High-end Motherboard necessary for GAMING?

tommy4711

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Dec 13, 2013
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Asus TUF SABERTOOTH z87 ~$315
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H ~$213

Which one is a better value for gaming?
Is a high end motherboard neccesary to futureproof / ensure future upgradability for my machine?
 
Solution
you're buying Intel, so future processors will likely use a different socket. as for the board, a ~$140 one will do just fine. think just the z87x-d3h

no, you do not need a high end mobo for gaming

misclik

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Sep 17, 2012
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you're buying Intel, so future processors will likely use a different socket. as for the board, a ~$140 one will do just fine. think just the z87x-d3h

no, you do not need a high end mobo for gaming
 
Solution

tommy4711

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Are there any noticeable advantages of having a high-end motherboard?
If not, why is it so pricey!? haha
 
Out of the box, a high-end motherboard does not offer performance improvements. It may offer additional / newer interfaces, and more ports and/or slots, which increases future-resistance, or it may offer higher overclocking, which can add performance. It should also be built with higher-quality components, which should increase its lifespan (although all but the cheapest boards use all-solid capacitors now).
The Sabertooth has the distinction of offering a five-year warranty, which certainly implies quality and longevity. The much cheaper MSI GD65 Gaming board also uses milspec components though, so it is likely to last as long.
If you build a new rig every year or so, there's probably no need to get a high-dollar board. If you build for longevity though (as I do), you won't regret paying the premium now because it works out to very little when spread over the life of the system.
 

misclik

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some of them are better for overclocking. but you spend $100 for another 5% overclock performance. also, they may have more PCIe 3.0 slots. usually ~$140 - 150 mobos have 2 which is enough.

also, they look nicer sometimes.

your mobo choice will not affect gaming almost at all, just al long as you do not buy a $50 motherboard, very cheap ones may just die. $140 or so ones are good quality products.
 

MattyB13

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Maybe Ive been lucky but I have never had a motherboard crap out on me, and Ive used multiple boards for 5+ years. It is not worth the extra money unless you just have it to burn and think it looks cool :p
 
I've only had a few mobo failures. A couple of cheap Biostar ICH7 S775 boards died within a couple years of installation (maybe as little as one), I had a Gigabyte S775 mATX (-DS2R?) die, another Gigabyte S775 just lost its BIOS (AND the backup BIOS) recently after 7-8 years, and an ASRock mITX blew a VRM (at stock, but I think a nearby hot GPU may have contributed; ASRock RMA replaced it for $50 though). I've had some quirks with a few Abit and ASRock boards, but nothing serious (e.g. driver anomalies), but that's it. In general, I am most satisfied with Asus and ASRock. I've spent more (typically looking for a specific feature I wanted), but I think $120-$150 should buy a perfectly capable (overclocking) motherboard, good for years; $80-$100 if you're not looking to OC (although you may lose some slots or ports found only on a higher-priced board).