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IS MSI Z97 Gaming 3 Mobo is good for gaming and mid range overclocking ?

Tags:
  • Overclocking
  • Gaming
  • Motherboards
  • MSI
Last response: in Motherboards
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June 11, 2014 10:27:37 PM

Dear Respected Members and stuffs,

I want to buy a new rig for gaming.I am a noob.So please Help me.
My configuration is: Processor: Intel Core i5 4670K,
Motherboard: MSI Z97 Gaming 3 or Asus Z87-A
RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR3 8 GB
GPU: Readon HD 6670 1GB DDR5
PSU: Corsair VS550 550 Watt
I am not a Hardcore Gamer..And now i am not going to overclock but i'll buy k CPU and Mobo for Future upgradation and overclocking.Also i'll overclock max 4.2 ghz to 4.5 ghz.But i am still confused between Asus Z87-A and MSI Z97 Gaming 3.Please give me suggestion which mobo i'll go for.i have seen that Asus Z87-A have 8 phase Digital VRM where MSi Z97 Gaming 3 has 6 phase analog/hybrid VRm.But MSI is Z97 chipset for future upgradation.MSI Z97 also give feature for 3300 mhz oc.In my county only MSI Z97 Gaming series launched among all z97 chipsets..Others are all Z87.SO please tell me which mobo will be best for me ?? MSI Z97 Gaming 3 or Asus Z87- A Mobo..

More about : msi z97 gaming mobo good gaming mid range overclocking

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a b K Overclocking
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June 11, 2014 11:21:23 PM

Go with Asus Z87-A. Asus's quality is above & beyond MSI

You'll be able to upgrade to Haswell i7 on a Z87 motherboard. But there's not any difference between i7 4770k and i5 4670k as far gaming is concerned. Upgrading to Broadwell/Haswell-Refresh CPU's from i5 4670k is also not worth it since there is insignificant increase in performance. Broadwell is only die-shrink of Haswell and is based on same architecture and uses same socket 1150.

Intel's "Skylake" will probably give a significant performance bump as compared to current gen of Intel CPU's but is based on different socket 1151.

There's not any worthy upgrade from i5 4670k for gaming. Games tend to be more GPU bound, upgrading to stronger GPU will provide you with biggest performance boost.

As far as I know Haswell-Refresh and Broadwell are only compatible with 9-series chipset motherboards.

So either get i5 4690k + MSI Z97 Motherboard or i5 4670k + Asus Z87 Motherboard.
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June 12, 2014 10:52:05 PM

Thank you very much Sir..I'll go for Asus Z87-A.
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June 12, 2014 11:27:36 PM

Well, because z97 is the newest chipset
why you still want to get z87?
if it all about your budget, you may want to go without k series cpu, and try h97 mb
will save lot of money!

but anyway, both asus and msi are good though
for my personal prefer, i will vote for msi z97 mb, (i get one already)
audio is good, and if you are not a perfessional oc player, the oc button will help a lot
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a b K Overclocking
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September 13, 2014 11:36:24 PM

I have the MSI Z97 Gaming 3, it is okay but can't OC very well.
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September 14, 2014 1:19:11 AM

Why go with last gen chipset when you can go with the current one?
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a b K Overclocking
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September 14, 2014 3:37:44 AM

This thread is very old :p 
Wish I could go back in time and spent a little extra on a Gaming 5 though, so for anyone interested in the Gaming 3, I suggest saving up for a 5.
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September 14, 2014 3:40:43 AM

Alex Kelly said:
This thread is very old :p 
Wish I could go back in time and spent a little extra on a Gaming 5 though, so for anyone interested in the Gaming 3, I suggest saving up for a 5.


Ah I didn't even see the date of when this was published. I've got an MSI Z97M Gaming. If you want, we can trade hahaha.
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a b K Overclocking
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September 14, 2014 3:57:14 AM

Aahha well I like the ATX size, matches my case :p  what case are you using yours in? And does it OC well?
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September 14, 2014 4:01:17 AM

Alex Kelly said:
Aahha well I like the ATX size, matches my case :p  what case are you using yours in? And does it OC well?


True haha.

I'm using mine in an NZXT Phantom 410, Yes, I got my 4770K overclocked to 4.5 Ghz at 1.25v.

I also have my RAM overclocked to 2400 Mhz.
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a b K Overclocking
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September 14, 2014 4:03:44 AM

Nice, maybe I just got a dodgy OCer. My 4670k only gets to 4.3 at 1.16v, when I try 4.4 at 1.21 I get crashes and restarts :(  Not willing to push my voltage much further, either.
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September 14, 2014 4:08:45 AM

Alex Kelly said:
Nice, maybe I just got a dodgy OCer. My 4670k only gets to 4.3 at 1.16v, when I try 4.4 at 1.21 I get crashes and restarts :(  Not willing to push my voltage much further, either.


Have you tried overclocking just one of the cores? My top overclock is 4.7 on one of the cores, but it's still 4.7

This is what I did:

1 Core = 4.7
2 Cores = 4.6
3 Coes = 4.5
4 Cores = 4.5

For your CPU try doing this:

1 Core = 4.5
2 Cores = 4.4
3 Cores = 4.3
4 Cores = 4.3

Put it on 1.25v

Also, may I ask what your CPU cooler is?
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a b K Overclocking
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September 14, 2014 4:17:01 AM

I'll give it a go, thanks :) 
I had been using a Corsair H90, but I ordered a NZXT Kraken X61 and it's sitting in a warehouse ready for me to pick up when I get home from holidays. So my cooling is good, but I still get over 80C in stress tests with my voltage at 1.21v. Not really keen to de-lid, as I don't have a vice and don't want to risk breaking my CPU :p 
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September 14, 2014 4:20:02 AM

Alex Kelly said:
I'll give it a go, thanks :) 
I had been using a Corsair H90, but I ordered a NZXT Kraken X61 and it's sitting in a warehouse ready for me to pick up when I get home from holidays. So my cooling is good, but I still get over 80C in stress tests with my voltage at 1.21v. Not really keen to de-lid, as I don't have a vice and don't want to risk breaking my CPU :p 


Those are stress tests man. Mine gets higher than 80c when I do some stress tests.

Those are supposed to put your CPU to maximum load and that's supposed to put your temps way high.
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September 14, 2014 4:34:48 AM

Yeah I know, but I like testing for hours so that I know I won't crash and poop my pants when I get a BSOD suddenly, and it feels wrong having it run over 80C for hours at a time. But you're right, it should be fine. I'll try and push it to 4.4 at least after I install my X61 :)  Apparently it's the best AIO cooler out right now.
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September 14, 2014 4:41:05 AM

Alex Kelly said:
Yeah I know, but I like testing for hours so that I know I won't crash and poop my pants when I get a BSOD suddenly, and it feels wrong having it run over 80C for hours at a time. But you're right, it should be fine. I'll try and push it to 4.4 at least after I install my X61 :)  Apparently it's the best AIO cooler out right now.


I've got an H100i and I'm loving it haha.
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