Totally Confused - Need mATX Motherboard for a New Build

[ScottNY]

I am looking for advice on an mATX board for a new build using the Thermaltake V21 case. Although overkill, I will be using the i5 6600K since I got a great deal on it. I do not game or overclock, I only use one 24" Samsung monitor and am hard-wired to my router, but since i want to use DDR4 memory, I decided to go with a Z170 board.

I have a choice of three mobos that I can take an additional $30 discount on when I buy together with the i5 6600K, but I can't figure out what the major differences are, or which is best. Comparison reviews are either confusing or non-existent. Here are my choices and the price for new, not open-box mobos, after discounts.

MSI Z170M Mortar - $74
ASRock Z170M Pro4S - $40
Gigabyte GA Z170M-D3H - $49

I would appreciate any help you all can provide.

 

[tazzrats]

I would go with the gigabyte board, for a few reasons:

The feature set is VERY similar for all of them if you're not overclocking, however the price to feature ratio of the gigabyte board is far better than the MSI board

I personally only trust gigabyte out of these 3 companies, dual bios has saved my arse twice now, and I love the build quality of them, dont mind MSI, personally HATE ASRock

Gigabyte board has slightly better RAM capabilities as standard (although real world difference, doubt you'll see anything)

If you need loads of USB3.1 (I highly doubt it though) the MSI board is good here,

For price though, gigabyte, hands down

 

[ScottNY]

I would go with the gigabyte board, for a few reasons:

The feature set is VERY similar for all of them if you're not overclocking, however the price to feature ratio of the gigabyte board is far better than the MSI board

I personally only trust gigabyte out of these 3 companies, dual bios has saved my arse twice now, and I love the build quality of them, dont mind MSI, personally HATE ASRock

Gigabyte board has slightly better RAM capabilities as standard (although real world difference, doubt you'll see anything)

If you need loads of USB3.1 (I highly doubt it though) the MSI board is good here,

For price though, gigabyte, hands down

Thanks for the input. Someone who has given me some great advise elsewhere on the site tends to prefer ASUS to these three brands. Any thoughts? If you too prefer ASUS, any specific mATX mobo?

 

[tazzrats]

Thanks for the input. Someone who has given me some great advise elsewhere on the site tends to prefer ASUS to these three brands. Any thoughts? If you too prefer ASUS, any specific mATX mobo?

Alot of people really like ASUS, so do I to be fair, used them in my other build. I slightly prefer gigabyte, mostly due to never having a problem and Dual BIOS saving me, but objectively gigabyte and ASUS are very similar for quality

In this price range, I would say Gigabyte hands down, not really an ASUS board I personally like as much, especially aesthetically. However, I am biased here, although most people agree gigabyte = asus, with afew more saying asus > gigabyte, although not by much - Go with the gigabyte, If your not overclocking especially

 

[ScottNY]

Well, after taking everything in to consideration, I decided to go with the MSI Z170M Mortar board and was going to pick it up this weekend for $74 after rebate. Today I saw that the Samsung 850 EVO 500Gb is on sale for $129, which is my first choice SSD. The M.2 version is the same price, but the above mentioned mobo doesn't support M.2. Does it make a big difference? Should I consider another mobo? If so, what?

 

[tazzrats]

Well, after taking everything in to consideration, I decided to go with the MSI Z170M Mortar board and was going to pick it up this weekend for $74 after rebate. Today I saw that the Samsung 850 EVO 500Gb is on sale for $129, which is my first choice SSD. The M.2 version is the same price, but the above mentioned mobo doesn't support M.2. Does it make a big difference? Should I consider another mobo? If so, what?

No it doesn't make a difference, as the 850 evo is m.2 sata, effectively the same speed as the normal SATA evo but a little smaller. If you were to go for an M.2 pcie SSD, such as the 950 evo , the speed is HUGELY superior. SO you might want to keep that into account if you plan to go for such high speed SSDs in the future.

Hope this helps

 

[ScottNY]

Thanks, Tazz, that was a big help!

 

[ScottNY]

Okay, hypothetical question here. Tomorrow is CyberMonday. I have an unopened MSI Z170M Mortar mobo, which I got new for $74. It seems like the ASUS Rog Maximus VIII Gene Z170 mATX board gets rid of many of the compromises made for the less expensive MSI Mortar mobo. If there is a great deal on the ASUS mobo tomorrow and I can get it for say, $100 more than the Mortar, is it worth the money over the long-term? I can return the MSI mobo with no fees or anything. How much better is the ASUS Rog Maximus VIII Gene mATX over the MSI Z170M Mortar?

Thanks!

 

[tazzrats]

Okay, hypothetical question here. Tomorrow is CyberMonday. I have an unopened MSI Z170M Mortar mobo, which I got new for $74. It seems like the ASUS Rog Maximus VIII Gene Z170 mATX board gets rid of many of the compromises made for the less expensive MSI Mortar mobo. If there is a great deal on the ASUS mobo tomorrow and I can get it for say, $100 more than the Mortar, is it worth the money over the long-term? I can return the MSI mobo with no fees or anything. How much better is the ASUS Rog Maximus VIII Gene mATX over the MSI Z170M Mortar?

Thanks!

Sorry I am late, if you get it for an okay price it is a much better board, but presuming you have done it now or not

 

[ScottNY]

Thanks, Tazz. I have the MSI mobo, but haven't opened it yet. I don't think I'll have the time to start my build for at least a week or two, so in the meantime I will keep watching for a sale on the ASUS Rog Maximus VIII Gene.

On another note, I am embarrassed to say that somehow the Gigabyte GA-Z170MX-Gaming 5 mATX mobo escaped my consciousness. It is about $30 more [not a big deal] than the MSI Z170M Mortar, which I have, but is unopened. To my untrained eye, the GA-Z170MX-Gaming 5 might be a little more future proof, with an M.2 socket and more expansion possibilities. For $30 more, is this a slightly better mobo than the MSI Z170M Mortar?

Once I build this PC, I don't plan to change my mobo or CPU for at least five years or more. My current PC with the ASUS P5Q Pro Turbo mobo and Q6600 CPU have served me well for almost 7 years - something I want this new build to do, too.

 

[tazzrats]

Thanks, Tazz. I have the MSI mobo, but haven't opened it yet. I don't think I'll have the time to start my build for at least a week or two, so in the meantime I will keep watching for a sale on the ASUS Rog Maximus VIII Gene.

On another note, I am embarrassed to say that somehow the Gigabyte GA-Z170MX-Gaming 5 mATX mobo escaped my consciousness. It is about $30 more [not a big deal] than the MSI Z170M Mortar, which I have, but is unopened. To my untrained eye, the GA-Z170MX-Gaming 5 might be a little more future proof, with an M.2 socket and more expansion possibilities. For $30 more, is this a slightly better mobo than the MSI Z170M Mortar?

Once I build this PC, I don't plan to change my mobo or CPU for at least five years or more. My current PC with the ASUS P5Q Pro Turbo mobo and Q6600 CPU have served me well for almost 7 years - something I want this new build to do, too.

Sorry this is insanely late, that is a very very good board yes, if you want to be 'future proof', probably my advised board in that form factor.

 

[ScottNY]

Thanks again, Tazz. I went for the Gigabyte Z170MX Gaming 5, mobo. I got it new for $104, only $30 more than the MSI Mortar, so I am really glad it worked out.

 

[tazzrats]

Thanks again, Tazz. I went for the Gigabyte Z170MX Gaming 5, mobo. I got it new for $104, only $30 more than the MSI Mortar, so I am really glad it worked out.

Very good call in the end Should serve you well!