Motherboard for a gaming PC: Asus H97M-PLUS vs Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H vs MSI H97M-G43

jano152 · Jul 18, 2014

I'm building a new gaming PC and I'm having trouble finding the best MB for it. Budget is important, so I'm not looking for anything special. My priorities are stability, quality (so it won't break in like 2 years or so) and performance for gaming. I don't want to overclock. And also I prefer mATX because I'm planning to use mini tower case (I'd like to have my new PC small). So far I found these MBs which I think can satisfy my needs (but because they have new chipsets and they aren't high end, I can't find any reviews or benchmarks, so I'm asking for help here):
Asus H97M-PLUS
Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H
MSI H97M-G43

At first I was considering Z97 MBs, because I thought they would be better. But as I understand the only difference between H97 and Z97 is the ability to overclock (am I right or is there anything else?).
So other MBs that I was considering before were:
MSI Z97M-G43
Gigabyte GA-Z97M-D3H
Asus Z97M-Plus

I also looked for better MBs, but I'm not sure if they are worth the higher price (I don't know in what way they can be better for me). I found these with slighty higher price that the ones I mentioned above:
MSI Z97-G43 GAMING
MSI H97 GAMING 3
MSI Z97M Gaming
MSI Z97-G45 GAMING
Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H

So to summarize my questions:
Are there any difference between same MBs with H97 and Z97 other then the ability to overclock?
Which MB from the first three should I buy or is there any better MB for me from the others that I mentioned or should I buy something other?

Oh and my PC would have GTX660, Core i5 4590 and two 1600mhz RAMs.

Thank you very much for your answers.

DeadGraphics · Jul 18, 2014

I like the z97 gigabyte. I have a g1 Sniper Z87 motherboard and I haven't had any problems with it

computertech82 · Jul 18, 2014

Boils down to the features/ports the mother board has, and what you need. i went for the GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-UD3H with i5-4570. I wouldn't worry about overclocking, very little or no benefit for doing that.

jano152 · Jul 19, 2014

DeadGraphics :

Which Z97? I mentioned more Gigabyte Z97 boards. But if I don't care about overclocking is there any advantage of Z97 opposed to H97 for me? And also G1 Sniper Z87 or G1 Sniper Z97 are both even more expensive than the boards from the last list I mentioned and I don't know what advantages they have over the cheaper ones.

computertech82 :

You don't have K processor and you said you wouldn't worry about overclocking (with whitch I agree) and yet you have Z97 motherboard. So are there any other advantages of Z97 over H97?

jano152 · Jul 19, 2014

Come on! I'm sure that there are many users with many experiences in this subject. Maybe somebody who have some of these boards or just read something about them. At least tell me if there are any other differences between for example Asus Z97M-Plus and H97M-Plus besides overclocking, please.

jano152 · Jul 21, 2014

Nobody?

DroneDroneDrone · Jul 21, 2014

I'd get the Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H, but since your not OCing I'd get Gigabyte GA-Z97M-D3H or Asus Z97M-Plus, either of these will do fine

MartinNixon0422 · Jul 21, 2014

well, you get non-k cpu, so h97 should be good to use
I suggest h97 pc mate from msi, or the "MSI H97M-G43" is good as also

jano152 · Jul 21, 2014

thanks a lot

so basically you picked all three boards from my first list (although dronedrondrone wrote Z97 version of them).. since i dont know why i should get Z97 when im not overclocking, ill get the asus h97m-plus then.. i read many positive comments about asus motherboards and also some negative about gigabyte and msi. so as all three looks the same to me (except the pcie slots instead of pci in msi board, little differences in sound cards and (for me) useless m.2 support in asus) ill stick with the asus

DroneDroneDrone · Jul 21, 2014

I can find a goods h97 mobo for you... Was just looking at the mobos on your list and most of them are z97... Hold on I'll get back to you in a bit

DroneDroneDrone · Jul 21, 2014

Here you go... No reason to spend over $100 on a h97 mobo IMO. Your better off going with a z97 at that price tag, not to mention you'd be able to get k series in the future. But here these are 2 good h97 mobos that will suit your needs: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-h97mpro4
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gah97d3h

jano152 · Jul 21, 2014

DroneDroneDrone :

Thanks a lot for your help! The two lists which contains Z97 boards that I wrote in the original post were just secondary options for me. The first list is my main choice (these are also the boards from the thread title). I'm sure that I don't want to overclock now nor in the future. I don't plan to use more GPUs with SLI also. So if there are no other significant differences between Z97 and H97 then I should stick with H97 as you said. One of the boards you found for me (Gigabyte) is the same that I listed in my first primary list (just the ATX version of it but I prefer smaller case and motherboard). The second one (Asrock) looks good and it's in the same price category as the other three that I listed. But I don' know because users who posted above are recommending also the MSI and the Asus from my list. So do you think that one of these two that you found (in Gigabyte case I mean the mATX version) are better then the Asus or MSI boards from my list? Or are all pretty much the same? My priority is the overall quality of the board, so it won't be broken in like two years or so. I want it to last as long as possible.

Edit: One of users I mentioned that recommended the Asus board was in fact you

DroneDroneDrone · Jul 21, 2014

It's be between the gigabyte and ASUS then. Both are great mobos. Up to you really. Btw AsRock is the same as ASUS jsut a different name.

jano152 · Jul 21, 2014

DroneDroneDrone :

Thanks a lot for your patience! I'll buy one of them

DroneDroneDrone · Jul 21, 2014

Ok! Good luck with you build! Don't be afraid to private message any questions you might have left

jeth08 · Aug 9, 2014

Hi,

Would you consider Gigabyte GA-H97M-Gaming 3 since you are building a Gaming PC? Based on your choices, I too will go for Asus H97m-Plus.
But between Asus H97M-Plus and Gigabyte H97M-Gaming 3, I need to think hard and actually this is my current problem.

So if anyone can share your input, Asus H97M-Plus vs. Gigabyte H97M-Gaming 3, please do.

DroneDroneDrone · Aug 9, 2014

I have no info on the gigabyte mobo. Is it new? I did read the specs though and feature wise the gigabyte>ASUS

jeth08 · Aug 9, 2014

That's odd.. Now that you said it, I can't find it in newegg or amazon. It must be new but it's been up for sale in local stores here in Philippines for quite sometime already. Truly odd, we never get to be first! lol.

DroneDroneDrone · Aug 9, 2014

Hmm. Maybe go for the gigabyte then if you can get it. Much better than the ASUS feature wise.

jeth08 · Aug 9, 2014

Thanks! I probably will.

Motherboard for a gaming PC: Asus H97M-PLUS vs Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H vs MSI H97M-G43

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