Best 100-150 dollar Z97 motherboard?

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Zaflisa

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My build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ZxbxBm

I'm looking for a good Z97 board that can overclock well for under 150 dollars, preferably with a black or blue color scheme. So far I've been looking at the ASRock Z97 Extreme4 and the MSI Z97 PC Mate, although I've also heard that the boards from Gigabyte and Asus were great, too.
Thanks for the help!
 
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jeffredo

jeffredo

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If that range I'd probably choose the Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H-BK (Black Edition). It has a 168 hour test for stability at the factory before they sell it. Tends to weed out problem before the consumer has to deal with them. It also has Intel LAN instead of the Killer which is so common in those midrange gaming boards. Intel has lower CPU usage and none of the bloated Killer software. I have the next model up (GA-Z97X-UD5H) and its a great board. Coming from years with ASUS motherboards I'm pretty impressed with it. I also have an ASUS Z97-A, but the LAN failed on it and I have to use an add-in PCI-E to connect to the internet. From what I've read ASUS RMA can be a pretty frustrating experience.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128723
 
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synphul

synphul

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Another vote for the ud5h. It's a solid full featured board and I used 2 of them on my latest builds. Both the ud3h/ud5h and ud3h bk and ud5h bk are black pcb's, the bk have black heatsinks while the regular versions have gold. They're the same board as the bk version but with a 3yr instead of a 5yr warranty and don't go through the 168hr test ahead of shipping out. I don't use the dual nic's teamed at the moment but nice to have a backup if one goes out.

The msi pc mate is a pretty low budget board and even though it's a z97 it won't be the best for overclocking. It uses 3 analog/hybrid power phases with a doubler, more suited to the pentium anniversary chips than the i5/i7 for overclocking. The asrock z97 extreme 4 uses 6 analog/hybrid power phases with doubler and the ud5h uses 6 true digital phases with a doubler. The ud3h has a few less features, costs a little less and has 4 analog/hybrid phases. Digital are the preferred and it comes down to steady power delivery to the cpu for overclocking. The more phases the less work each is doing, the less chance of overheating vs running all that power through just a few.
 
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geofelt

geofelt

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1. 6600K performance is similar, but perhaps 5-10% better depending on quality of chip and the overclock.
Price is exactly the same $229 as 4690K
http://www.microcenter.com/product/451885/Core_i5-6600K_35GHz_1151_Boxed_Processor

2. Z170 motherboards also fall into that $100-$150 range.
Here is one for $115 for example:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128845

3. DDR4 ram has come down in price. A 8gb kit is the same $48:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148858

 
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Karadjgne

Karadjgne

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Cant really go wrong with any of the $130 and up boards, its mainly a matter of tastes and needs. Some boards have more fan headers, some more pcie x16, some more pcie x1,some are godawful ugly colors, some have M2 etc.

The one best for you is the one that fills your needs and tastes the best, be it an msi gaming 5,or Gigabyte udh5 or Asus pro gamer.
 
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synphul

synphul

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The 6700k is a bit more expensive even with ddr4 prices coming down.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($248.95 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($154.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($54.98 @ Amazon)
Total: $483.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-27 17:53 EDT-0400

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.78 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $429.65
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-27 17:54 EDT-0400

Looking at same motherboard model to same motherboard model (gaming 5 to gaming 5 z97 vs z170), same ram ddr3 vs ddr4, same cooler, it's $50 more for the 6600k. $74 more if you consider the 4690k could be run at stock with the stock cooler temporarily if someone didn't want to oc, the 6600k requires an aftermarket cooler on top of its higher price just to run at all.

Edit: In all fairness there are some less expensive boards in the z170 series but they're pretty low budget for a reason. The same could be said for z97 if someone just wanted bottom of the barrel, an asrock z97 pro 3 runs $80. The asus z170-a runs $20 over the z97-a. It's about par for the course paying $15-20 more for the same board moving to z170.
 
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