AsRock, Gigabyte, Asus or MSI? (Budget Z170 for Overclocking)

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TheMailonG

TheMailonG

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May 20, 2015
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Hi guys, I'm in doubt between these 9 (!) motherboards:

AsRock Z170M Extreme 4
AsRock Z170 Extreme3
Asrock Z170 M Pro4s
Asrock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4

Gigabyte GA-Z170-D3H DDR4
GigabyteGA-Z170M-D3H

Asus Z170-p D3
ASUS mATX Z170M-PLUS

MSI Z170 A Pro

Could you tell me which one is the better option (mainly for Overclock)?
Thanks in advance,
DMG.
 
Solution
JackNaylorPE
Some of the boards may be difficult to find w/ Z170 being phased out. Many of them are no longer available on newegg. In addition, I didn't check them all but I expect that all will include substandard audio solution, said standard being ALC 1150 for gaming boxes.

AsRock Z170M Extreme 4 - ALC 1150
AsRock Z170 Extreme3 - ALC 1150
Asrock Z170M Pro4s - - ALC 892
Asrock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4 - ALC 1150

Gigabyte GA-Z170-D3H DDR4 - ALC 892
Gigabyte GA-Z170M-D3H4 - ALC 892

Asus Z170-p D3 - ALC 887
ASUS mATX Z170M-PLUS - ALC 887

MSI Z170 A Pro - ALC 892

Out of those above w/ ALC 1150, the Fatality rises to the top of the list but it's extremely low user reviews put me off that board. Just 31% of board owners gave it 5 eggs and 23% 1...
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JackNaylorPE

JackNaylorPE

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Some of the boards may be difficult to find w/ Z170 being phased out. Many of them are no longer available on newegg. In addition, I didn't check them all but I expect that all will include substandard audio solution, said standard being ALC 1150 for gaming boxes.

AsRock Z170M Extreme 4 - ALC 1150
AsRock Z170 Extreme3 - ALC 1150
Asrock Z170M Pro4s - - ALC 892
Asrock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4 - ALC 1150

Gigabyte GA-Z170-D3H DDR4 - ALC 892
Gigabyte GA-Z170M-D3H4 - ALC 892

Asus Z170-p D3 - ALC 887
ASUS mATX Z170M-PLUS - ALC 887

MSI Z170 A Pro - ALC 892

Out of those above w/ ALC 1150, the Fatality rises to the top of the list but it's extremely low user reviews put me off that board. Just 31% of board owners gave it 5 eggs and 23% 1 egg

If ya can swing it, my fav board under $200 is the $160 Gigbayte Gaming 7
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128835

At your price range however, which I assume is $100- $120, I would suggest the $105 GIGABYTE GA-Z170XP-SLI w/ Realtek ALC1150
http://pcpartpicker.com/product/8q38TW/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz170xpsli

The MSI equivalent (MSI Z170A SLI Plus) is $124
http://pcpartpicker.com/product/yLPzK8/msi-motherboard-z170asliplus

If you look at newegg user reviews, MSI garnered 60% 5 egg ratings and just 12% 2 eggs ... the Gigabyte model 50% 5 eggs and 24% 1 egg.

Anandtech raved about the MSI model but with feature wise being identical, the $20 price difference makes the Giga very attractive
http://www.anandtech.com/show/10236/the-msi-z170a-sli-plus-review


 
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TheMailonG

TheMailonG

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May 20, 2015
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They're all too expensive in my country... What's the problem with the audio you mentioned?
Which would you pick from my list?
 
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JackNaylorPE

JackNaylorPE

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I don't understand why one Gigabyte MoBo (Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI) would be that much different than any other relatively speaking if they were same price here.

As for the audio .... ALC 1150 is the "standard" offering for "Gaming" oriented Motherboards. Like anything else, a motherboard that costs less, has to cut corners somewhere, and an ever more popular way of doing this is to use a lower quality audio solution. With Z170, Asus did this on almost every board up to $150 in price.. luckily everyone else gave us ALC 1150 down to the $100 price point and sometimes even lower.

So while ALC 1150 is standard offering in most gaming oriented MoBos, to make the board more affordable (or to make more money of consumers depending how you look at it) manufacturers will offer lower cost audio solutions (as well as LAN and other features), below ALC 1150, is ALC 892 and below that is ALC 887. To my eyes, if you are paying over $100 - $120 you deserve to get ALC 1150.

Now one of the boards you listed did provide ALC 1150... my problem was the reviews from people who actually owned the board were not very satisfied with it. many will say that "well only people who have problems will go on line and report it". That's false logic in that it doesn't explain why one model gets 75% 5 egg ratings and another gets just 31%.

If here we can buy:

Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI for $125 (w/ $20 mail in rebate making it $105)
Gigabyte GA-Z170-D3H for $105
Asrock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4 for $139

That's a little less then a 20% difference between the two Gigas so it's odd that you see a much wider difference where you are.... And both are cheaper than the Fatality.

Can you tell us where you are located ? perhaps we can find a purchase source you haven't considered.

 
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