Confusion about motherboards and what I should buy

x89 doesn't exist yet - they're still on x79. x89 is due this fall. the X series is the extreme performance, and it won't fit the i4770 CPU. You would need an LGA2011 socket chip. The main difference for your purpose would be quad channel memory, which would provide an increase in memory bandwidth and some increased performance. Also, if you eventually wanted to add additional graphics cards, there are additional PCI lanes with that board to handle more throughput if you add additional cards. It really is a marginal increase at a steep cost. The LGA2011 chips are much more expensive, and the motherboards are as well.

If you are not overclocking, you will be fine with a good H87 motherboard. Basically, the H series has premium tech but not the overclocking capability of the Z series boards. Going with the H87 board will save you some $$, and you won't know the difference for your use.

I take it you meant the z87 and the z79? The z79's have 4 channel hyper-threading (you need 4 matched sticks) while the z87's have dual channel hyper-threading. The old x58 chipsets have triple channel hyper-threading. Z79's have more bandwidth (40 PCIe lanes (allows for dual 16x, quad 8x on larger boards) and are able to overclock higher. More over clocking options too.

The Gigabyte board and CPU should do OK for you. For what you want to do with it I would use at least 16GB and probably more of system memory.

Again, if you're not overclocking, you should take a look at the H87 boards. But if you really want a Z87 board, go ahead and spend the extra $$.

As far as which one, just throw up the Newegg comparison to see which one has features you prefer. They'll all be very similar though. Also, it generally helps to read the reviews, but these boards are new enough that there is not very much history built up.

MSI is generally budget, but also somewhat lower quality (and really cheezy add-on software). But the MSI Z87 board was well reviewed I think on this website (or Anandtech I'm not sure). Asus is the market leader and generally higher quality, more features, and more $$. ASRock has snuck up on Asus with an excellent feature set with this generation of boards, and you'll pay a slightly lower cost. Gigabyte is stuck somewhere in the middle of all that.

Hey - no prob - enjoy the build!

Since it's in your budget, take a look at the Z87 Maximus Hero

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131989

of those you listed the Asus Z87 Pro, would be my second choice, then the Rock and finally the GB......don't waste time on the MSI, poor QC and support, I see more problems with systems running their mobos than any two of the Big three combined (which is why I refuse to build on MSI)

first i want to start off by introducing myself to everyone. im 42 yrs old and been building computers for over 25 years. I have owned many msi motherboards, and only buy the very top of the line products, (amd) products. i want to let everyone know exactly my experience and the kind of treatment i have got from a company that i used to swear by and gave many many thousands of my hard earned money. my current setup is as follows.

msi 990fxa-gd80v2 motherboard
amd fx-8120 cpu
corsair h100i water cooler w/ 2 2500rpm sp fans, and 2 delta 5000rpm high powered high performance fans in a push pull design
mushkin jewbelie 1000watt modular power supply
16gb gskill 1866 ripjaw memory
ocz vertex 80gb ssd, wd 2tb, seagate 2tb, 2tb,1.5tb
lg multi dvd/rw
evga geforce 660sc
thermaltake element case (nvidia edition)

from the start heres how it went for me, please read this it is very important to everyone.
I ordered this board from newegg when i got it and built the machine it was great. i set it all up and overclocked it to 5ghz it ran like a charm, idling between 18 to 25c i felt because of such low temps i could get more. so because the bios was limited on the voltage i reflashed the bios to f3 and it unlocked the voltages. i was then able to get it as high as 5.4ghz but the temps nearly doubled but yet was still very acceptable at idle 36c and underload 44c. but it would freeze up here n there to the end result i decided to stay with the 5ghz.
i used the msi live update tool and it redownloaded and installed the bios back to the newest version. and when it did something went wrong and the end result was it bricked the board wiping out the bios.. i had to rma the board, having to pay another 25$ to resend it back to msi and waiting around 2 weeks with the transfer time. now whats wrong is. I paid for a brand new board, but their policy states they only send back refurb items. the board i got back was scratched and a dent right on the north bridge heat sink. i wasnt to happy but i said "heh, what can ya do" I rebuild the machine and it turns out the new board aint half of the first board. at stock speeds i noticed the board was running literally 3 times hotter. stock speeds idling at 41c and couldnt even get
the board to run at 4.5ghz without it burning up. so i was like here we go. i called and was not happy so msi this time paid for the shipping seeing that it was a sec bad product. I waited again 2 weeks, in the mean time i called msi and requested that they please send me a new board so theres very minimal chance of something being wrong with the next one and they told me they will do their best. and i explained to them if it was possible that they could put a bios in the board for me that had an (unlocked) cpu voltage and they asked me what version did i prefer, all in all they said no problem. now i have finally got the board back after another 2 weeks (2 days ago). yesterday i rebuilt the machine again for the 3rd time. and guess what? same junk all over again. they did put a different bios version and i noticed a few new options in it. but same limited cpu voltage, and same temps that i cant do nothing with. i know the board very well because i used the first board for 6 months before the utility bricking it. i know exactly what the board is capable of. but not these refurbished boards, their refurbished for a reason. the board wont let me flash it backwards at all. and the same cpu that ran as high as 5.4ghz wont even run at 4.5ghz in the last board (refurb) boards without it burning up. everything is the same but the board. so today i call msi and explain to them that i feel like i been taking for a ride. and wish to speak to someone high up in the company and i was refused. and explained to the guy that i do not want this
board and because they refuse to send me a new board i asked ill just send the board in its entirety back and they can just credit my debit card. also they refused. thats what brings me here. its to let everyone know what msi did to me. once you give your money they no longer care about us as consumers. they list the product as this great overclocker, and even dedicate a section of the bios to overclocking but yet will tell you they dont support overclocking. i have a msi kn9s diamond (nvidia 780a) board that runs circles around this board in my closet. that overclocks just as good with a 1/3 the temps. my wife has a asrock extreeme 3 990 board in the living room that ran this cpu at 40c on air with a zalman cooler. yet this with water idle is at 41c. i will never in my life buy another msi product for this experience. i will take the board as a loss, i refuse to accept another refurbished product after paying top dollar and originally buying a brand new product. I hope this opens a lot of peoples eyes because this could be you with your next msi motherboard. would it really be worth taking that chance ? i even told the tech that i was gonna post all over the internet what kind of treatment i got from msi, and how they cant even make good on 2 defective products that they swear by. i never in my life had any issues like this with a motherboard and i have owned hundreds from every major manufacturer that makes mainboards, asus, gigabyte, ecs, even from epox and dfi when they were around. but msi lost a customer for life. ill
never in my life buy one again and i hope none of you do either just so no one has to ever go through this. i will order now the asrock 990fx extreeme 9 motherboard that does everything this msi board was supposed to be and then some. higher memory support, 8 sata 6.0, nearly doubled the usb 3.0 and highly overclockable. i hope this helps many of you. be wise and buy from another company. im sorry for any typos that may exist or not using periods and caps where i should have. thanks for you taking the time to read this.

ex-Msi User.

You should start a new thread all together with a title like, "Got Taken By MSI" or something. At anandtech.com, as well and others.....

thanx for that info i sure will.