Z170 Maximus VIII Hero Alpha Thoughts?

[Omie]

This board is currently on sale with a $30 off promo code and $30 mail in rebate plus $30 off its price, so it's around $200 with all the discounts applied.

 

Is this a good board to invest in? I was settled on the Z170 Pro Gaming Aura but this board grabbed my attention with its OC potential and aesthetics as well as the RGB shroud. Plus with my H115i setup (w/ 2x ML140 Pro rad fans), I think this board will be more beneficial in helping me achieve reasonable OC's. Also, I want to overclock my memory to 3200Mhz as well and I believe the Hero will allow me to do so while also keeping my CPU overclocked.

 

I have a Strix 1080 so I know I will be giving up Aura Sync if I decide to go with the Hero instead of the Pro Gaming Aura.

 

Apart from the loss of Aura Sync, the other thing that is leading me away from the Hero is the lack of USB 3.0 ports on the rear IO panel. It only has 2 USB 3.0 ports which means both ports will be filled up due to my K70 Lux RGB keyboard and G502 mouse. Athough, I don't think I'll be using any other devices that would be beneficial to plugging in the back of the mobo except those two. I do have Logitech z200 speakers but those should plug into the respective audio hole thingy and not a USB 3.0 port.

 

So considering my situation, what are your guys' thoughts? Should I go with the VIII Hero?

 

Here is my current build: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ncB2jc

[OsuMasterz]

5 minutes ago, Omie said:

This board is currently on sale with a $30 off promo code and $30 mail in rebate plus $30 off its price, so it's around $200 with all the discounts applied.

 

Is this a good board to invest in? I was settled on the Z170 Pro Gaming Aura but this board grabbed my attention with its OC potential and aesthetics as well as the RGB shroud. Plus with my H115i setup (w/ 2x ML140 Pro rad fans), I think this board will be more beneficial in helping me achieve reasonable OC's. Also, I want to overclock my memory to 3200Mhz as well and I believe the Hero will allow me to do so while also keeping my CPU overclocked.

 

I have a Strix 1080 so I know I will be giving up Aura Sync if I decide to go with the Hero instead of the Pro Gaming Aura.

 

Apart from the loss of Aura Sync, the other thing that is leading me away from the Hero is the lack of USB 3.0 ports on the rear IO panel. It only has 2 USB 3.0 ports which means both ports will be filled up due to my K70 Lux RGB keyboard and G502 mouse. Athough, I don't think I'll be using any other devices that would be beneficial to plugging in the back of the mobo except those two. I do have Logitech z200 speakers but those should plug into the respective audio hole thingy and not a USB 3.0 port.

 

So considering my situation, what are your guys' thoughts? Should I go with the VIII Hero?

 

Here is my current build: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ncB2jc

Maybe it's so cheap because of how many people in the reviews are saying how it keeps breaking easily and the horrible customer support lol

[Paradine Sage]

That's about all I've seen about it.

 

I would go with the 7700k instead of the 6700k in your build though. 

[Omie]

17 minutes ago, Paradine Sage said:

That's about all I've seen about it.

 

I would go with the 7700k instead of the 6700k in your build though. 

Kabylake doesn't provide like any improvement from Skylake so I'll be sticking to the 6700k. Besides I've actually received all my parts besides my mobo so I kind of forgot to mention that.

[Paradine Sage]

4 minutes ago, Omie said:

Kabylake doesn't provide like any improvement from Skylake so I'll be sticking to the 6700k. Besides I've actually received all my parts besides my mobo so I kind of forgot to mention that.

Kabylake is a straight up better price/performance than Skylake but if you already have the 6700k then you shouldn't upgrade.

 

I would still probably go with a z270 board though, for at least some future proofing. And in this case, it's a ROG board. Odd's are that ASUS isn't going to massively fuck it up.

 

And no, you won't be loosing Aura Sync with the Hero. All of the new ASUS boards support it. They spend a while talking about it at the start of that vid I linked jump to about 7:20.

[Omie]

2 minutes ago, Paradine Sage said:

Kabylake is a straight up better price/performance than Skylake but if you already have the 6700k then you shouldn't upgrade.

 

I would still probably go with a z270 board though, for at least some future proofing. And in this case, it's a ROG board. Odd's are that ASUS isn't going to massively fuck it up.

 

And no, you won't be loosing Aura Sync with the Hero. All of the new ASUS boards support it. They spend a while talking about it at the start of that vid I linked jump to about 7:20.

Well I actually bought the 6700k during Black Friday so I got it for like $299. Regardless, do you know when you will be able to buy the 7700k? I can't seem to find it anywhere.

 

Also, when will the z270 boards be available? Because I would like Aura Sync.

[Paradine Sage]

1 minute ago, Omie said:

Well I actually bought the 6700k during Black Friday so I got it for like $299. Regardless, do you know when you will be able to buy the 7700k? I can't seem to find it anywhere.

 

Also, when will the z270 boards be available? Because I would like Aura Sync.

Silicon Lottery is saying that they will be done binning them and start shipping them tomorrow or Saturday.

 

No idea, probably within the next week though.

[Omie]

3 minutes ago, Paradine Sage said:

Silicon Lottery is saying that they will be done binning them and start shipping them tomorrow or Saturday.

 

No idea, probably within the next week though.

Oh I see. Looks like it's already sold out on Silicon Lottery. I was wondering if you know when it's going to be coming to retailers like Newegg and Amazon.

 

Also, I'm assuming the z270 IX Hero will be priced much higher than the z170 VIII Hero?

[Paradine Sage]

1 minute ago, Omie said:

Oh I see. Looks like it's already sold out on Silicon Lottery. I was wondering if you know when it's going to be coming to retailers like Newegg and Amazon.

 

Also, I'm assuming the z270 IX Hero will be priced much higher than the z170 VIII Hero?

Probably within a few days. And no, it will probably drop around the same MSRP as the Hero 8. The board is targeting the same market which means the same price point, and I kinda thought you already had the price given that your opening sentence is that it is around $200 dollars with all the discounts.

[Omie]

5 minutes ago, Paradine Sage said:

Probably within a few days. And no, it will probably drop around the same MSRP as the Hero 8. The board is targeting the same market which means the same price point, and I kinda thought you already had the price given that your opening sentence is that it is around $200 dollars with all the discounts.

Yeah, well now I'm kinda stuck in a dilemma.

 

I can still return my 6700k through Amazon since it's unopened and it's returnable until Jan.31. I can do that and get the 7700k but I don't know how much the z270 IX Hero will be, plus I'm not really willing to shell out more $ over the discounted VIII Hero at ~$200. 

 

EDIT: Wtf, it seems the z270 is already out??https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01NBHXSP6/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1483603423&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=z270%2Bmaximus%2Bix&dpPl=1&dpID=517qBApdjaL&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1

[Paradine Sage]

5 minutes ago, Omie said:

Yeah, well now I'm kinda stuck in a dilemma.

 

I can still return my 6700k through Amazon since it's unopened and it's returnable until Jan.31. I can do that and get the 7700k but I don't know how much the z270 IX Hero will be, plus I'm not really willing to shell out more $ over the discounted VIII Hero at ~$200. 

 

EDIT: Wtf, it seems the z270 is already out??https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01NBHXSP6/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1483603423&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=z270%2Bmaximus%2Bix&dpPl=1&dpID=517qBApdjaL&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1

That just went live, probably within the last few hours.

 

If you can return the 6700k until the 31st then you might want to wait until you see the 7700k price before you decide whether to return it or keep it. Assuming that you can get the 7700k for something close to MSRP then it's the better choice.

[Omie]

1 minute ago, Paradine Sage said:

That just went live, probably within the last few hours.

 

If you can return the 6700k until the 31st then you might want to wait until you see the 7700k price before you decide whether to return it or keep it. Assuming that you can get the 7700k for something close to MSRP then it's the better choice.

Alright, well regardless should I go ahead and buy the IX hero now? I mean I don't want it to sell out and it's a way better upgrade to the VIII hero too.

[Paradine Sage]

1 minute ago, Omie said:

Alright, well regardless should I go ahead and buy the IX hero now? I mean I don't want it to sell out and it's a way better upgrade to the VIII hero too.

You need a motherboard and two hundred bucks is a reasonable price for that board.

[Omie]

2 minutes ago, Paradine Sage said:

You need a motherboard and two hundred bucks is a reasonable price for that board.

Yeah. Also, maybe I'm being paranoid, but why doesn't it say z270 in the Amazon title where for the IX Formula and IX Code it says z270?

[Paradine Sage]

6 minutes ago, Omie said:

Yeah. Also, maybe I'm being paranoid, but why doesn't it say z270 in the Amazon title where for the IX Formula and IX Code it says z270?

Scroll down to the technical specifications. Chipset under the Hero says z270.

[Omie]

3 minutes ago, Paradine Sage said:

Scroll down to the technical specifications. Chipset under the Hero says z270.

Ah ok cool. Thanks for letting me know about all this man. Saved me from A LOT of buyers remorse.