough to buy an i5 4690k under the impression that it would be "all I need for gaming" for years, however it is already bottlenecking my 1070 pretty hard in some CPU intensive titles like witcher 3 and bf4. Needless to say, I don't want a 6700k to do the same in 1-2 years. However, you are probably right that I'm better off with z170. 

 

Edit: interesting enough, I just found out that my parents bought me a 6700k.  Totally unexpected.

Edited December 15, 2016 by Thelillypad123

[Thelillypad123]

18 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

Budget friendly: ASRock x99 Extreme and whatever the number after that

 

Budget friendly, but can they overclock a 6800k to where it can get close to skylakes clockspeeds?

17 minutes ago, shadowbyte said:

if you live near a microcenter, do what I did

go there and look at the open box X99 boards

I scored an X99 pro with all accessories still sealed for 117.97 after a $50 MIR and 30 dollars off for purchasing with a 6800k.

That's one heck of a good deal. The problem is is I live about an hour away and I don't know how reliable their open box stuff is. Have you had more than one experience with it?

17 minutes ago, Energycore said:

I like the MSI X99A SLI Krait.

That color scheme is downright sexy. Also, looks like a pretty good value for the $$, however no debug light is a bit disappointing seeing as I feel I would freak out if it didn't post for some other component haha.

[shadowbyte]

Just now, Thelillypad123 said:

Budget friendly, but can they overclock a 6800k to where it can get close to skylakes clockspeeds?

That's one heck of a good deal. The problem is is I live about an hour away and I don't know how reliable their open box stuff is. Have you had more than one experience with it?

That color scheme is downright sexy. Also, looks like a pretty good value for the $$, however no debug light is a bit disappointing seeing as I feel I would freak out if it didn't post for some other component haha.

I've purchased 2 motherboards and one graphics card open box from them

all of them worked fully. The GPU was missing a few accessories, but it was simple stuff like molex cables (who uses these for a 980ti?)

it's kind of funny, because I bought two new motherboards from them, and both had issues, but the open box stuff was fine.

 

I'd suggest checking the microcenter website for open box stuff at your store before you head out, so you know what the prices are

[Thelillypad123]

4 minutes ago, shadowbyte said:

I've purchased 2 motherboards and one graphics card open box from them

all of them worked fully. The GPU was missing a few accessories, but it was simple stuff like molex cables (who uses these for a 980ti?)

it's kind of funny, because I bought two new motherboards from them, and both had issues, but the open box stuff was fine.

 

I'd suggest checking the microcenter website for open box stuff at your store before you head out, so you know what the prices are

Thanks for the info. I definitely see some wicked good prices on the open box stuff, which leads me to believe they are pretty empty boxes haha.