Longevity: MSI H97 Gaming 3 vs. Z97 Gaming 3/5/7/9 AC

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notneps

notneps

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If there's one thing I hate more than spending money on something I don't need, it's ending up wasting time instead of money because I was a cheapskate. Because I don't plan on overclocking this system with an i7-4790K, I was going to go with the MSI H97 motherboard. But I wanted to know if, along with the added features, I could expect greater longevity if I went with one of the more expensive boards. Because I don't want this to devolve into brand wars, let's keep the other brand recommendations out.

My logic (which might be flawed), runs somewhere along the lines of:

If I theoretically had two CPUs, an i3-4150 and an i7-4770, doing the same workload 24/7 (a workload that the i3 is very capable of handling, and the i7 would be considered overpowered for), I could expect the i7 to last a few years longer than the i3. Would using a motherboard designed to handle overclocking, even though I won't be overclocking, result in greater longevity for my system?
 
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Math Geek
i went with the z97 myself for the reasons you ask about. i wanted enough now and enough later if needed. pci-e 3.0 is not needed now but should be later, extra usb 3.0 is useful now and will be more so later. i also looked at the m.2 slots which should be taking a bigger role in the future. the z97 boards also seemed to be able to deal with mega overclocked ram which later will be more "normal" speeds. to me the extra cost for the board should provide some staying power over the next few years.

also the z97 boards your looking at are very well made and if it can handle massive stress now it should last longer under normal, less stressful use. i got the z97 gaming 5 myself for the above reasons. just my 2 cents
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millwright

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The difference between the cheapest Intel chip set, and the most expensive, is features.
They perform the same.

The only one that is different performance wise, is the Z chipsets, because they overclock.

I would think that the only board that is more future proof, than any other is a Z board, and only because it can be overclocked, in the future.

 
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geofelt

geofelt

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Any current lga1150 motherboards will be obsolete before they wear out.
One advantage of Z97 is that it will be compatible with future 14nm broadwell cpu's.
That is probably not a biggie since a 4790K will be as good as you need for a long time.
Z97 is also needed if you will ever want to run dual cards, H97 supports only one pcie slot at X16.
You may not need to overclock the 4790K, but it is wise to preserve that option with a Z97 based motherboard.
The more expensive z97 motherboards will have features for overclocking enthusiasts such as ln2 capability.
They may have better integrated sound than budget z97 boards.
But, any basic Z97 will have oc capabilities to conservative levels.
 
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Math Geek

Math Geek

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i went with the z97 myself for the reasons you ask about. i wanted enough now and enough later if needed. pci-e 3.0 is not needed now but should be later, extra usb 3.0 is useful now and will be more so later. i also looked at the m.2 slots which should be taking a bigger role in the future. the z97 boards also seemed to be able to deal with mega overclocked ram which later will be more "normal" speeds. to me the extra cost for the board should provide some staying power over the next few years.

also the z97 boards your looking at are very well made and if it can handle massive stress now it should last longer under normal, less stressful use. i got the z97 gaming 5 myself for the above reasons. just my 2 cents
 
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embed

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Z97 Gaming 3 is basically a H97 Gaming 3 with a Z97 chipset (they have same connectors, same cpu cascade, you won't find any difference between them), and if you don't plan OC then H97 is fine (I have one myself). If you consinder 2x nvidia graphics into SLI then you have to buy probably Gaming 5 Z97 because, it's the first one of them that's oficially supports it. Quality wise they seems all same, nicely made I think :).
 
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notneps

notneps

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By the way, I eventually decided on the Z97 Gaming 5 (because it can do SLI), but it was out of stock because I tried to buy around Christmas time, so I got a Gaming 7 instead. It's pretty great. Thanks.
 
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sudcell

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Exactly same issue that i am facing
The Gaming 5 is not available here too so i also have to go with the Gaming 7 although i don't think i need this one :-/
 
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Arslan-A

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What's the difference in 5 and 7 ? apart from price
 
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