Should I buy this or the Asus Z97I-PLUS?
334794
The only benefit of the z97 would be the m.2 slot. Which to benefit from you would need to get an m.2 pci express x4 SSD. MAKE SURE IT IS PCI EXPRESS X4 AND NOT SATA 3 version of the SSD. All other aspects would be opinionated and based on your needs.
334795
Both boards are awesome, and come from solid manufacturers. RMA policies for both are great (albeit slow sometimes). It really boils down to price and application. The GA board has 6x SATA connectors and WiFi while the Asus has 4x SATA connectors and no WiFi. The Gigabyte also has Dual LAN (one Intel, one Atheros). The Asus supports DDR3 3200 while the Gigabyte only supports DDR3 3100. The Asus appears to have better heatsinks on the power devices which is typically better for overclocking. The Asus also has an M.2 slot, which isn't a big deal unless you really plan on using it. When I built my rig I went with the Gigabyte for its feature-set and price point and couldn't be happier. Both boards are awesome, and come from solid manufacturers. RMA policies for both are great (albeit slow sometimes). It really boils down to price and application. The GA board has 6x SATA connectors and WiFi while the Asus has 4x SATA connectors and no WiFi. The Gigabyte also has Dual LAN (one Intel, one Atheros). The Asus supports DDR3 3200 while the Gigabyte only supports DDR3 3100. The Asus appears to have better heatsinks on the power devices which is typically better for overclocking. The Asus also has an M.2 slot, which isn't a big deal unless you really plan on using it. When I... » Read More Both boards are awesome, and come from solid manufacturers. RMA policies for both are great (albeit slow sometimes). It really boils down to price and application. The GA board has 6x SATA connectors and WiFi while the Asus has 4x SATA connectors and no WiFi. The Gigabyte also has Dual LAN (one Intel, one Atheros). The Asus supports DDR3 3200 while the Gigabyte only supports DDR3 3100. The Asus appears to have better heatsinks on the power devices which is typically better for overclocking. The Asus also has an M.2 slot, which isn't a big deal unless you really plan on using it. When I built my rig I went with the Gigabyte for its feature-set and price point and couldn't be happier. « Show Less
1552422
SLI compatable so you should be fine but if you are going to be superclocking I would put more of an investment into your motherboard, it is what's going to be tying you components together and is arguably your most crucial component outside of your cpu and if it gets damaged it's the most painstaking to replace. So are you willing to circuit so much power through a mid range model or through a higher end model. I suggest the latter
1971451
my needs are very minimal and it works for that. you could ask asus but i wouldn'y believe anything they say. deal with a good company and you will be happy with the product because you will be able to trust their info
2262340
Go with an a8-5600k trinity. It's the same price. You could also go with an fm2+ socket a10 kavari core.
2045003
This is a good stable board. You can tweak the settings for both Processor and memory. The processor must be unlocked so keep that in mind when selecting one. This board is not an enthusiast or extreme overclocker. You can push a little more with no problems. If you really want to go to the limits then look for something like the Z77 OC Formula or the MSI Z87-GD65 gaming board.
1847070
Try the ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark2 board. Its around 165 - 175. Its a great board that has served me well!
1864696
The i5 runs a bit cooler and is almost exactly the same speed at most things. Aside from the energy and heat savings of the i5 the 8320 is the way to go because it's far less expensive than the i5. They both over clock equally well but the i5 requires a much more expensive chipset and will add even more money to your chip cost. I actually have both of these chips and my i5 motherboard costs $250 and my 8320 motherboard only cost me around $90 if I remember and it has most of the same features with the exception of built in wifi. If cost is no factor intel wins just barely
1539068
This all depends on motherboard manufacturers. PCI is definitely on its way out, so if you are worried, I would get the STX version.
1306211
Long story short, this is the microtower version of z77 extreme 4. It's much more compact. Since I have Haf X tower... I'm regretting getting this motherboard honestly, but I don't think there'll be much difference between this motherboard and z77 extreme4 performance-wise except for a few plugs missing (z77 extreme4 has more sata2 and sata3 ports, etc)
242865
What I would build that one with is a 990 series mb which is a am3+ series mb's. MSI has them Gigabyte,Asrock just look for AM3+ and you will see the 990 number in the descriptions.
752983
I would personally go for the EVGA. Better warranty and I prefer them over Asus in the GPU department :) Good luck!
649604
both are good choices, they make up for with 4GB excellent times 4 4 4 2, if your motherboard supports 8GB, it would be better to take advantage to the fullest !!!
996717
MSI GAMING z97 chipset.... All of them are excellent but get the one with the easy overclockinh and bios.. I have Z97-GD65 and it's great!!!!!!
343249
Thanks! I appreciate the information. I'll probably buy the U100 (aren't lower numbers usually cheaper?), or maybe the Acer equivalent or even the Asus, though that seems to be a bit heavier. (I'd welcome opinions on the relative merits of these computers.)
996722
I am using the ASUS maximus z97 hero and it has a ton of features, looks amazing, and over clocks great!
288114
The z87-g43 is just a newer motherboard H87-g43.. not much of a performance difference.. both boards are really good for all around use including gaming..
965294
The reason I went with the Asus card was that the EVGA card I had previously did not work well with my Asus motherboard. I realize it is a flipped circumstance, but is worth noting there were comparability issues between the two. Hope this information is useful for your decision making process.