What is the best budget motherboard for this gaming build?

shadomaster · Mar 27, 2015

I always get people who suggest $100+ motherboards but I really don't need something that expensive. I just want something reliable that will support my i5-4690 and my gtx 980. I don't need a z97 motherboard because ram that is faster than 1600mhz does not really effect gaming. I also want a full sized atx board. Thank you in advance.

9ballfreak · Mar 27, 2015

shadomaster :

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130699&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Intel+Motherboards-_-N82E16813130699&gclid=Cj0KEQjw_9OoBRChj9vMo5CHrdUBEiQAJ6YRPc392A1Kd0Tl7e9Y4ZvTfnQBDD9F_AegvAeLWvBOMgkaAg6J8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

anti-duck · Mar 27, 2015

The problem with the older, lower end motherboards is that they may not have the latest BIOS installed to support your 4690 right out of the box. The board linked above is an amazing budget board but I know that it doesn't support Haswell refresh processors with the initial BIOS version though the retailer may be able to update it for you; I would just save the hassle and go with a MSI H97 PC Mate.

Karadjgne · Mar 27, 2015

Just because a board has the ability to support higher speed ram, doesn't mean you have to get it, all of the newer boards that support Haswell, refresh and Devils Canyon will support 1600MHz without OC of any kind.

The z boards are really no different to h boards in anything other than OC ability, SLI and x-fire usually, be it power phases or what not, and h boards can easily cost the same if not more than the same z board, due to sales, combos etc.

So what you are left with is needs and wants. Does it need Sata express, or m.2 Sata, or sli, top line audio etc.

The gtx980 is a Maxwell gpu. These gpus have reported issues with non-uefi bios, so thats a start, any board that's uefi bios. Only 1 gpu, so can be any, assuming standard sata 6Gb, decent audio, 32-64Gb ddr3 and ATX.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($71.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $71.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-27 22:06 EDT-0400

shadomaster · Mar 27, 2015

lol that's the same board that I was looking at before I made this post. The thing is, I haven't seen many reviews on this product and so I was questioning it's reliability. Why is this board good? Also this is a micro ATX board, does this do anything to performance or anything?

I haven't had anyone explain this stuff to me well and people were only suggesting motherboards and not telling me why they chose that one in the first place. Why is this board good? Also, if I would want to upgrade with another 980 in the future I would not be able to because there is only one gpu slot right?

Karadjgne · Mar 28, 2015

The board I posted is the full ATX version, there is a matx version also. The question if reliability is iffy. It's a less expensive board, but asrock tends to be pretty solid at reliability. The anniversary boards are extremely popular with the crowd buying the unlocked pentium, so thats a bonus. But it is cheap, so it doesn't have as many frills as the more expensive boards so you couldn't compare it's 'ruggedness' with an ROG or asrock extreme 6 for instance. But with a locked cpu, its not like you'll push many boundaries in power either.

If you were going to upgrade to sli, you'd need a good, more expensive z board for sure. Most of the cheaper boards will run x16/x4 pcie. For a budget card, that's fine to sli, most won't fill up the bandwidth of x4 pcie, but the 980 is a beast of a card, and x4 will kill performance. You really need x8/x8 at a minimum for a 980.

Best bet is spend the extra $ now on a really good mobo, so if and when you do decide to get sli, you are not wasting $.

I'd also look into a i5-4690k for sli as well. They run @$40 more than the cpu you chose, but there is a difference in power and ability between the 4460 and the 4690k and running SLI 980s is no joke on a cpu, you'll want a cpu that'll keep up with them.

You'll spend an extra $100 now, or spend $350 later and hope to sell what you had. If you opt for sli in the future.

shadomaster · Mar 28, 2015

Karadjgne :

Ok, before i had the 4690 and now i have the 4690k but I'm only using the stock cooler that comes with the 4690k so I won't be able to overclock much. In the future I might not get SLI, I'm thinking of selling the 980 and getting whatever is good in the future. If I am not going for SLI and I will be using the gtx 980, will the ASROCK ASRock H97 ANNIVERSARY LGA1150 Intel H97 be ok? What are the downsides besides no sli?

Karadjgne · Mar 28, 2015

No overclocking is possible on a H board. Considering the real price differences, which between most equitable H and Z boards is negligible, deciding to go with a Z board leaves all your options open, SLI, OC, higher speed ram, upgraded Sata options like Sata express or m.2, better audio, better Lan etc. H boards only go up so high in these components because of the cost factor. Imagine an H deluxe, with the best of everything costing @$200..youll get the same from a competitors Z board for less than $150, as Z boards are tailored for the gamer crowd and competition there is stiff.

Going with an H board sets limitations. If you decide you want to upgrade later, the H may not allow it, and then you are stuck. If you have any inclination towards performance increase, limiting yourself now would be doing yourself a disservice.

Be kind of like buying a moped because all you do is putz around town, then wanting a job in the city 60 miles down the interstate.

shadomaster · Mar 28, 2015

Karadjgne :

No overclocking is possible on a H board. Considering the real price differences, which between most equitable H and Z boards is negligible, deciding to go with a Z board leaves all your options open, SLI, OC, higher speed ram, upgraded Sata options like Sata express or m.2, better audio, better Lan etc. H boards only go up so high in these components because of the cost factor. Imagine an H deluxe, with the best of everything costing @$200..youll get the same from a competitors Z board for less than $150, as Z boards are tailored for the gamer crowd and competition there is stiff.

Going with an H board sets limitations. If you decide you want to upgrade later, the H may not allow it, and then you are stuck. If you have any inclination towards performance increase, limiting yourself now would be doing yourself a disservice.

Be kind of like buying a moped because all you do is putz around town, then wanting a job in the city 60 miles down the interstate.

then what is a cheap, reliable, z97 motherboard?

Karadjgne · Mar 28, 2015

https://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-fatal1tyz97killer https://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-z97sslikraitedition https://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-z97extreme3 https://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz97d3h https://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-z97p https://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz97hd3p https://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-z97pcmate

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What is the best budget motherboard for this gaming build?

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