Solved Z87 Motherboard Suggestions?

[ICIT2LOL]

You could go with a Ivy Bridge-E becuase many people aren't liking Haswell.

Actually my sentiments as well only I don't like criticising to the point of sounding a bit anti if you get my drift.

Myself i am aiming at another Ivy if the prices come down out here for the boards at least and if you can get them!! Only this time I'll probably go i7 instead of i5 although it is good to work around.

 

[kbrady1979]

If I were forced to use Haswell in any kind of high performance situation, I would only use an Asus motherboard. They get bad press for their customer service because they outsell the competition by a massive amount so of course there are going to be more people having to deal with them. There are too many complaints with Gigabyte motherboards for me to even recommend one, but if you are dead set on one get whichever one meets your needs. You already have my opinion in your other thread about what platform to use......if you are serious about editing work, the socket 2011 platform is the way to go. I will agree with you on the RAM, if you are already using close to 16GB, then get 32 so you don't have to worry with it later. With RAM, it is always better to get all you need in one kit so it's matched up.

Also, you said you aren't going to overclock, have you thought getting a non-K processor?

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Actually though the Haswell chip is a questionable leap in performance but the 87 mobo's are! This has caught my eye and a tight small form factor super system is finally in our grasp! This thing does it all and mate with SSD, Great ram, Huge GPU, Aftermarket Cooling and case and it should be off the hook !

Newegg.com - ASUS MAXIMUS VI IMPACT LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard

 

[kbrady1979]

Let me correct myself about Haswell.....if you aren't going to overclock, they are perfectly fine. If you ever do, you will need to rethink your setup.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Yeah mine will be eventually moving into HTPC territory as well but I still can't justify investing in an Ivy system, especially with my 3 year upgrade cycle. At this point I'd rather be nearer to new than old(er).

And believe me, I multitask quite a bit on my system. I'm usually listening to music while doing some photo editing while also surfacing net and working with office files. Again, all this with my current system. See system specs. So If I can do that on this system, I should have no problem with a Haswell system.

I know the Ivy systems are sweet, but I can't justify it's cost. And It's not like I haven't researched it. As I said, I was going with an Intel Core i7-4770K and this Asus motherboard ASUS Rampage IV Extreme but that's 970+ dollars just for those two items; and no mater how you cut it, the X79's are getting long in the tooth. I'm sure they'll be a refresh but...

At any rate I can build myself a high end Haswell system and still save myself about 3-4 hundred bucks. It's not an Ivy system, but it's no pushover either.

My system is actually a SandyBridge-E. Ivy would be nice but, being on a fixed income, I can't justify replacing a $530 CPU that's only eight months old.

 

[sygnus21]

If I were forced to use Haswell in any kind of high performance situation, I would only use an Asus motherboard. They get bad press for their customer service because they outsell the competition by a massive amount so of course there are going to be more people having to deal with them. There are too many complaints with Gigabyte motherboards for me to even recommend one, ....

Also, you said you aren't going to overclock, have you thought getting a non-K processor?

No; because if I choose to overclock, I want a high end chip that can go there. And as I stated, I also want a high end system.... even though it's Haswell. To be honest if Haswell had their e-chip out now, that's what I'd be getting.

And I've personal experience with Asus' customer service and it wasn't good by a long shot. And it wasn't just one call but a secession of them concerning an issue with my laptop charger.

As for Gigabyte, I can actually report that the times I called them, twice, I actually got pretty good service.

Yes, all companies can suffer bad customer service, I won't even get into Microsoft, but when the service is so bad as to makes your blood boil, yeah, you tend to shy away from their products. This is what Asus did. And looking around the net, others feel the same.

At any rate, if Asus has a board that fits my needs, I'll consider it, but not before seriously considering other vendors, thus my questions.

Actually though the Haswell chip is a questionable leap in performance the 87 mobo's are! This has caught my eye and tight small form factor super system is finally in our grasp! This thing does it all and mate with SSD, Great ram, Huge GPU, Aftermarket Cooling and case and it should be off the hook!

I agree, which it what moved me to Haswell.

That said, I know Haswell isn't the Ivy/Sandy systems, and that the X79 platform remains the top dog, but let's not act like Haswell isn't in the ball park performance wise either.

At any rate I appreciate the comments and suggestions, it does give me stuff to think about.

Thanks.

 

[sygnus21]

Let me correct myself about Haswell.....if you aren't going to overclock, they are perfectly fine. If you ever do, you will need to rethink your setup.

Don't plan on doing any high overclocking. If you look at my current system with my i7-950, I've got a modest over clock pushing the chip to 3.8 gig and it's been stable like that for 3 years now. I much prefer long term stability over raw flash in the pants power. That's me.

BTW I also have a Q6600 system that's got a slight over clock, and it's been running like that since 2007!

 

[kbrady1979]

Haswell is great.......if you plan on running stock frequencies. Benchmarks show that across the board. You'll be happy with it for what you intend on doing. If you get into more advanced editing, that is where you would want an extreme series chip with more cores/threads....but we are talking doing several jobs a day for customers. I have heard horror stories about the CS at Asus, but I have heard they have gotten better recently. I know from a few people on here, if you buy from the right retailer, you don't have to deal with Asus' CS at all if you have an issue. That is if you have a problem within a certain timeframe. Some Asus boards have a 5 year warranty and if you have to use it, it should be as easy as RMA'ing it and waiting. I know Gary and Steve send motherboards back like it's their job lol, and if I'm not mistaken they primarily order from Amazon. If I were looking for a Z87 motherboard I would look at the Sabertooth(or Gryphon if you like mATX, it's the same as the Sabertooth) or the Asus Z87 WS. Both come in at less than $300 on Newegg.

Keep us updated on this new build!

 

[sygnus21]

Yeah I do do some heavy photo editing at times as stated here - http://www.sevenforums.com/pc-custo...87-motherboard-suggestions-2.html#post2589867

And yeah, had I gone with the Ivy system I would have gone with a 6 core processor in the 4930K Ivy-E. Just wish Haswell had their chip out now or very soon. As it stands, it's slated for release in 4th quarter of 14 (maybe)

And I usually order my parts from Amazon, which has excellent return service, or pick them up from Microcenter, which also has a good return policy. Not worried about the return policy, but having to deal with Asus themselves on issues.

Not into micro-atx so that's out, but I do like Asus's Z87 Deluxe Dual board. It may actually come down between it and Gigabytes GA-Z87X-UD5 TH board. To be honest I'm leaning there, but I have to see what the initial reports on the board are being it's a new release. If not so good, I'll have to look at the other Gigabyte board before moving to Asus.

Don't get me wrong, I like the Asus boards; they're powerful, chock full of options, and well built, but Gigabyte's boards are no slouch either, and are also competitive, and well built. They've also set some overclocking records of their own - GIGABYTE Shatters AMD ?Trinity? APU Speed Record, and this...



Granted this is overclocking taken to the extreme but my point is Gigabyte is no slouch when it comes to overclocking either.

BUT... as I said, I'm looking for other Z87 options as well, and not just Asus or Gigabyte.

Thanks

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

If I were forced to use Haswell in any kind of high performance situation, I would only use an Asus motherboard. They get bad press for their customer service because they outsell the competition by a massive amount so of course there are going to be more people having to deal with them. There are too many complaints with Gigabyte motherboards for me to even recommend one, ....

Also, you said you aren't going to overclock, have you thought getting a non-K processor?

No; because if I choose to overclock, I want a high end chip that can go there. And as I stated, I also want a high end system.... even though it's Haswell. To be honest if Haswell had their e-chip out now, that's what I'd be getting.

And I've personal experience with Asus' customer service and it wasn't good by a long shot. And it wasn't just one call but a secession of them concerning an issue with my laptop charger.

As for Gigabyte, I can actually report that the times I called them, twice, I actually got pretty good service.

Yes, all companies can suffer bad customer service, I won't even get into Microsoft, but when the service is so bad as to makes your blood boil, yeah, you tend to shy away from their products. This is what Asus did. And looking around the net, others feel the same.

At any rate, if Asus has a board that fits my needs, I'll consider it, but not before seriously considering other vendors, thus my questions.

Actually though the Haswell chip is a questionable leap in performance the 87 mobo's are! This has caught my eye and tight small form factor super system is finally in our grasp! This thing does it all and mate with SSD, Great ram, Huge GPU, Aftermarket Cooling and case and it should be off the hook!

I agree, which it what moved me to Haswell.

That said, I know Haswell isn't the Ivy/Sandy systems, and that the X79 platform remains the top dog, but let's not act like Haswell isn't in the ball park performance wise either.

At any rate I appreciate the comments and suggestions, it does give me stuff to think about.

Thanks.

We seem to have a bit of confusion here. There are two kinds of IvyBridge and SandyBridge CPUs; the regular line and the enthusiast line. The enthusiast lines usually run from a different socket (such as LGA 2011 vs. LGA1155, for example). The IvyBridge-e, and even the SandyBridge-e, CPUs still run circles around the Haswells performance and capacity wise although the newer Haswell boards are more feature rich (new X79 boards, such as the Asus X79 Deluxe are starting to close that gap).

 

[Computer0304]

You might need a higher frequency for the the RAM. Unless using XMP. Also whats the difference of the Z87 Deluxe motherboards? Also, try Z87 PRO.

 

[sygnus21]

We seem to have a bit of confusion here. There are two kinds of IvyBridge and SandyBridge CPUs; the regular line and the enthusiast line. The enthusiast lines usually run from a different socket (such as LGA 2011 vs. LGA1155, for example). The IvyBridge-e, and even the SandyBridge-e, CPUs still run circles around the Haswells performance and capacity wise although the newer Haswell boards are more feature rich (new X79 boards, such as the Asus X79 Deluxe are starting to close that gap).

Thanks for your input but I'm not confused so...

And I'm quite aware that there are two different chips for Sandy and Ivy systems. I'm also aware of the differences between the e and non e chips. I've also said many a time the X79's were performance systems; what I'm not buying is Haswell systems are junk. Sorry.

And not that I can't afford it, but I'll take a Ivy E with an X79 board to match if you're paying

At any rate I started this thread by asking about Z87 boards, not whether or not Haswell made the cut.

I always welcome suggestions and thoughts, but I'm not confused.

Peace

 

[sygnus21]

You might need a higher frequency for the the RAM. Unless using XMP. Also whats the difference of the Z87 Deluxe motherboards? Also, try Z87 PRO.

??? :huh:

I posted the potential system here - http://www.sevenforums.com/pc-custo...87-motherboard-suggestions-2.html#post2589867. Note the RAM... 1866MHZ.

And the RAM modules are XMP capable, as would any motherboard I get; however, I always prefer to set my RAM manually to meet or exceed the XMP settings. Did this with my current system. See system specs. Don't really trust XMP settings as they tend(ed) to play with other voltages, which can be a bad thing for overclockers.

As for the difference between the Deluxe and Pro, better board and slightly more features, but really nothing to write home about.

I usually budget my parts out so for example I may decide to spend 300 bucks on a MB; With that I'll usually buy the most feature rich item I can get for that budget. In this case the Deluxe is within that budget, even if I don't use all the features.

 

[Computer0304]

No i mean deluxe, deluxe/dual, and deluxe/quad. And I meant "unless you are manually adjusting the frequency "

 

[sygnus21]

No i mean deluxe, deluxe/dual, and deluxe/quad.

I haven't looked at them that hard yet to tell the differences.

Anyway seems the consensus here is to go with some iteration of an Asus motherboard.

Thanks to all for your inputs. Will post later in the month which way I went.

Until then

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Well if you're going ATX then ASUS isn't the only consideration. Check this out or even ASRock.

MSI Z87-GD65 GAMING Intel Z87 Motherboard - ATX, LGA 1150, Intel Z87 Chipset, 3000 MHz(OC) DDR3, SATA 6 Gb/s, Audio, Gigabit LAN, USB 3.0, SLI/CrossFireX, (Z87-GD65 GAMING) at TigerDirect.com

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Actually though the Haswell chip is a questionable leap in performance but the 87 mobo's are! This has caught my eye and a tight small form factor super system is finally in our grasp! This thing does it all and mate with SSD, Great ram, Huge GPU, Aftermarket Cooling and case and it should be off the hook !

Newegg.com - ASUS MAXIMUS VI IMPACT LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard

Hmm I couldn't justify the cost as a Haswell for me out here would be in the vicinty of an Ivy and a half and this bloke well I think he has something wrong with him the video was a shocker for one - was the camera dangling on a bungy cord and a black v a green PCB for the RAM sticks is he serious??
A bit OT but for my money it is all around Intel getting the most out of all of us and I am now wondering if a really decent AMD build would suffice for my next build as Ivy stuff boards particularly are ridiculously hard to find and expensive. Not to mention Intel now announcing they are not going to allow OC on anything but Z boards they are fast losing me I am afraid.

 

[sygnus21]

You could go with a Ivy Bridge-E becuase many people aren't liking Haswell.

Actually my sentiments as well only I don't like criticising to the point of sounding a bit anti if you get my drift.

Myself i am aiming at another Ivy if the prices come down out here for the boards at least and if you can get them!! Only this time I'll probably go i7 instead of i5 although it is good to work around.

Well I'll be anti...

For me compared to my current system (i7-950), a Haswell would be a huge upgrade; and based on my usage over the last few years of said system, I've done nothing that a Haswell system couldn't do+. Couple that with the more feature rich motherboards vs. the current X79's and for me that's the clear way to go.

With regards to overclocking, sure I'll do some overclocking but it won't be anything aggressive; I'm not looking to make any record books or looking for bragging rights, simply long term stability.

If this were simply a matter of processing speed I'd easily get the i7-4930K (2011 socket) with a matching motherboard; I'd already budgeted for them so it wouldn't been an issue of finances. In the end it simply came down to the aging X79 boards or the more feature rich Z87 boards. In the end it was the motherboard that won me over, not the processors.

And yes, I'm sure the gap will be closed here, but as the saying goes... if you wait for the newest tech, you'll be waiting forever as there's always something new around the corner.

Again, thanks for the inputs

Peace

 

[kbrady1979]

I forgot to ask, what features on the Z87 boards mean the most to you? Or maybe you said it already and I missed it.....which is entirely possible lol.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

I forgot to ask, what features on the Z87 boards mean the most to you? Or maybe you said it already and I missed it.....which is entirely possible lol.

Actually Kelly I was thinking something along those lines myself that is what have the 87 boards got over the 77 ones?
I am not into gaming just toying with OC at the moment and don't intend getting in much deeper than I am now I'll leave that to the lads who are slugging it out on the chart LOL!! But I have to say that seeing some of the BIOS footage has really helped me no end in wandering my way around in there.
But back OT is there a great deal of difference if so what??