Which motherboard?

[wez130]

MSI Z87-G45

Gigabyte GA-Z87-OC

Other option?

Not that fussed about overclocking but my try in the future. I just want a good solid board with decent on board sound, and ideally i'd like bluetooth but that's not the be all and end all.

I'll be pairing with an I5 4670 probably, a powercolor HD7870 Myst edition GPU and 2x4gb corsair XMS 3

budget is around £100 (yes i know the gigabyte is more)

 

[wazza300]

the gigabyte's the best out of those two

gigabyte g1 sniper anygood?

 

[8 Pack]

Z87 OC best board in that price range. Go with it!!!

 

[wez130]

I have to say, after reading reviews on the gigabyte, there seem to be a LOT of dissatisfied customers with that particular board, complaints about crashes, corrupt BIOS and DOA boards. It's putting me off to be honest. It also used older technology for sound. Also, i read the top PCIe slot gets in the way of the CPU HSF if you're not using WC (which i'm not)? Surely i could save some money going for a board not entirely designed for overclocking?

 

[pdaboy]

You could go for the Asus Z87-K. Its decent for the price
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-573-AS

 

[wazza300]

if your not bothered about overclocking then id look at the cheaper b85/h81/h87 chipsets

they only support ram speeds upto 1600mhz though so take note

 

[NokkonWud]

I have to say, after reading reviews on the gigabyte, there seem to be a LOT of dissatisfied customers with that particular board, complaints about crashes, corrupt BIOS and DOA boards. It's putting me off to be honest. It also used older technology for sound. Also, i read the top PCIe slot gets in the way of the CPU HSF if you're not using WC (which i'm not)? Surely i could save some money going for a board not entirely designed for overclocking?

I have the Z87X-OC and none of things were issues here.

 

[ScottiB]

I have to say, after reading reviews on the gigabyte, there seem to be a LOT of dissatisfied customers with that particular board, complaints about crashes, corrupt BIOS and DOA boards. It's putting me off to be honest. It also used older technology for sound. Also, i read the top PCIe slot gets in the way of the CPU HSF if you're not using WC (which i'm not)? Surely i could save some money going for a board not entirely designed for overclocking?

It's a board designed to make overclocking easy, crashes and corrupt BIOS's are both symptoms of an unstable OC. Thanks to the dual BIOS redundancy though, if you push this board too far you won't brick it.

 

[stulid]

Z87X-OC has the highest users and submissions at HWbot.

 

[ScottiB]

Alternatively...

Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard **Overclockers UK Exclusive** @ £169.99 inc VAT

The Gigabyte Z97X SOC Force is exclusive to OcUK in this country. Don't be fooled by the Z97X SOC, the SOC Force is the only true Gigabyte OC Series Motherboard. Similar in spec to the legendary Z87X-OC, favourite amongst the world's serious overclockers but with a few extra features to push it into the stratosphere. Pick up the latest version of the overclocker's favourite board, ONLY from Overclockers UK


Specifications

CPU Support Supports 4th Gen Intel® Core™ / Pentium® / Celeron® processors for LGA 1150 socket
Chipset Intel Z97
Memory Support 4 x DDR3 DIMMs 1066/ 1333/ 1600/ 1866(OC)/ 2133(OC)/2400(OC)/ 2666(OC)/ 2800(OC)/ 3000(OC) up to 32GB max
Multi-GPU Support Support for 4-Way Crossfire
Support for 2-Way SLI
Display Outputs 1 x HDMI port
1 x DisplayPort
1 x DVI-I Port
1 x Dsub port
Expansion Slots 1 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x16
1 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x8
2 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x4
1 x PCI Express x1 slot
2x PCI slot
Storage 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
RAID 0, 1, 5, 10
SATA Express
Networking 1 x Intel® GbE LAN
Audio Realtek ALC 1150 - 8 Channel HD Audio
Connectivity 2 USB 2.0 (Headers)
2 USB 3.0 (Headers)
4 USB 3.0 Rear Ports
4 USB 2.0 Rear Ports
Form Factor ATX Form Factor
Warranty 3 Year Manufacturer Warranty

Only £169.99 inc VAT.

ORDER NOW

 

[wez130]

Thanks, i've gone with the Z87X-OC anyway. Now i just need to secure a CPU (4670/4770) and i can build

 

[wez130]

So i got burned on the gigabyte Z87-OC from members market, apparently the seller 'dropped' it so couldn't sell it to me. Shame as i'd warmed to it.

However, on a different forum, an Asus Maximus VI Hero has turned up brand new for £100. What are they like and how do they compare to the gigabyte?

Thx

 

[8 Pack]

The Gigabyte is a better board than the Hero. The Gene is a great board also. But if you want full atx the Giga is your best option.

 

[pastymuncher]

The Hero is a very good board and has excellent onboard sound. With Haswell it's all about the cpu. Unless you are doing extreme cooling a £160 board is not going to get better results than one costing half the price.

 

[stulid]

However, on a different forum, an Asus Maximus VI Hero has turned up brand new for £100. What are they like and how do they compare to the gigabyte?

Thx

I have a Hero here, dont like it and it struggles unlike the OC, sometimes it decides to bootloop for a while when I ask it to run RAM at 2800MHZ, the OC doesnt.

 

[pastymuncher]

Mine is fine with the ram overclocked to 2133mhz. Never had a problem with it.

 

[stulid]

Mine is fine with the ram overclocked to 2133mhz. Never had a problem with it.

I don't think 2133MHz is that high and should not cause any issues on any supporting board., I set XMP profile which is 2800Mhz and the Hero is the only one to struggle, the OC doesn't and neither does the GD65, only the boards are different all the other parts are the same.

 

[pastymuncher]

That is a hell of a ram speed though Stulid. Not many people, even on here, are going to have ram anywhere that speed. 2133mhz is the fastest i have ever had and i was chuffed getting to that speed with my timings and voltage.

If he can get the Hero for £100 that's a steal and he's only going to use Corsair XMS3.