X99 vs Z97

Pretty A · Sep 3, 2014

I'm wondering if I should get a X99 or a Z97 board because if i'm going x99 i will go for a i7 5820k, if i'm going for z97, i'll go for a i7 4790k with ROG maximus vii formula. If i'm going for X99 please help me choose a board. I will be gaming and rendering video(not that much though) on a dual/triple screen layout. Thanks!

tiny voices · Sep 3, 2014

IF you will only be doing a small amount of rendering, forget both platforms and just get an i7 4790k. You will see no difference in gaming, and unless you are encoding HD+ videos that are decently long, there will be no difference with rendering either.

legend001523 · Sep 3, 2014

Get the z97, the x99 are for professionals that do it day and night, a i7 will do just as good and will save you money too

Joseph DeGarmo · Sep 3, 2014

X99 is overkill and expensive for gaming, unless you will be doing rendering of 4K movies in 3D.

manofchalk · Sep 3, 2014

X99 is expensive as all hell right now, not least because of DDR4 and that its brand new.
If your a professional who isnt swimming in cash, I recommend sticking with X79 and getting yourself a 4930k. You have basically the same platform and performance as X99 and a 5920k, without spending a ton on memory and brand new boards.
If your an amateur editor or otherwise wont be significantly impacted by a render taking an extra hour or something, then stick with the mainstream Z97 platform.

jaiden · Sep 16, 2014

Someone should probably ask if you plan on going serious SLI/Crossfire on your gaming rig. If you need the extra PCIe lanes, x99 (or any of the enthusiast chipsets) makes more sense. If you're not, you're talking serious diminishing returns for the money.

EdBakersfield · Nov 21, 2014

Pardon me but I just don't see that much of a difference in prices in motherboards and CPUs Z97 vs, X99 especially when performance and features are concerned. Truly DDR4 memory is beyond reason presently but there are notable advantages in DDR4 technology. If I am correct, the DDR4 memory configuration is managed by the CPU - correct me here. All the other peripherals are pretty much identical. Granted more than a month has passed since the post. No one will see this anyway. Why am I talking to myself?

gaurav0110 · Dec 3, 2014

Hi EdBakersfield,
Did you decide on the Z97/Z99 choice; I am in the same situation right now confused between the two. Please share your decision and any particular reason for choosing the same. I am looking purely at a gaming setup with single card (GTX 970) and single screen but would like to play games with everything maxed out in Far cry 4, Call of duty advanced warfare, Assassins creed Unity and Shadow of mordor.

Also, I read a post which says i5 4690 gives equally good FPS as of i7 4790 due to games not using Hyper threading. Is that true? I want to keep my setup future proof for atleast next 3 years and hence, i5\i7 confusion.

tiny voices · Dec 3, 2014

Don't even consider x99 for your build. A single 970 is not anywhere near powerful enough to need anything more than an i5 4690k. That is what I would get.

gaurav0110 · Dec 3, 2014

Thanks, so X99 is ruled out..

Looking at Z97; Are you saying 4690 with 970 is good for playing with everything maxed out in Far cry 4, Call of duty advanced warfare, Assassins creed Unity and Shadow of mordor. And is 4690 future proof for the next 2-3 years?

tiny voices · Dec 3, 2014

Yes the 970 will max Farcry 4.

If you are not getting a K series CPU, get an H97 motherboard.

There is no such thing as future proof. But, the i5 should last quite a while. More than 3 years likely.

gaurav0110 · Dec 4, 2014

Ohh, I was really underestimating the i5 then. There is a very small difference in k version, so will go with 4690K and try overclocking for the first time

Please suggest a good mobo (preferably Asus) to go with 4690K and GTX 970 (I won't SLI in future, so single slot should be good).
Also, any pointers for RAM; 8 or 16 and which brand.

tiny voices · Dec 4, 2014

Get an ASUS Z97-A motherboard for solid overclocking.

Get 8gb RAM. Brand makes so difference. All the same quality.

Emmef · Dec 6, 2014

You will not max out Shadow Of Mordor, Unity, Far Cry 4 etc with a single 970. You will need to lower the odd setting here and there to maintain 60fps. For example, in SOM you will not get ultra textures due to vram limitation.

I have an i5 4670k and a single 970, playing on a single monitor (G-Sync). I need to make little compromises here and there in demanding games, but nothing below very high settings. I'm going to be adding a second 970 soon to get better performance. However, SLI will not help vram limitations and it won't be supported in every game.

HTH

gaurav0110 · Dec 6, 2014

Hey thanks for sharing info. I got the point that some settings will need to be lowered due to single 970 but I can't get another 970 or 980. But as you have the same setup, can you please confirm that 4790 i7 is not required even for next 2-3 years?

Emmef · Dec 6, 2014

You don't need an i7 if all you're going to do is game.

What resolution will you be gaming on, 1080p?

Pretty A · Dec 9, 2014

Triple 1440p, ROG Swift

jasper1 · Jan 1, 2015

I totally agree with Manofchalk

Stick to X -79 with an I7 4930K. Thats proven good hardware and really fast

g-unit1111 · Jan 1, 2015

jasper1 :

Still doesn't really offer much of an advantage from Z97 in terms of gaming performance. Check the benchmarks.

jasper1 · Jan 2, 2015

g-unit1111 :

Please can you show me the benchmarks?

tiny voices · Jan 2, 2015

http://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/luke-hill/intel-core-i7-5820k-haswell-e-6-core-cpu-review/7/

2 seconds of google. Clearly shows that the x99 i5 5820k is not only not better than the Z97 offerings, but actually worse in many games. Even the $1000 5960x can't beat the Z97 offerings by anything at all and even loses to them in some games.

Point is clear. These are workstation CPUs, not meant for, or even designed for gaming at all.

Guthers · Feb 20, 2015

im quite happy with my z97 chipset i7 4790k and 2x gtx 780(for now) most games get maxed out and i still get a good frame rate 150+ on my 144hz monitors x99 for me is wayyyy to pricy for the performance cost% to performance % doesnt add up for me why pay £10k on a system

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