Is there a compelling reason I should purchase a Z97 motherboard instead of an H97?

4x Fan · Jun 5, 2014

I've never built a computer before, and I'm in the beginning stages of gathering information. My goal is to construct a gaming system that will allow me to play some of the newer 4x games, such as Endless Legend and Age of Wonders III. Since these games don't require multiple graphics cards to run at max settings, I was thinking I could use an H97 motherboard instead of the more expensive Z97. (I'm willing to spend up to $200 for a motherboard, but would prefer to spend much less.)

So far, I plan to use an i5 4690 processor, a Radeon R9 270x graphics card, and 8GB RAM.

Thanks for any advice offered.

Dark Lord of Tech · Jun 5, 2014

If your not going to purchase a k = unlocked cpu , h97 will be fine.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty H97 Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($115.66 @ Newegg)
Total: $115.66
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-05 20:18 EDT-0400)

Hazle · Jun 5, 2014

reasons to get a Z#7 board over an H#7;
1) you're getting a K unlocked CPU to overclock with
2) SLI
3) you're a sucker for some of the other features
4) BLING BLING, MOTHER EFFA'~~~

photonboy · Jun 5, 2014

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal1ty%20H97%20Killer/

The Asrock H97 Fatality looks to be an excellent value. Unfortunately no customer reviews yet but quality is likely to be fairly good.

While the board is fairly basic which is fine as most people need little else, it does have an M.2 slot for an SSD stick which you might use in the future but currently for a desktop a 2.5" SSD makes the most sense.

4x Fan · Jun 9, 2014

Thanks SR-71 Blackbird and Photonboy. I spent some time looking at the motherboard you recommended, and I've decided that it will be the one I use.

I will soon pose a new question about the difference between SSD and traditional hard drives, and I hope you'll both take a look when I do.

Dark Lord of Tech · Jun 9, 2014

Sure can I own 4 SSD's and a dozen HDD's.

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Is there a compelling reason I should purchase a Z97 motherboard instead of an H97?

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