Recommended z97 mobo for gaming between $200 and $300 (or lower)?

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Ngale

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For the most part I have been looking at the MSI z97 Gaming 9 AC mobo but I have seen so many complaints in the reviews that I am starting to get worried about purchasing it. If I were to go after a different Z97 board, what would be recommended between the price range of $200 to $300. Or if you think I should just stay with the current one I am looking at, let me know.

Current Board I am looking at: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130767&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

Other parts of the build I am looking at:

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor

Cooler: Corsair H110 94.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler

Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

SSD: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Superclocked ACX Video Card (2-Way SLI)

2nd Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Superclocked ACX Video Card (2-Way SLI)

PSU: SeaSonic X Series 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

Optical Drive: Asus OEM Blu-ray Drive

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)

Case: Cooler Master Trooper (Rev. 2)

Thanks ahead of time! Let me know if any other info is needed.

PS: Good on-board audio would be preferable.
 
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JackNaylorPE
The Asus Hero and GD-65 are virtually identical. The GD-65 is better reviewed and is $40 cheaper. Either one is a solid choice ..... at least one Asus gets the BIOS Clock Freeze problem fixed. You can google "Asus BIOS Clock Freeze" but here's a few. :

http://rog.asus.com/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=413302
http://www.simforums.com/forums/asus-rog-mobo-issues_topic47902.html
http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?36676-Frozen-Time-Clock-in-UEFI-The-Fix/page12

I just talked to Asus TS this morning. I was again told to "Update the BIOS".... (problem existed thru 0804, 1102, 12xx, 13xx, 1402 and now 1505x, what really made me nervous however was that the tech said he had no knowledge of any problem affecting all Asus...
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JackNaylorPE

JackNaylorPE

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The Asus Hero and GD-65 are virtually identical. The GD-65 is better reviewed and is $40 cheaper. Either one is a solid choice ..... at least one Asus gets the BIOS Clock Freeze problem fixed. You can google "Asus BIOS Clock Freeze" but here's a few. :

http://rog.asus.com/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=413302
http://www.simforums.com/forums/asus-rog-mobo-issues_topic47902.html
http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?36676-Frozen-Time-Clock-in-UEFI-The-Fix/page12

I just talked to Asus TS this morning. I was again told to "Update the BIOS".... (problem existed thru 0804, 1102, 12xx, 13xx, 1402 and now 1505x, what really made me nervous however was that the tech said he had no knowledge of any problem affecting all Asus Z87/Z97 boards. Despite the fact that Asus RoG and VIP Forums specifically state the problem, Asus official reps on the forum acknowledge the problem describe various temporary workarounds to the problem and even report that the problem has been identified and a fix being released for some boards, the phone TS staff are apparently uninformed on this issue.

Not suggesting that you read this post and make a decision thereon, but do ya research....look around and see just how prevalent reports are of any documented problems and read the reviews..... reputable sites put their reputation on the line with each review.

As for the new MSI Gaming series, I have seen some commonality is early problem reports that have made me take note. I don't know if these are newbie errors, new line "birthing" problems or indicators of issues that may remain consistent. For now I have been shying away from the new boards, sticking with the "tried and true" GD65 design.

Corsair has switched from Hynix modules to another brand and their timings have dropped accordingly. I would switch to US made Mushkin which is still using Hynix.

$15 cheaper http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226382
$5 cheaper and much faster 1866 CAS 8 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226508
$10 more but 2400 CAS 10 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226417

No better PSU out there and just fine for two 780 Tis

I would shy away from the SC series 780 Ti's .... every other week it's been $600 on newegg

SC 9.5 rating - http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_780_Ti_SC_ACX_Cooler/31.html
MSI 9.9 rating - http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_780_Ti_Gaming/29.html
 
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Ngale

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Thank you! I would choose yours as the answer but it hasn't let me do that the past day or two... I have my response in the mean time.

Anyway, thanks for the mobo recs! Although I probably will just increase my budget for my mobo a bit and grab the Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming G1 WIFI-BK that Techy suggested, but I might counter that price increase with the MSI GTX 780 Ti Gaming that you recommended instead of my initial choice (especially if it can perform just as well if not better). Quick question about that though, if I have the money, should I just go with EVGA version? I suppose I just feel more comfortable with that particular one.

As for RAM, I would go for that third choice you presented but its out of stock and I can't find it anywhere else...
Would this one suffice in turn?: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f32400c10d16gtx

Thanks again!
 
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