Z97 motherboard questions may be helpful for other people aswell.

[sanhuy]

so im upgrading to a new rig from a 3 yr old rig and i need help with mobo. the z97 just came out and without reviews i just dont know which one to get.

question 1, for example would the msi z87 g45 be the same as the the msi z97 45 except with new chipset and the sataE stuffs?

question 2, should i wait for consumer reviews to come or just buy one of them new mobo's?

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150 dollar range: msi z97 g45 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130771
asus z97- A http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132118 which would you choose?

and for a 200 dollar range:
asus pro http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132116 or
ASRock z97extreme4 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157503
asrock fatal1ty http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157505
msi gaming 7 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130768
msi gd65 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130769

would appreciate it if you would help me narrow my selection down or even give me alternatives to my price ranges.

wow this took along time to do with all the links lol

 

[mc962]

i like asus, but i believe all of those are decent boards

i didnt look at all of them, but yes that is what it looked like, it's pretty much a newer chipset and some extra features (sataE stuffs). I feel like I heard that it might be compatible with newer cpus but im not really sure about that

personally i would wait a bit for consumer reviews, just in case of some unforseen bug somewhere. However, they also didnt really change much from what i can tell, so you might be okay for getting it now

 

[Tradesman1]

I went Asus (Hero) with the Z87s and never regretted it, I did 20 client builds on assorted mobo, and came to the decision that Asus had the best handle on the chipset and Haswell CPUs, been working with the Z97 Hero today and feel the same, they have continued to improve on their already great spot with Z87, with the same 4770K I had in my Z87 Hero, I'm running about 9 degrees cooler (and the AS5 hasn't even cured yet, so temps should drop even more, also running 4.6 w/ less voltage, though this is a temp 4.6, will be a few days before I really get into it...think I'll be able to go 4.8 on the Z97 (and maybe with a full 32GB of 2666)

 

[BeardHolloway0329]

I think Asus is good but with high price
so I voted to MSI though, Z87 was a good gaming mb, z97 should work better

 

[Tradesman1]

I'd rather pay a little more for the better quality of Asus, the Rock seemed to be the 2nd best mobos overall in Z87, so that would be my second choice on a Z97

 

[sanhuy]

interesting, since the hero is out of my budget im thinking of going with the asrock. right now im looking for consumer reviews.

 

[Tradesman1]

The Asus Z97-A will be a great board also, the Z87 was and they've made improvements across the line on the mobo to manage heat and OCing better