What motherboard to get?

[rrohde]

I am in the process of building a new gaming rig, and currently shopping around for the motherboard.

 

I already purchased the CPU: Intel i7 4790K 4.0GHz

 

Based on the CPU and my wish to ultimately go SLI, I came up with this motherboard:

ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO LGA 1150 Intel Z97.

 

Right now, in my mind, that's my choice of motherboard unless convinced otherwise.

 

What is your recommendation for a motherboard that supports this CPU and supports SLI? What are the pro and cons?

 

Thanks.

[Demon_]

Good mobo! Look like the same as the Gigabyte UD-7 TH.

I always look at the CPU power circuitry (overclocking), the expension slots and their positioning (my first video card use 3 slots), and the chipset (Z97). I use a sound card.

 

Personally, i prefer cheaper mobo. I mean, with less useless marketing stuff. :pain: For throwing it out the window in few years.

Nobody is perfect. :D

[Dusty Rhodes]

ASUS Maximus VII combined with my Devils Canyon and it ROCKS. I definitely would get the Maximus. OC'd my Devils Canyon to 4.6 stable.

[PureEvil]

MAXIMUS VII HERO

Expansion Slots 2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8, red)

 

Z97-WS

Expansion Slots 4 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (dual x16 or x16/x8/x8 or quad x8 )

 

confusing really.

Edited December 7, 2014 by PureEvil

[Buckeye]

The only reason I didn't go with the Maximus was because it has miserable reviews on NewEgg and other sites: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132125&cm_re=ASUS_MAXIMUS_VII_HERO-_-13-132-125-_-Product

 

Instead, I went with the MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard.

[Chief1942]

I went with the ASUS Z-97A. I'm running two GTX780 in SLI plus it gives you the ability to overclock. Just the basics and no whistles or bells that I wouldn't use. Good price as well.

[Demon_]

Only one mistake, the only mobos who support PCIe 3.0 dual x16 are the X99. They have to justify their price. :D

Informations are not always reliable at some sites.

[rrohde]

Personally, i prefer cheaper mobo. I mean, with less useless marketing stuff. :pain:

Nobody is perfect. :D

 

I am not sure what you mean by that... I would like to save some money as well, but I've been out of the hardware loop for a rather long time and with these gaming motherboards, they all look strange to me. When I was in IT, motherboards didn't have to look "fancy". :)

[rrohde]

Thanks for the feedback so far, guys.

 

I've added the MSI Z97-Gaming and ASUS Z97-A LGA mobos to my wishlist at Newegg in addition to the Hero. Time to compare.

 

In the meantime, I've ordered some RAM (G.SKILL Trident X Series DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400 (PC3 19200)) and was wondering if any of these motherboards would work better with that particular type of RAM.... thoughts?

 

Thanks again.

[Gladman]

I'm running the Maximus VII Hero. Absolutely love it. Amazing BIOS, more than enough expansion and USB slots. Can't say enough good about it.

 

Dale

[rrohde]

I'm running the Maximus VII Hero. Absolutely love it. Amazing BIOS, more than enough expansion and USB slots. Can't say enough good about it.

 

Dale

 

Thanks. That's good to know :)

[PureEvil]

Only one mistake, the only mobos who support PCIe 3.0 dual x16 are the X99. They have to justify their price. :D

Informations are not always reliable at some sites.

 

in my post above we can see that Z97-WS does it too, information is from the asus web site. strange that z97 game MB's don't have this feature, but workstation MB's do.

[Demon_]

Yep! Even the info from Asus's site are not good. :clown_2: Good to know. Thanks!

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/chipsets/performance-chipsets/z97-chipset.html

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/chipsets/performance-chipsets/x99-chipset.html

 

Edited December 7, 2014 by Demon_

[NeilWillis]

I have a Asus Sabretooth Z77.

 

I figured a Sabretooth would take down a Warthog :music_whistling:

[PureEvil]

Yep! Even the info from Asus's site are not good.

 

so, in theory intel and asus both can be wrong or right lol how the hell we customers are suppose to know how to choose the right components :crash:

[outlawal2]

so, in theory intel and asus both can be wrong or right lol how the hell we customers are suppose to know how to choose the right components :crash:

 

 

Intel makes the chipset so their information should be more solid than Asus..

[PureEvil]

should be

 

yeah, should be ))) the only proper way to find out how it really works, is to find some1 with this WS MB and ask him/her to test it with 2 cards.

[Demon_]

Max # of PCI Express Lanes 16

http://ark.intel.com/products/80807

[rrohde]

Interesting info, guys. Thanks a lot. :)

 

With my next paycheck, I'll get the motherboard.