AsRock Z170 Extreme4 or ASUS Z170 PRO Gaming

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
ArmadaCas

ArmadaCas

Honorable
Jun 8, 2015
34
1
10,545
I've been saving for a while and recently decided on upgrading from Sandy Bridge to Skylake. I currently have an i7-2600, so I'll be getting the i7-6700k because it's about time a had a 4GHz CPU. For a while it was going to be the AsRock Z170 Extreme4 with it's Ultra M.2 slot. At a later date, I would like to buy a 512GB Samsung 950 PRO, so that could be a bonus. However, recently I've been reading about how the ASUS Z170 PRO Gaming could be a better choice. The M.2 slot isn't "Ultra", but it does have 1x USB 3.1a & 1x USB 3.1c. I'm really hoping someone could help me choose wisely between these two Z170 boards. Thanks in advance to anyone who responds.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Tradesman1

Tradesman1

Legenda in Aeternum
Jun 5, 2013
67,883
40
126,960
Both are good mobos, I like the Pro Gaming, alsmost got that one myself but went ahead and upped to the Hero. Have worked on both the Rock and the Pro Gaming, unless one has a feature you NEED that the other doesn't - then either should be a good choice for you ;)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
ArmadaCas

ArmadaCas

Honorable
Jun 8, 2015
34
1
10,545
Thank you both for your speedy replies..!

The truth is, I have no idea what features I'm going to need over and above any others. On Amazon at the moment, the ASUS is 154€ and the AsRock is 137€.

In January, I cloned Windows 8.1 to my first SSD. It's a 500GB Samsung 850 EVO. I upgraded to Windows 10 , then did a full install. I recently checked Samsung Magician and discovered that the 'Total Bytes Written' is at the 4TB mark. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. If I don't work out what the problem is, I may have to buy another SSD soon..! I don't understand how I could have filled the drive 8 times over in 3-4 months. I think I heard that with AsRock Extreme boards, you don't have to reinstall the OS. With that, the 18€ difference, the great storage performance and the Ultra M.2 slot, I'm seriously considering buying the AsRock. But from numerous reviews (which I spent two whole days reading) of both boards, it seems like the ASUS has much better sound capabilities, stability, overclocking of CPU/RAM. Just seemed like there were more negatives with the AsRock than the ASUS, but the reviews were mostly from 2015, so maybe BIOS/System updates have improved things in the Extreme4's favour since then.

In order to help you help me, the things that may be most important to me for this upgrade are:

1. Not needing to reinstall Windows 10
2. Stability
3. Problem-free storage
4. Whichever board will run this properly http://www.amazon.it/Patriot-Memory-PV416G300C6K-16GB-PC4-24000/dp/B0157UQ5A6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

Amazon had a sale 2 weeks ago and I got this 2x8GB 3000MHz DDR4 RAM for 40€. Crazy, right..? Should have bought another set...

Again, thanks for everybody's time on this matter.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Tradesman1

Tradesman1

Legenda in Aeternum
Jun 5, 2013
67,883
40
126,960
The Win install is a crapshoot, normally it will go well (make sure your copy is up to date on updates) it should load default drivers for the new hardware, then proceed to Win, from there you load the latest mobo drivers, run a registry cleaner (wise has a free version that's good) and reactivate WIN. 2, 3, and 4 should be fine ;)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
ArmadaCas

ArmadaCas

Honorable
Jun 8, 2015
34
1
10,545


Thanks for the reply.

Just one quick question, which mobo does your answers refer to, the ASUS or the AsRock..?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Bearmann

Bearmann

Splendid
Sep 14, 2015
2,880
110
23,490
The M.2 slot is the same on both boards, 32Gb/sec.

I get a little concerned about not having any USB 2.0 ports on the back panel of the Asrock. Although USB 3.0 is supposed to be backwards compatible, sometimes is is not. Some things just work better plugged in to USB 2.0. I would go with the Asus Pro Gaming.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
ArmadaCas

ArmadaCas

Honorable
Jun 8, 2015
34
1
10,545


Thanks for the informations. The 'Ultra' on the AsRock M.2 is probably just means it's faster compared to SATA SSDs..? Didn't know that aboot the USB2/3. Appreciate The reply.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
ArmadaCas

ArmadaCas

Honorable
Jun 8, 2015
34
1
10,545
Hey guys, I'm all up and running with the ASUS mobo and i7-6700k now. Only issue I had was no internet. I searched through every menu in the BIOS and the Windows Control Panel with no luck, until I realised I hadn't installed the disc that came with the mobo hahaha. It's fine now, but Windows needs activating. Because I didn't think this would be an issue, I didn't write down my activation code from before. Does anyone know how I can reactivate without having to pay for it twice..?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Bearmann

Bearmann

Splendid
Sep 14, 2015
2,880
110
23,490


I imagine there is a registration at Microsoft. Sign in and see if you can retrieve it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Tradesman1

Tradesman1

Legenda in Aeternum
Jun 5, 2013
67,883
40
126,960
Try activation over the internet, it will activate or give you an error code and a number to call. Call and a computer ansers, has you type in the code one set at a time, checks asks how many rigs it's installed on, answer 1 and it should give a new code
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom