ASUS Z97-A vs. MSI Z97-G45 vs. GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-UD3H vs. MSI Z97-Gaming 5

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KingSaif

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Hey guys, I'm having a terribly difficult time finding the right mobo. It's by far the most complex component out of all. If this helps, I'm getting an i5-4690k and Sapphire Tri-X R9 290, which I may do Crossfire with in like 3-5 years OR I may just get a nVidia GPU if it's cheaper and better by that time. I plan on OCing the CPU to 4.2-4.5 Ghz and also the GPU. Since all of the boards have 2 PCIe 3.0 slots, doing Crossfire in the future won't be a problem. That being said, what is the difference between these boards other than appearance? Is there even any? Which mobo has better support for overclocking? Which has the best features for the best price? If I had to choose right now, I'd go with the Asus Z97-A simply because of it's awesome design and because of how much I've been hearing about the level of reliability Asus' mobo's offer. Thanks a lot guys, I really appreciate it :)
 
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MeteorsRaining
I'd go for Gigabyte or Asus for OCing purposes. UD3H is a great board for OCing as well. Z97 Gaming 5 has great capacitors, better quality than Z97-A (doesn't imply that it OCes better than Z97-A). Basically, Z97 G45 aside, I'd get the cheapest MoBo as all good for OCing and have M.2 slot, if that matters.
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MeteorsRaining

MeteorsRaining

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I'd go for Gigabyte or Asus for OCing purposes. UD3H is a great board for OCing as well. Z97 Gaming 5 has great capacitors, better quality than Z97-A (doesn't imply that it OCes better than Z97-A). Basically, Z97 G45 aside, I'd get the cheapest MoBo as all good for OCing and have M.2 slot, if that matters.
 
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KingSaif

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Thanks for the reply. I was looking around and I can't figure out what M.2 is...is it for extra storage? For this build, I'll be getting 1 TB HDD and no SSD, so I don't think I'll need extra storage because I'll only be doing gaming (BF4, GTA V, etc.). As for the price, the UD3H is actually the cheapest at $124 on Newegg after entering the 10% promo code off $138, so the final price is cheaper than that of Z97-A, which is $6 more than the UD3H. Down to those two, which do you think I should choose? The only difference I can see is that he Z97-A has 1 less PCIe x1 slot. The most important things to me is how well it OCs, how durable it is, and how easy it is to set up and work it. Out of the two though, I prefer the appearance of the Z97-A, but that isn't a deciding factor for me.
 
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KingSaif

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After reading a ton of reviews on Newegg for all the mobos, I decided to go with the Z97-A. It has everything I'm looking for, it's the most beautiful out of the bunch, it's a great board for overclocking, easy to use BiOS, it's ASUS brand which is known to be the best motherboard company, and finally, the price is great. Thanks once again everyone. :)
 
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KingSaif

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Since this is my first build, I'm kind of scared of getting a DOA product. How often does it happen (buying all parts from Newegg)?
 
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KingSaif

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Thanks for the optimism haha but I guess I'll just wait and see :p
 
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MeteorsRaining

MeteorsRaining

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I agree with tiny voices, there's nothing significantly better with Asus amongst the current choices, I'd personally have gone for UD3H, unquestionable reliability and superb for OCing. But that's just me, looks matter as well and Z97-A is in no way bad. Just for the info, M.2 is small form factor storage format, basically for tiny SSDs.
 
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KingSaif

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Thanks for the advice, and yeah between the two it was a close one, but I really love the all over black on the Z97-A as well as the little ASUS symbol. It also has waay more reviews than the UD3H, and the reviews often mentioned how well it OC'd which was an important factor to me. Either one would've been fine, though :)
 
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byte0215

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sorrry for asking. is GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-UD3H BK also good for OCin purposes? or only the GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-UD3H?
 
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