Which would be better for gaming? ASRock Extreme 4 or MSI Z77A-G45

[dannyritz]

Hello. I'm building my system for the first time and I'm looking at buying one of these 2 Z77 motherboards. (If there are any better ideas within about 150-200 dollars please tell me)

ASRock Extreme 4 Z77
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z77%20Extreme4/


MSI Z77A-G45
http://in.msi.com/product/mb/Z77A-G45.html#/?div=Overview

Would one of them be better for gaming?

1. On the specs page it says the asrock comes with Lucid Virtu Universal MVP which is supposed to be better for frame rates. The MSI does not. Does this really matter?

2. The asrock is said to come with gold caps. Does that mean its of higher quality as compared to the MSI?

3. The asrock is an atx board but its dimensions are smaller than normal atx boards (218.44 x 304.8 mm) the msi is 245 x 305 mm. I bought an cooler master haf xm case, would the asrock mount into that? the case says it can take atx boards.

4. Is one of them better for overclocking? like more stable and reliable?

5. The asrock has 2 (Processor Fan Headers), 3 (System Fan Headers). My case comes with 4 case fans. Can I safely use one of the cpu fan headers for a 200mm cooler master case fan? (no leds)

6. I also bought a CM evo 212 cpu cooler. Would that interfere with the ram slots of either board? If it does can I just use the 2nd and 4th slots and skip the first and third?


Lots of questions I know. Answers to any of them would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[alvine]

1. lucid virtu reffers to using integrated graphics with your dedicated graphics. for example if you are on the desktop the pc will use integrated graphics because there is nothing graphically intense and when you power a pc game on it will switch since the dedicated graphics is faster
2. there are gold caps, japanese caps, solid caps..its marketing
3. yea the asrock will fit, the board might be a little smaller but the mounting holes are in the same position
4. as for overclocking goes go for the board that has nicer looking heatsinks because when you overclock you will produce more heat and with heat things become unstable. better heatsinks will keep your stuff more stable
5. yes you can
6. basically dont buy tall ram sticks with a big cooler

i would recommend the asrock extreme 4 z77, i personally use asrock extreme 3 z67 (get old mobo)

 

[dannyritz]

Ok. Thanks. I've already got the ram though. I suppose if the first slot is blocked ill just use the A2 and B2