Need help picking a motherboard for my build.

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Philosophia

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I'm trying to figure out a good motherboard for my pc build. I wanted to have the potential to sli or crossfire. The computer was to be used for gaming. Let me be candid, I'm new to this and I am fairly ignorant about pc hardware. I received help constructing this build and the motherboard recommended to me was the ASUS Maximus VI Hero ATX. I would like to know in terms of quality, performance, and features if this is a good motherboard or if there is another one that would be better. I do not wish to go over $230 unless there was a good reason for it. Please explain yourself to help me understand the decision. Thank you for your help.

This is my build so far:

-Intel Core i5 4670K Unlocked Quad Core 3.4GHZ Processor LGA1150 Haswell

-Corsair RM750 Silence ATX 12V V2.31 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply Active PFC 135mm Fan

-Plextor 128GB SSD M5 Pro Xtreme 2.5 SATA3 6GB

-Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64Bit

-Noctua NH-D14

-EVGA GeForce GTX 770 1046MHZ 4GB

-Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM

-Fractal Design Arc MIDI R2

-G.SKILL Ripjaws 8GB 2X4GB DDR3

 
Solution
Tradesman1
Your's is a great build, the Hero is standing out as the class of the Z87 mobos, Asus seems to have the best handle on the Z87/Haswell and the Hero was what I decided on after about 20 assorted Haswell builds....also if you glance over as NewEgg it has the best approval rating by customers (over 75% being 5 Egg) and the most reviews, so seems most everyone loves it....I know I throw a lot at mine (testing components for builds, upgrades repairs and it has taken everything...BIOS is good and allows detailed tuning, handles DRAM extremely well, OCs great and runs cool...Yo don't mention what DRAM in particular, would suggest at least 1866/9
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lonewolf7

lonewolf7

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May 6, 2013
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks


Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD4H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($174.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $402.97
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-14 15:10 EDT-0400)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($143.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $143.99
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-14 15:11 EDT-0400)

 
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Tradesman1

Tradesman1

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Your's is a great build, the Hero is standing out as the class of the Z87 mobos, Asus seems to have the best handle on the Z87/Haswell and the Hero was what I decided on after about 20 assorted Haswell builds....also if you glance over as NewEgg it has the best approval rating by customers (over 75% being 5 Egg) and the most reviews, so seems most everyone loves it....I know I throw a lot at mine (testing components for builds, upgrades repairs and it has taken everything...BIOS is good and allows detailed tuning, handles DRAM extremely well, OCs great and runs cool...Yo don't mention what DRAM in particular, would suggest at least 1866/9
 
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Solution
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Philosophia

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Sorry about that the one I was intending to purchase was the G.SKILL Ripjaws 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1333 CL9-9-9-24 240PIN DIMM Memory. I'm learning as I go and it is somewhat difficult for me to read at times. I didn't realize the difference between the two until your post. What would you recommend going with? I know you said at least 1866/9, but is there one that you prefer?
 
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Akashdeep

Akashdeep

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You should go for ASUS. Neither MSI nor Gigabyte, as you have strong built of other components.

If you can spend lots of bucks on compnents, then why looking for cheap boards like MSI or Gigabyte? Why not ASUS?

Why not ASUS SABERTOOTH Z87 or ASUS Z87-Deluxe?
 
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Philosophia

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Would you please elaborate on why I should choose the asus sabertooth over the maximus vi hero? I don't know much about the sabertooth.

 
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Philosophia

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So you think the 1866 is fine to go with? Thank you for the detail in your first post, it solidified my choice on going with the asus maximus hero. I was just curious, what you think of the asus sabertooth z87. It was recommended by akashdeep and I was hoping you could give me your opinion on it since you have so much experience.

 
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Akashdeep

Akashdeep

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Not much difference. As Maximus VI Hero is also Z87 based chipset as I quoted about SABERTOOTH and DELUXE one.

Choice is yours, as per your budget and need. :)
 
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Tradesman1

Tradesman1

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Have built on both, the Hero and Sabertooth, the Heros have taken less voltage to hit 4.6 than the Sabertooth, I also (for me) like the openness of the mobo, I use mine as a testbed for other components in addition to being a production rig...haven't noticed either really running any cooler than the other, and can get dust and stuff accumulater under the armor of the sabertooth.

On DRAM, yes, for my builds I look to 1866 as the entry (1600 is the accepted entry) level as most rigs I build, even for gamers also are used for other, and while 1600 is fine for gaming, if multi-tasking, doing imaging, video, CAD, GIS, etc the additional bandwidth of 1866 and up can be very productive, for my rigs, I generally go as fast and as much as I can, see sig
 
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Philosophia

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Thank you to everyone who responded to my thread it has helped me out a lot. I'm going to purchase the asus maximus vi hero and step my dram up to 1866/9. Tradesman, thank you for such detailed responses it made the decision easy.
 
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