Gigabyte Z170MX-Gaming 5 or Asus MAXIMUS VIII GENE?

DanielMZXG · Feb 1, 2016

So I've decided to make this thread because of new drivers I guess and bug fixing.
Anyway, for SLI and OCing both CPU and GPU, which one is worth the money based on this costs(I'm my country)

Asus MAXIMUS VIII GENE 322 US $
Gigabyte GA-Z170MX-Gaming 5 213 US $

I want good experience, w/o having dam bugs...

Thank you.

smorizio · Feb 1, 2016

the asus mb have a feature called usb flashback. you cant brick the mb ever. even a bad overclock where there no post. all you need is a usb stick with the bios file and standby power to reflash there mb.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVvHwq3syqI

RCFProd · Feb 1, 2016

But those are different sockets from each other meaning a Haswell/Skylake processor is not compatible with both, so which CPU you planning to use with them? Asus VIII Gene = Z170 Chipset (Skylake).

DanielMZXG · Feb 1, 2016

Both support the 6th generation:
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/MAXIMUS-VIII-GENE/

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5530#ov

"Unbrickable" mb sounds amazing, never heard of that. Is it really worth more 120$+- for it?

RCFProd · Feb 1, 2016

Wow I somehow read It's Gigabyte Z97XM-Gaming 5 instead of Z170. Good job me.

And that totally depends on how much you can spend. If you know you can't spend 300+ on a mobo then easily the Z170MX will do you good.

smorizio · Feb 1, 2016

with any mb look at the bells and stuff that come with it and it warranty also the efi bios how well it set up and the audio and lan chipset used. asus rog your paying for it name and better audio and lan chipset. also look at the number of vrm for power. the more and the size used..better cleaner power. the same rog mb but cheaper is there sabertooth tuff mb. there three of them one with the shield one without and matx.

Tradesman1 · Feb 1, 2016

Either mobo will work, the Gene would be better OCing and is a little higher end, but I would have trouble with the price difference, especially if on a tight budget and go the GigaByte here, in many countries you pay a large/high premium for Asus

DanielMZXG · Feb 1, 2016

Actually I have heard the Gigabytes has driver/Bios issues since its been released. Of course the Asus (in features) is better, and maybe even more durable. Any more opinions?

Tradesman1 · Feb 1, 2016

Most all new lines will have some initial BIOS and driver problems - especially on Z170 - we have a new chipset, socket, new DRAM (DDR4) and for many new OS as many are going Win10. The main makers tend to get them sorted out in short order

DanielMZXG · Feb 1, 2016

So I'll get the Gigabyte's mb. There is no much different but MUCH better sound chip on Asus.
Thank you guys!

DanielMZXG · Mar 11, 2016

So its been like 1 month with the gigabyte and its doing a good job, BUT there is a weird buzzing noise which I don't like so much...
Anyway, I was thinking maybe to sell it and to get the Asus instead .. Will it be better for OCing?

Tradesman1 · Mar 11, 2016

They normally are very good with OCing yes

DanielMZXG · Mar 11, 2016

I know ththat

but which one is even better than the other?

DanielMZXG · Mar 12, 2016

Tradesman1 · Mar 12, 2016

I prefer Asus for the BIOS tuning

RedJaron · Mar 15, 2016

So your primary goal here is gaming, yes? Do you have a budget cap?

While I'd never recommend someone get a completely stripped down mboard, I often recommend they don't blow the bank on them either. You can get a great board under $200 without suffering any practical performance deficits. Most of the more expensive boards bolt on additional features, but even the most expensive boards often won't let you use them all simultaneously.

If your main concern is gaming, I'd recommend you save your money and not worry about CPU overclocking. The difference between a stock i5 and OC'd i5 is typically very small. I don't think it's worth the additional $100+ you usually have to spend to get good OCing parts. That's just my opinion of course, and if you want to OC your CPU, more power to you.

In terms of gaming GPUs, I usually recommend against SLI and CFX as well. Yes, it can give a lot of extra graphical processing power, but like CPU OCing, it comes with a lot of extra considerations. You need a mboard that can support it, you need a PSU that can power them, and you need a case that can fit them and provide adequate cooling for the additional heat. Even then, not every game supports them. It's not uncommon for games to not support multi-GPUs at launch. It's not uncommon for games to have glitches and problems with it either. If you're willing to spend extra money on twin GPUs, I think it's almost always a better idea to spend that money on a single, stronger GPU.

Again, like CPU OCing for gaming, this is only my opinion. If you're dead set on SLI/CFX, make sure you do it right. Make sure you get proper supporting components to be able to run them. Get the two cards at the outset. Don't buy one now and think you'll upgrade later. Many people never get around to the upgrade later. Even if they do, you're dropping money on what will likely be older tech for the time.

In short, I usually go by two defining principles. 1, Keep It Simple, Stupid. 2, Just because I have the money available, doesn't mean I need to spend it.

Zerk2012 · Mar 15, 2016

I would get the GB board it has duel BIOS the bricking is not a problem. That would also free up more money for the video card for better gaming performance. I prefer GB boards and like their BIOS options I'm not a fan of spending extra money on in my opinion gimmicks that you can get so close to the same results for a lower price the extra 0.1 don't matter.
The overclocking is a non-factor both will max the new processors out.
For SLI not really recommended on a uATX board poor spacing. If you buy the single best card you can your better off, and buying one now and thinking of adding another later in general you can sell your old card and buy the single best card again and keep up with the newer tech.

DanielMZXG · Mar 17, 2016

RedJaron :

So your primary goal here is gaming, yes? Do you have a budget cap?

While I'd never recommend someone get a completely stripped down mboard, I often recommend they don't blow the bank on them either. You can get a great board under $200 without suffering any practical performance deficits. Most of the more expensive boards bolt on additional features, but even the most expensive boards often won't let you use them all simultaneously.

If your main concern is gaming, I'd recommend you save your money and not worry about CPU overclocking. The difference between a stock i5 and OC'd i5 is typically very small. I don't think it's worth the additional $100+ you usually have to spend to get good OCing parts. That's just my opinion of course, and if you want to OC your CPU, more power to you.

In terms of gaming GPUs, I usually recommend against SLI and CFX as well. Yes, it can give a lot of extra graphical processing power, but like CPU OCing, it comes with a lot of extra considerations. You need a mboard that can support it, you need a PSU that can power them, and you need a case that can fit them and provide adequate cooling for the additional heat. Even then, not every game supports them. It's not uncommon for games to not support multi-GPUs at launch. It's not uncommon for games to have glitches and problems with it either. If you're willing to spend extra money on twin GPUs, I think it's almost always a better idea to spend that money on a single, stronger GPU.

Again, like CPU OCing for gaming, this is only my opinion. If you're dead set on SLI/CFX, make sure you do it right. Make sure you get proper supporting components to be able to run them. Get the two cards at the outset. Don't buy one now and think you'll upgrade later. Many people never get around to the upgrade later. Even if they do, you're dropping money on what will likely be older tech for the time.

In short, I usually go by two defining principles. 1, Keep It Simple, Stupid. 2, Just because I have the money available, doesn't mean I need to spend it.

Well, my target is a good quality PC desktop, without any problems. I don't think I'll sli/cf, but buy the next fury or gtx 980 ti next model/titan.

lapinotrocks · Sep 7, 2016

smorizio :

DanielMZXG :

It's convenient but not essential. If you have a bad overclock and can't post with any mobo, you can always disconnect the PSU and take out the battery for a minute to reset the bios setting. The flashback would only be essential if you were flashing a bios update and you chose the wrong bios or the electricity cut out during the flashing. The GB board has 2 bios chips so if the bios get corrupted on one, you can boot into the other and fix the corrupted one from there.

Gigabyte Z170MX-Gaming 5 or Asus MAXIMUS VIII GENE?

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