B85 Vanguard vs Killer

[Hitagi]

Hi, I'll be upgrading and I've got 2 questions. I'd like to buy these:
Intel Xeon 1231v3
Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3 1600Mhz CL9 (basically the cheapest 1600Mhz/CL9 RAMs I could find around here)
and now either ASUS B85 Vanguard or ASRock B85 Killer

It all comes down to longer warranty and supposedly better build quality (ASUS) vs better audio and Ethernet ports (ASRock), they both cost the same, so I'd like to ask, how much better is the audio (I don't really care about the Ethernet) of the ASRock? Is it worth it over the longer warranty?

The other question is, I've heard that I can use the stock cooler with the Xeon, is it true? Personally, I think it will be just fine from the cooling perspective but isn't it noisy?

 

[James Mason]

Asrock and Asus are actually the same company, Asrock is just the cheaper division of it. (like Toyota and Scion, ect)
Why do you want the B85 boards though? They are meant for specific business applications (mainly just enhanced security features, that's it)

The stock cooler would be fine though, you'll need a graphics card as the xeon's don't have graphics chips in them.

 

[Hitagi]

Yeah, I know, I already have a graphics card (HD 7950), I just need to upgrade my Q8200 (which means new MB and new RAM). I don't really need a B85. It's just that in this price range, the other options are the cheapest H97 models, so these B85 looked like a better choice to me. I'm no expert though.

EDIT. To elaborate on the subject a little bit more, I didn't wanna buy the crappiest board possible, so I basically searched for the cheapest MB with the ALC1150 and thats ASRock B85 Killer, so that's what I thought I should buy, but then I came across the ASUS B85 Vanguard and now I'm not so sure which one to pick. I could also go for a H87/H97 board with ALC1150 but they are pricier (not that much, but still) and I don't know about anything H87/H97 has over the B85 that I would need.

 

[James Mason]

Ehhh, that sound codec stuff is kind of just a bunch of BS. There's nothing wrong with H81 boards, the only differences between the chipsets is how many SATA ports they support and have many PCIE lanes they have. (as well overclocking capability) http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Z87-H87-H81-Q87-Q85-B85-What-is-the-difference-473/