Asus Z170-A vs Gigabyte z170x UD5 TH?

[vladmalik]

Any reason I might want to go with Gigabyte? One thing I like is two USB-C type ports for USB3.1 on Gigabyte vs. a mix on the Asus. Gigabyte also has TH 3.0 onboard while Asus has only headers and only for TH 2.0 with expansion card. Gigabyte's also cheaper.

Do you see anything else in the specs that is a big difference?

 

[alexoiu]

In this case, I'd go with GB too.

 

[vladmalik]

Correction. It's cheaper than getting the separate TH2.0 card for the Asus and cheaper than Asus premium TH3.0 board. But it's about $30 more than the z170-a.

It appears that Gigabyte lacks PCI support in favor of PCIe. More importantly for me, it looks like Gigabyte has only a single display input (HDMI). You can connect more through the USB-C, but looks like you need a USB-C adapter or hub of some kind. Those are not cheap.

 

[alexoiu]

Will you use a graphics card?

 

[vladmalik]

Onboard GPU is plenty for my needs and supports 3 monitors. Just puzzling that there aren't more HDMI/DVI/something options. A cheap card with just HDMI inputs is an option. I'd love to avoid getting a separate card though.

 

[alexoiu]

What will you use the PC for?

 

[vladmalik]

Thanks! Music production, web design, light video editing.

A big deciding factor for me at the moment is the video inputs. Asus has 3 video ins. Gigabyte just one explicitly. Looks like I'd need a USB-C hub with an HDMI port.

 

[alexoiu]

"Music production, web design, light video editing.
"I'd consider installing a graphics card, tough.