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Best Motherboards For The Money: October 2014

Tags:
  • Motherboards
  • AMD
  • Intel
  • Asus
  • ASrock
  • MSI
  • Gigabyte
Last response: in Reviews comments
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a b V Motherboard
October 14, 2014 1:55:27 PM

Are you having a hard time keeping track of the best motherboards out there? Our resident motherboard expert helps you pick the right platform with this collection of award-winning boards covering today's top AMD and Intel processors.

Best Motherboards For The Money: October 2014 : Read more

More about : motherboards money october 2014

October 14, 2014 2:39:07 PM

You guys just solved a lot of my problems with this new "Best X for the money" article :D 
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October 14, 2014 2:48:22 PM

Soooo where's the Page 2, featuring Teh Chipset Guide for Derps?
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a c 150 V Motherboard
a b À AMD
a b å Intel
a b Ĉ ASUS
October 14, 2014 2:55:20 PM

Where are entry level (e.g. basic office) and mainstream boards (e.g. B85, H87)? This applies to only a small fraction of the market, most of whom do not need advanced features.
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a b V Motherboard
October 14, 2014 3:34:16 PM

WOW! Awesome idea. We wanted and need an article like this.

Thanks for this new article of "Best X for the money: x month"!

edit:
Onus said:
Where are entry level (e.g. basic office) and mainstream boards (e.g. B85, H87)?

+1 to what Onus said.
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October 14, 2014 4:18:28 PM

Nice list. Maybe I like it because I own a board on this list :p 

Speaking of "Where is the...": Where is the "Best Server Board" list? ;) 
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a b V Motherboard
October 14, 2014 4:30:05 PM

hoping to see B85, H87 and H97
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October 14, 2014 4:32:12 PM

Thomas,

Two things. The Personal System/2 is abbreviated at PS/2, not P/S 2. That's where the port (and VGA) came from back in 1987. They were amazing machines, of which I still have several (some new) if you ever want pictures. It's a nitpick, but as a technical site should be accurate.

Also, this isn't a nitpick, it's a fairly important omission. I recommend putting the socket type in your chart. It may seem obvious to you, but consider who would be reading this article to get information. It might not be to them, and it's important to know.
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October 14, 2014 5:06:23 PM

I have a 970A chipset for my FX 6300. I desperately need a better mobo :D 
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a c 93 V Motherboard
a b À AMD
a b å Intel
a b Ĉ ASUS
October 14, 2014 6:03:44 PM

The only FM2+ boards you recommend are above $100. That's completely useless, they are way too expensive to make sense for an APU/Athlon build. Doesn't necessarily have to be as cheap as the AM1 boards, but there should AT LEAST be one model below $100.

You also don't have a single Intel board under $150.

Seriously, this article has nothing to do with "best for the money" when it's all high-end boards that are overkill for most people - including overclockers.
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October 14, 2014 6:10:28 PM

ASRock has really cornered the value motherboard market and I wasn't surprised to see their motherboards listed as the best for the money.
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a c 241 V Motherboard
a b À AMD
a b å Intel
a c 114 Ĉ ASUS
October 14, 2014 7:26:29 PM

I'm always crinkle my face when I see "for the money" articles. Basically says "It prolly isn't really what ya want, but it's a good buy for the money". Kinda like that PSU you bought with the chinese caps cause if ya got what ya wanted it was a budget buster.

Not sure why two X99's were selected just $6 apart .... or why all the Z97's just $60 apart ? Nothing for the gal / guy w/ $130 to spend or > $225 to spend

Would much rather see:

$100 - $125
$125 - $150
......
$275 - $300

And so on .... but not if the price categories move each month like on the GFX card reviews. When the categories move it reads as if the categories are picked to fit a pre-selected winner.
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October 14, 2014 8:15:53 PM

Would be improved if it was separated into form factor categories as well.
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a b V Motherboard
October 14, 2014 8:34:31 PM

maximum i will pay on motherboard is $150 more than that blow my pocket away
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a b V Motherboard
a b Ĉ ASUS
October 14, 2014 10:16:22 PM

I would like to see:
Intel/AMD:
* <$60 OC'ing/Office/HTPC Motherboard
* $60-$99 OC'ing/Office/HTPC Motherboard and possibly entry level enthusiast/gaming
* $100-150 same as above
* >$150 Enthusiast/Gaming Motherboard

I don't see any affordable Motherboards for budget builds on the recommendations, so this is why I suggested something like the list above. Obviously x99 is in a different price range, but most people know this going into that platform.
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October 14, 2014 10:32:08 PM

this is great but can you also please provide the best budget board for series 8 and series 9. a compare of buying series 8 over 9 or vice versa.
looking in intel. is it worth having hdmi in the board or gpu and which gpu is compatible with which board.
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October 15, 2014 12:18:17 AM

Thanks for the article Crash. However I would like to see the best value-for-money board that can overclock a G3258 please.
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October 15, 2014 1:40:18 AM

Teething problems with the article. I think the other posters are right, you need categories, example best AMD/Intel board for 0-50, 51-100 etc etc. Or maybe have a chart which sorts them by features. standard boards 0-100, OC boards 0-100 etc.
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a c 126 V Motherboard
a c 171 À AMD
a c 103 å Intel
a b Ĉ ASUS
October 15, 2014 6:25:13 AM

The 970a-ud3p belongs on this list for AM3+. Gigabyte H97-gaming 3 and the H97 pro4 should be too. There are absolutely no budget boards on this list at all. This list is fine for those looking to spend a good chunk of change on a system, but for many, it is offers no help at all, as these boards are out of reach for the budget builds. It is a good start, but needs more depth, like the CPU and GPU best of's have.
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a b V Motherboard
October 15, 2014 7:02:31 AM

All concerns about the layout aside, extending this article series to motherboards is an absolutely awesome idea. Thanks, Tom's.
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a b V Motherboard
October 15, 2014 7:14:35 AM

As the start of a new 'Best X for the money' series this is great. Please, for future iterations, include the requested modifications regarding price banding, sockets, compatible CPUs and target audience for each board. Also, have a separate section for SFF like mITX and uATX (most of my customers are asking for small cases nowadays)
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October 15, 2014 7:58:12 AM

Nice list. Maybe I like it because I own a board on this list :p 

Speaking of "Where is the...": Where is the "Best Server Board" list? ;) 
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October 15, 2014 8:10:32 AM

Awesome article !!! But my personal needs are for the best bang-for-the-buck Mini-ITX boards, i'll be using a Core i5 4430 and a GTX 970.
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October 15, 2014 8:19:48 AM

at those prices you buy a i5 and a cheap mobo and be a winner, overcloking is for maniacs.
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a b V Motherboard
a b Ĉ ASUS
October 15, 2014 9:15:29 AM

I know that you can figure out the socket from the chipset, but it would be nice to add the socket to the specs.
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October 15, 2014 10:20:06 AM

Every intel z97 under 130$ is crap for TH... heh :p 
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a c 150 V Motherboard
a b À AMD
a b å Intel
a b Ĉ ASUS
October 15, 2014 10:59:30 AM

I'm going to throw out there that buying a more expensive mobo than you might otherwise think you need can have a couple of benefits. One is, it may possess a feature (or two) that you can and will grow in to. The second, based partly on the first, but also on more durable components, is that it will last a lot longer and thus keep the ultimately more expensive "upgrade itch" at bay. Buy cheap, and sooner or later a missing feature will nudge you into an upgrade, which will actually end up costing more than buying a little higher on the scale the first time.
Consider the long-term use(s) of the machine. If it's Mom's web surfer, than a cheaper board may be just fine. If it's an enthusiast build (gamer or otherwise), then try to step up.
As a personal example, subject to overall reputation / quality requirements, I used to buy mostly cheaper boards, then want to upgrade after little more than a year (maybe for additional ports, maybe for newer interfaces; there'd be a reason). My current mobos are a 990FX Sabertooth and a Z77 Maximus V Gene. Both have features I may never use, but years in I've not felt any desire to upgrade them, and won't unless/until the two systems no longer meet my needs.
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a c 126 V Motherboard
a c 171 À AMD
a c 103 å Intel
a b Ĉ ASUS
October 15, 2014 11:08:56 AM

Jose Fernandes said:
Every intel z97 under 130$ is crap for TH... heh :p 


I would use a cheaper Z97 board, like the Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI if I wanted SLI, M.2, but didn't care about overclocking. It isn't something I would consider for an overclocking board, but sufficient for a basic, non overclocking, SLI build.

I have the Z77 extreme4 and haven't felt the need to upgrade. I just want something different, and smaller. The direction my life is going right now, I think a mini-itx build is going to have to be in my future, as I will be needing the room.
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October 15, 2014 2:30:22 PM

This is a joke! The Asrock Extreme 4 has way much less expansion and features than the Gigabyte X99 UD4. It costs more as well.
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October 15, 2014 3:05:31 PM

Next time I'm looking for a high-end, expensive APU build, I'll be sure to check here for the best $110+ FM2+ motherboards.

I don't anticipate doing any high-end APU-based builds soon, though.
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a b V Motherboard
October 15, 2014 4:11:21 PM

I have to echo a few people here. First, I love the idea of monthly lists of mboards. But yes, I have some problems with this listing. A "... for the money" article has to consider how much money can be spent in order to find what is the best product for that price. I think you need a sub-$80 group, $80-$100 group, $100-$120 group, $120 - $150, and then $150 and up. Within each of those ranges you'll need of course different sockets, and maybe chipsets ( though you might get away with feature set and use case instead like "home office" "HTPC" and "overclocking." )
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October 16, 2014 3:00:52 AM

Why were the H97 boards skipped completely? Makes Intel boards look vastly more expensive
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a c 126 V Motherboard
a c 171 À AMD
a c 103 å Intel
a b Ĉ ASUS
October 16, 2014 6:41:22 AM

dj christian said:
This is a joke! The Asrock Extreme 4 has way much less expansion and features than the Gigabyte X99 UD4. It costs more as well.


Performance is factored into this as well, not just the feature set. 4 way SLI is useless, and the extreme4 is like $1 more. You make it sound like its $50. :lol: 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X99-UD4 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($238.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $238.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-16 09:41 EDT-0400


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme4 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($239.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $239.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-16 09:41 EDT-0400
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a b V Motherboard
a b À AMD
October 16, 2014 7:46:38 AM

This is a great synthesis of all the recent, previous motherboard round-ups. I really like the side-by-side comparison of the motherboards, so you can quickly and conveniently tell the different features that each board comes with.
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October 16, 2014 2:12:27 PM

I am noticing a pattern here, you seem to recommend ASRock and MSI motherboards a lot. I have personally used MSI boards previously and had a lot of issues with them and their customer service. I don't really know much about ASRock, but I cannot believe they are the top for the price.

Seems a little too one sided to be good advice.
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October 16, 2014 10:30:25 PM

Would any1 plz clarify "Why is Asus Crosshair V Formula - Z not there in the top AMD motherboard list??"
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October 17, 2014 9:37:39 AM

MSI has a new 4 month old 970 means newer Bios, that is a full board and has newer sound card that lights up and does CF and SLI for only 100$ and has a very high rating I bought one for my 6 core.
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a b V Motherboard
a b À AMD
October 17, 2014 2:07:32 PM

epcock said:
Would any1 plz clarify "Why is Asus Crosshair V Formula - Z not there in the top AMD motherboard list??"


These motherboards are from a number of previous reviews/round-ups where the manufacturers willingly sent in products for the site to compete/be reviewed - so they are limited in that sense.

Long story short, the list is by no means comprehensive. Otherwise, I think the Asrock FM2A88X-Extreme6+ may have gotten a mention.
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