Asus Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1 vs. Asus Maximus VII Hero and PC confIg.

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Hartan

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Before I started thinking of building a gaming PC, I thought that choosing the motherboard will be the easiest from all but I was wrong.
I'm am not an Asus fan but, after all the reviews I read, it seems that they are one of the best so... I don't know what should I choose between these two. (Gigabyte and AsRock were also in the tops so if you think they can offer the same quality and performance for a smaller price they are totally welcomed) The difference betweem prices is not that small here in Romania, 195 euros for the Hero and 230 euros for the Sabertooth... the thing is that my initial budget was around 1000 euros and I really can't make it over 1500 euros. I honestly prefer the Sabertooth beacause of its armor although I don't really know what other components I could find with that color... (design is also important) The main differences between these two are the audio chipset, Realtek for the Sabertooth and SupremeFX for the Maximus which i think it's better and the fact that the Sabertooth has a 5 years warranty. Same quality of the components... and most of the specifications are the same.

Here are the other components I would like to buy:
GPU: MSi/Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti (I don't know what to choose)
CPU: Intel i7 4770k
I already have a 1000 watts psu and 8GB of RAM (1600Mhz)

So, the questions taking in consideration:
1. Which of these two should I choose?
2. Are there any other more "budget-friendly" mobos that could offer the same features?(quality, design)
3. What do you think of the configuration taking into consideration the aspects below?

I forgot to mention that I'm not an OC maniac and I'm not planning any extreme overclocking as, with this config., I'm my opinion, all games should run smooth at maximum settings.
So:
- no extreme overclocking
- not interested in numbers
- I play shooters of my 24inch monitor
- I play the other games on my 47inch TV

Sorry for the huge post and a little bit of off-topic and I hope you guys can help me. :D
 
Solution
Tradesman1
Some Z87s may still be more, the Z97 is new so deals are being offered especially to entice people into buying the Devils Canyon, also on popular Z87s if in short supply and production down retailers can mark them up a bit and increase profits....As far as Broadwell, it's designed for 1150 and scheduled for it, big thing will be if it stays on schedule (which in large part will be determined by the success of Devils Canyon)....at the moment Intel is in position to call all the shots as AMD isn't really doing anything CPU wise and offering to thing to drive Intel forward with more advanced CPUs.
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Tradesman1

Tradesman1

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I'd go the Hero (and did, in sig), both are good mobos and would prob be happy w/ either, though with a K model CPU, may not want to OC initially, will be nice to be able to as well as you can in the future, and being a Z97 will be there to upgrade to Broadwell in the future and may have the OC bug by then ;)
 
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Hartan

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Here in Romania the price difference between the Ranger and Hero is insignificant so... Thanks all but, is there anyone who tested both of them?
 
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legend001523

legend001523

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The Hero is the best out of the ranger and hero hands down but there is hardly any difference between them that will enhance your gaming performance, that depends on your gpu
 
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Hartan

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Yeah... but still, what about the Sabertooth? I also found out about a new GPU, but from Radeon, Sapphire Radeon R9 290X OC Tri-X 4GB... pretty good specs., almost 100 euros cheaper than the 780 Ti... but, despite better specs., the 780 Ti still outruns the Radeon in games, well, the differences are between 5-20 fps so... I don't really think you can "feel" that.

 
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legend001523

legend001523

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I just meant as a general term, that the gpu has more of a say in your game performance than your motherboard, it dosen't necessarily apply in your situation and the sabertooth is made with alot of durable components ( As the marketing says) and has everything the ranger has, it's just a choice of preference, though if you are going to get the sabertooth, don't get the mk1, as there have been test that show the thermal armour only reduces heat by 1 or 2 degrees, but it does look good with it on, so i won't blame you if you did buy it, just seems a bit steep, adding 40 pounds for some armour
 
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4Ryan6

4Ryan6

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With "- no extreme overclocking" plans, It absolutely does not matter!

Get whatever fits your budget better!

 
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Hartan

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Yeah all of you are right... indeed, the motherboard does not play such a big role in the performance of the rig and I'd better pay more for the 780 Ti than paying more for the Sabertooth. Moreover, as I said in an earlier post, although it looks pretty cool, that color is pretty wired as there are few GPUs or other components with that color...

Tradesman1 is right, at this level this kind of differences matter, even if I said that I'm not interested in numbers. The thing is that I'm am aware that in the following 2-3 years the technology with get much better (Broadwell/DDR4) so as Tradesman1 said, again, I might take into consideration a little bit of OC. All I hope is that the new technology will be very expensive and game producers will not start demanding that high specs. from the beginning. I know that it's pretty hard but I'm just trying to get the best at an affordable price as, if I will upgrade my rig, I won't change any other parts for at least 3 years...

Going back to the mobos, that's the reason I want the Z97 chipset as it is newer... but, I don't understand why most Z97 mobos are cheaper than the ones with "older" chipsets like the Z77 or Z87... what are the benefits of having a newer chipset? (I know it's a little bit off-topic but I have so many questions and I don't want to start 312370 topics so I'll ask the moderators to have mercy :D )
 
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legend001523

legend001523

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The z97 boards are more prepared for the future as they will support z97 and whatever chipsets intel release in the next 3 - 5 years, whereas you will ne a update on the BIOS of a z87 board to get it to work with a z97 chipset, so that cycle will happen sometime soon with the z97 but after the z87 boards, if you get what I mean, also, I'd recommend you go for a evga 780 ti or the galaxy hod edition
 
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H

Hartan

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Aha.. got the idea... and concerning the GPU, here the Evga is about 60 euros more expensive than the Asus and... I don't know if it does anything better than the Asus plus the fact that the Hero will look amazing with the Asus 780 Ti

 
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Tradesman1

Tradesman1

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The Z97 chipset is the latest for the 1150 socket, it's good for Haswell CPUs. the Haswell Refresh (Devils Canyon) CPUs and will be compatible with Broadwell CPUs when they are released...It will not as stated above, support 'new' chipsets, the Chipset is integral to the mobo itself and is not something you 'upgrade'
 
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Hartan

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Aha, got the point, but still, why are Z87 motherboards more expensive than the Z97? ( + you do not know if the Broadwell will have the 1150 socket so it's pretty much a lottery right now... )
 
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Tradesman1

Tradesman1

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Some Z87s may still be more, the Z97 is new so deals are being offered especially to entice people into buying the Devils Canyon, also on popular Z87s if in short supply and production down retailers can mark them up a bit and increase profits....As far as Broadwell, it's designed for 1150 and scheduled for it, big thing will be if it stays on schedule (which in large part will be determined by the success of Devils Canyon)....at the moment Intel is in position to call all the shots as AMD isn't really doing anything CPU wise and offering to thing to drive Intel forward with more advanced CPUs.
 
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Solution
H

Hartan

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Yeah, now I can see the situation clearer thanks to you guys, cheers, especially to Tradesman1. I just cheched the price of the 4790K and it's the same with the 4770K, actually, a little bit less expensive because of a promotion.

So, the final configuration will be:
Mobo - Asus Maximus VII Hero
GPU - Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti
CPU - Intel i7 4790K
PSU - the 1000W one I think will be enough
RAM - should I stick with the 8GB/1600Mhz or upgrade to 16GB 1600Mhz/2400Mhz?

Concerning the cooling, my first thought was to use water cooling but it's pretty expensive and... kinda' unsafe so I'll use the classic fans I guess...

The money for the build will be 'available' around September so, I still have plenty of time to do some more research but, I think this is the best config. taking into consideration the performance and price.
 
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