Solved Z87 Motherboard Suggestions?

[sygnus21]

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??

It's simply a newer board, and thus my personal preference to go with something newer. Your millage may very

As for explaining what those differences are, or why I need to go with a Z87, well... I'm afraid that wasn't the intent of this thread; and there's plenty of info on the net comparing and explaining the difference between the two. I believe my post above said all that I needed to say regarding my choice.

Thanks.

 

[kbrady1979]

OK, I thought there was something specific you liked/needed about the platform.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...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...

Take a look at the Asus X79 Deluxe. It's a brand new feature rich board.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

...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...

Take a look at the Asus X79 Deluxe. It's a brand new feature rich board.

Cripes Lady F at that price waaaaaaaayyyyy out of my budget and league .

Sygnus sorry if I added to the general OT stuff hope you will be happy with your choice.

Suffice the say that I think Intel are making huge money out of us builders and it is getting worse just plain greedy because of the (basically) monopoly.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...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...

Take a look at the Asus X79 Deluxe. It's a brand new feature rich board.

Cripes Lady F at that price waaaaaaaayyyyy out of my budget and league...

LOL! Well, you said you wanted a new feature rich board.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Take a look at the Asus X79 Deluxe. It's a brand new feature rich board.

Cripes Lady F at that price waaaaaaaayyyyy out of my budget and league...

LOL! Well, you said you wanted a new feature rich board.

Nope I didn't I asked what was the feature difference between the 77 and 87 boards cos I haven't got a clue apart the pricing out here.

For me it is all about how many USB outlets on the back I/O panel that gets up my nose.

 

[kbrady1979]

While Intel is taking advantage of their domination of the CPU market to a point, AMD is actually contributing to the problem by not being willing to try to compete in any serious manner. When AMD made the best processors out there, their high end CPU's were $500-1200 just like Intels. What I'm not happy with is how much more expensive Intel based motherboards are than AMD based boards.....it's insane!

Slightly more on topic: If I were going to build a system today, and wasn't going to do ANY overclocking, I would go with Haswell. You can't deny their more advanced technology leads to better performance in almost every category according to benchmarks. The big decision is whether what you do warrants going with Ivy Bridge-E or can you do what you need with Haswell? He has decided that Haswell fits the bill, so now he has to build around that platform. I would go with Asus because of past experiences with them and they make the best boards you can buy.....but HIS personal issues with Asus made him look elsewhere. I've heard good stuff about some of the Gigabyte boards, mainly the really high end boards......they are suppose to be built really well.

What are the differences between the UD5H and the UD5 TH?

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Hmm apart from the Thunderbolt stuff Kelly not much I can pick out

GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 1150 - GA-Z87X-UD5H (rev. 1.x)

GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 1150 - GA-Z87X-UD5 TH (rev. 1.x)

You will probably see better than me though.

Personally as I said before I have had good Giga and Asus boards the only problem with both is support as I said earlier the Giga people are really pedantic and very slow.

 

[sygnus21]

Slightly more on topic: If I were going to build a system today, and wasn't going to do ANY overclocking, I would go with Haswell. You can't deny their more advanced technology leads to better performance in almost every category according to benchmarks. The big decision is whether what you do warrants going with Ivy Bridge-E or can you do what you need with Haswell? He has decided that Haswell fits the bill, so now he has to build around that platform. I would go with Asus because of past experiences with them and they make the best boards you can buy.....but HIS personal issues with Asus made him look elsewhere. I've heard good stuff about some of the Gigabyte boards, mainly the really high end boards......they are suppose to be built really well.

What are the differences between the UD5H and the UD5 TH?

Aside from my mistrust with Asus customer service, I already own a Gigabyte board and have never had an issue with it. Plus, as pointed out, they really do make good quality boards. Check their site and tech used. They also make very good overclocking boards. And... even if I went X79, I still would have went Gigabyte. I just wanted to see what other options were out there.

As to the differences between the UD5H and the UD5 TH, the UD5 TH is a newer better board which now includes Intel’s Thunderbolt technology, the new super speed transfer connection.

Do I need that? Not yet, but ironically when I bought my Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD5 board, it was one the first ones to offer USB 3.0 and I didn't think I needed that at the time. Turns out I did.

As the Asus X79 Deluxe, I looked at the board, I also pointed out in another post that I looked at the Deluxe Dual as well.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yes mate I agree and it goes on and on to be honest I expect in a years time we will be sitting here discussing some third or fourth gen on from where we are now. I have had no issues bar one with my Sandy Bridge Gigabyte board apart from being an idiot I bought the H67 instead of the P67.

But as I said before and you can tell me go jump but I would make a note of every single number on that board before you install it as trying to find them is a nightmare once inside the case - if you need to contact them once up and running.

Still am looking forward to seeing how you go

 

[sygnus21]

Yes mate I agree and it goes on and on to be honest I expect in a years time we will be sitting here discussing some third or fourth gen on from where we are now. I have had no issues bar one with my Sandy Bridge Gigabyte board apart from being an idiot I bought the H67 instead of the P67.

But as I said before and you can tell me go jump but I would make a note of every single number on that board before you install it as trying to find them is a nightmare once inside the case - if you need to contact them once up and running.

Still am looking forward to seeing how you go

Well as I said before I've had no issues with Gigabyte's customer service the couple of times I called them, but I know things change rapidly in the world of customer service. However I tend let my wallet speak when I'm treated badly by them. Unfortunately Asus has earned that distinction. I'll still check out their products, but they'll always have that strike with me. I did the same thing with VisionTech; though with them I won't even look at their products.

As for writing down numbers, you've no ideal. I keep a spreadsheet which lists all my electronics, computer items and parts to include serial numbers, date purchased, price, etc. Been doing that for years since discovering the power of Excel

I also keep electronic copies of my receipts where necessary, even scanning them if I have to

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Cripes sygnus what a good idea I might just start that up myself. I know I use Word for a lot of stuff I use in the forum but Excel uses a lot less room so I might just use that same system myself

As for the support all mine has been via a web link as phoning Taiwan or wherever it is is way too expensive hence why I said it was tedious.

 

[sygnus21]

Yeah a lot of people don't use r understand the power of Excel. It's a very powerful tool once you gain an understanding of it's potential. I use it as much as I use Word, which is a lot. In fact I use it for calculations as well. Also by working on my Computer Information Systems degree, I've learned even more tricks - some from math, accounting as well as programming. It really is more powerful than people realize.

As for Asus motherboards, I've not personal experience with them other than knowing they're the big name in the game. My motherboards have been Abit, Intel, and now Gigabyte.

In fact, when I moved from Intel, I was going to get an Asus X58 MB, but a sales person at Microcenter talked me into Gigabyte since at that time Asus was going through some "quality control" pains. That wasn't the only time I'd heard that so I decided to give Gigabyte a try, and the rest is history.

My customer service issue with Asus actually arose last year shortly after I got my Asus laptop. I'd had a problem with the charger getting a little to warm and called Asus about it... long story short, I was told I would get a replacement after I supplied some info; after supplying the said info, I was then told they (Google?) couldn't match my address, and was actually told the address I was giving them was wrong! Mind you Amazon, and everyone else, has been sending packages to my address for years. When I insisted on speaking to a supervisor I was hung up on. Upon calling back, and providing the same info all over again, I was then told I had to go on line and fill out an RMA form, then send the defective item in before receiving the replacement.

I got so frustrated I just gave up. BTW there was nothing wrong with the charger; turns out it'll get warm if you're using the laptop while it's trying to charge. I just thought it got a little too warm.

Anyway it was the utter run-around and lack of professionalism that turned me off; so now I speak with my wallet. As I said, I'll look at their product because they make some good stuff, just don't have to use their customer service.

That's my issue

 

[smarteyeball]

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.

Pretty much any board from the bottom of the the range to the top/deluxe models will let you overclock a decent amount. 4.2-4.6ghz is not out of the ordinary with a after market heatsink. Giga or Asus

For your needs a mildly overclocked chip with HT and 32GB of ram will do the job.

I know you're an AMD fan, but do any of your photo apps take advantage of CUDA? And why not go the extra bit and grab a 280X? Faster than a 7970


And I was under the impression that any RMAs were dealt with by Amazon, not the company directly?


Either way, you can always wait for the next best thing or go for what's available now. Regardless of choice, it will be an improvement over your current rig mate.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yeah a lot of people don't use r understand the power of Excel. It's a very powerful tool once you gain an understanding of it's potential. I use it as much as I use Word, which is a lot. In fact I use it for calculations as well. Also by working on my Computer Information Systems degree, I've learned even more tricks - some from math, accounting as well as programming. It really is more powerful than people realize.

As for Asus motherboards, I've not personal experience with them other than knowing they're the big name in the game. My motherboards have been Abit, Intel, and now Gigabyte.

In fact, when I moved from Intel, I was going to get an Asus X58 MB, but a sales person at Microcenter talked me into Gigabyte since at that time Asus was going through some "quality control" pains. That wasn't the only time I'd heard that so I decided to give Gigabyte a try, and the rest is history.

My customer service issue with Asus actually arose last year shortly after I got my Asus laptop. I'd had a problem with the charger getting a little to warm and called Asus about it... long story short, I was told I would get a replacement after I supplied some info; after supplying the said info, I was then told they (Google?) couldn't match my address, and was actually told the address I was giving them was wrong! Mind you Amazon, and everyone else, has been sending packages to my address for years. When I insisted on speaking to a supervisor I was hung up on. Upon calling back, and providing the same info all over again, I was then told I had to go on line and fill out an RMA form, then send the defective item in before receiving the replacement.

I got so frustrated I just gave up. BTW there was nothing wrong with the charger; turns out it'll get warm if you're using the laptop while it's trying to charge. I just thought it got a little too warm.

Anyway it was the utter run-around and lack of professionalism that turned me off; so now I speak with my wallet. As I said, I'll look at their product because they make some good stuff, just don't have to use their customer service.

That's my issue

Yep me too I developed a good budgeting system from scratch based on staff rostering and the FTE's when I was dropped in the deep end managing a small country hospital a few years back and never tire of the calcs it could do for me. Made my job a whole lot easier after the hard yards were done.

As for the AMD stuff I would not know what to look for now but anyway it's a away down the track with the prices as they are at the moment.

 

[sygnus21]

I know you're an AMD fan, but do any of your photo apps take advantage of CUDA? And why not go the extra bit and grab a 280X? Faster than a 7970?

Well I've been with AMD for so long I wouldn't know what to do If I switched to something else. And no, my photo editing doesn't use CUDA. This is strictly still photography.

And I was under the impression that any RMAs were dealt with by Amazon, not the company directly?

Amazon, or any other sells vendor only deals with "RMA's" within a stated return period. Anything outside of that period and you now deal with the item's manufacture. My issue came outside that period. To be honest though, on this issue, even if it was within the return period, I still would have called customer service/tech support to at least ask a question.

In this case, that question turned into rocket science/quantum physics, thus my frustration.

 

[Solarstarshines]

Yes mate I agree and it goes on and on to be honest I expect in a years time we will be sitting here discussing some third or fourth gen on from where we are now. I have had no issues bar one with my Sandy Bridge Gigabyte board apart from being an idiot I bought the H67 instead of the P67.

But as I said before and you can tell me go jump but I would make a note of every single number on that board before you install it as trying to find them is a nightmare once inside the case - if you need to contact them once up and running.

Still am looking forward to seeing how you go

Well as I said before I've had no issues with Gigabyte's customer service the couple of times I called them, but I know things change rapidly in the world of customer service. However I tend let my wallet speak when I'm treated badly by them. Unfortunately Asus has earned that distinction. I'll still check out their products, but they'll always have that strike with me. I did the same thing with VisionTech; though with them I won't even look at their products.

As for writing down numbers, you've no ideal. I keep a spreadsheet which lists all my electronics, computer items and parts to include serial numbers, date purchased, price, etc. Been doing that for years since discovering the power of Excel

I also keep electronic copies of my receipts where necessary, even scanning them if I have to

I save all my paperwork but where ever you purchased it from should have documentation too

I understand about the Wallet thing I had to once to often flex my muscle in that regard until they give in after all no matter how much we mess up the product the customer is right and if it's within 3 months then they technically can't say a word

I worked in retail for 12 years and the first thing they do with complaining consumers is try to detour them from refunding or get a product exchange it's really pathetic because they always produce mass quantities of product and still have to give the consumer a hard time and what happens to the product that was never bought scrap ?

 

[Britton30]

As for Customer support, I've dealt with Gigabyte, ASrock and MSI, none of who ever did fix my problems but blamed my hardware. MSI suggested I use their forums, "where many knowledgeable people can help".:shock:
Gigabyte sent my own board back THREE times after they "fully tested" it but would not boot at all in my house. Same experience with a ASrock board, the last one they sent be pops the overload protection in the PSU as soon as it's powered on, also they "fully tested" it.

ASUS did give me some good and quick answers via email which were helpful.

If you won't be OCing, there's no need for a $350 board. The ASUS Z87-Pro is an excellent choice and can certainly handle any HTPC duties. If no one has mentioned it, I would get a good CPU cooler even using it at stock, those puppies get hot and Intel's cooler serves as aluminum scrap metal better.

 

[sygnus21]

Everyone one of us has a customer service horror story to tell, mine just happens to coincide with one of my reasons for sticking with Gigabyte. The question though was what other Z87 motherboards options were out there, including include Asus.

In the end, I chose to stick with Gigabyte. When I actually place the order at the end of the month, things may change again as I'm continuing to do research; I've already swapped video cards.

Thanks.

 

[smarteyeball]

Well I've been with AMD for so long I wouldn't know what to do If I switched to something else. And no, my photo editing doesn't use CUDA. This is strictly still photography.

Ahh okay. Nothing wrong with sticking with what you know, especially if you don't need the feature.

Amazon, or any other sells vendor only deals with "RMA's" within a stated return period. Anything outside of that period and you now deal with the item's manufacture. My issue came outside that period. To be honest though, on this issue, even if it was within the return period, I still would have called customer service/tech support to at least ask a question.

In this case, that question turned into rocket science/quantum physics, thus my frustration.

Ah fair enough. *Touch wood* I haven't had to deal with a company directly yet - just the vendor. Mind you I do have a few out of vendor warranty items to deal with... I don't know if I could tolerate the stress lol.


What card did you end up changing your mind about?

I know it's not AMD, but the new GTX 780ti is an absolute beast. Out performs the 290x for a few bucks more.