Good gaming motherboards

Masoncfrey · Dec 17, 2013

Looking for a good 1150 socket gaming motherboard under 200 with the ability to upgrade my cup and gpu in the future.

Someone Somewhere · Dec 17, 2013

If you want to OC, or SLI/CF, get a Z87 Extreme4, GA-Z87X-D3H, or Z87-A.

If you don't want to, get a cheap H87 board with four RAM slots.

ess0523 · Dec 17, 2013

This is a pretty good gaming motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128671
I would have gone with Asus, but they are out of your price range.

Someone Somewhere · Dec 17, 2013

Don't bother with 'gaming' motherboards, unless you're a really serious OCer or want to run 3+ GPUs. Otherwise, it's just bling.

Masoncfrey · Dec 17, 2013

Someone Somewhere :

I'm not familiar with oc? I do know what sli and cf are but thank you

Someone Somewhere · Dec 17, 2013

OC=OverClocking. If you don't know what it is, you probably don't want to do it.

ess0523 · Dec 17, 2013

Someone Somewhere :

That is true, he just asked for a gaming motherboard specifically though, and instead of telling people what they don't want, i'll tell them what they asked.

Masoncfrey · Dec 17, 2013

Someone Somewhere :

What kind of motherboard would you recommend then? I'm not looking to do any over locking but definitely want to be able to upgrade.

Someone Somewhere · Dec 17, 2013

Pretty much all LGA1150 motherboards have exactly the same upgrade ability (with the exception of those with only two RAM slots, where you can't add more than two RAM sticks).

You want a Z87 board with two x8/x8 PCIe slots for SLI/CF.

ess0523 · Dec 17, 2013

The best motherboard with the most features (which could technically add to upgradability) for under $200 is open box (if that doesnt bother you) so it is cheaper. I think you should check it out:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128593R

Someone Somewhere · Dec 17, 2013

Yeah, but you're paying $70 for a couple of extra USB3.0 and SATA ports, especially if you're not OCing and won't use the better VRMs.

Few people use more than 6 SATA drives in a system

ess0523 · Dec 17, 2013

This is a really good motherboard and is like $40 cheaper. It is made by Asus so it is AWESOME quality:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131989R
I know it has a lot of bells and whistles, but it is pretty cheap and is ROG so it is meant for gaming and includes some good software (mostly OCing software though)...

Someone Somewhere · Dec 17, 2013

Actually, a study came out a while ago saying that Asus was about fifth in terms of failure rates. What people tend to believe is 'true' is often quite skewed by marketing.

ROG is a waste of money. Unless you want to OC or SLI/CF, don't spend more than ~$75 and get this: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-h87mpro4

ess0523 · Dec 17, 2013

I guess you could get that, because it is really cheap. But doesn't Asrock get a lot of failures and a lot of complaints? At least thats what I've heard. I would pick from the big 3 Asus (which i guess isn't as good), Gigabyte which is really good, and MSI. All three have GREAT support and awesome software like their own BIOS.

Someone Somewhere · Dec 17, 2013

MSI had a lot of VRM issues on some of their boards.

http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Most-Reliable-Hardware-of-2012-177/

Gigabyte was best, followed by Asus, ASRock, and MSI.

I'm sure I remember a number in the 2% range for ASUS. Might have been elsewhere.

With those small percentages, you need a huge amount of data to get meaningful results. Even mild bias can have a big impact.

Masoncfrey · Dec 17, 2013

Then what gigabyte motherboard do you recommend.

Someone Somewhere · Dec 17, 2013

GA-Z87X-D3H. Or one of these if you don't want to OC or CF/SLI: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gab85md3h

Do you want to overclock or run multiple GPUs?

ess0523 · Dec 17, 2013

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128592
This one looks pretty good if you won't pay for this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128593R

Masoncfrey · Dec 17, 2013

Thank you and I don't want to overclock or have multiple gpus. I'm just looking for something to run games like battlefield above average.

Someone Somewhere · Dec 17, 2013

There really is very little difference between those boards and the GA-Z87X-D3H, except for a few ports and bling.

EDIT: Found the study I saw last time: http://www.behardware.com/articles/862-2/components-returns-rates-6.html

Five of the six boards with a failure rate over 5% are asus, the other Gigabyte. ASRock came first.

However, without any information on sample size, both are pretty worthless.

Good gaming motherboards

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