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Best 1150 Motherboard?

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NeedAMobo

New Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2015
A friend recommended me this forum, considering it a good place to ask my question to individuals who are good at what they are doing.

I currently have the following components:

  • Intel Core i7 4970K
  • 2 x Gigabyte GTX 970 (Will be SLI'd)
  • 4 x 4GB Corsair Vengance
Obviously, besides some other stuff like the PSU etc. the motherboard is missing.

I have ~$450 to spend on the motherboard, even though I would prefer to pay less.
I am looking to do some overclocking, nothing that would be worth posting a thread about though :p

If you guys could recommend me a motherboard that supports the components listed above while not being to expensive, I would be very thankful!
 
For me best is Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force just because it's great for memory overclocking but I bet you can use cheaper board.
Probably every Z97 motherboard in ATX format will be good for your other components. Many users are recommending ASRock Z97 Extreme4 or similar boards for gaming and 24/7 overclocking ( 4.5-4.7GHz ).

Here you have couple of good boards way below $450 mark :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132125&cm_re=z97-_-13-132-125-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157500&cm_re=z97-_-13-157-500-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157502&cm_re=z97-_-13-157-502-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128704&cm_re=z97_soc-_-13-128-704-_-Product
 
That's just a chipset heatsink, it will sit about flush with the slots, I can't imagine it would possibly intersect/interfere with a videocard (if it did I couldn't imagine it getting into production)
 
Janus67 said:
That's just a chipset heatsink, it will sit about flush with the slots, I can't imagine it would possibly intersect/interfere with a videocard (if it did I couldn't imagine it getting into production)
Click to expand...

Alright, thank you very much!
 
Best and best for your uses are two dramatically different things. A quality $150 mobo will easily serve your moderate overclocking needs.

I didn't click on Woomack's links to see what he suggested, but a good bang for the buck board would be the Asrock Z97 Extreme 6. The ROG boards and SOC and OCF boards are really meant for a different thing (hardacore overclocking) but can still do a solid job on normal uses.
 
Last edited:
I just think that with $450 budget, $200-220 mobo which is best of the best for OC is still great option ;)
 
Indeed it is. Sometimes though, the OC centric boards may be lacking in other areas. For example, on the ASUS ROG boards, they use the 'inferior' (I sue that term loosely) Supreme FX audio as opposed to the ALC1150 codec on the Ex6 (or other boards). If sata ports are a concern, a lot of times those OC centric boards only have the 6 native to the chipset or dont have a full length M.2. port.

In all, its up to the OP to figure out if that Ex6 or other comparable boards have the features he needs/wants or if he wants the OC features more (buttons on mobo/debug etc). But know that a quality $150 board won't have any issues overclocking to its ambient limits. :)
 
i run the hero board with a 4790K it works great i use it for my gaming rig

- - - Updated - - -

But i know where Earthdog is comming from sometimes they do take out things
 
If you dont care about being Z97, you can pickup a G1 Sniper 5 on newegg for $180. This was originally a $450 motherboard. Its a hell of a deal and supports 4 way SLI, etc.
Other good choices are the Z97 OC Force and the Z87 OC and OC Force from gigabyte.
 
Of course it's subjective, but you can't argue with the quality of the components used, and being a WS grade board, they tend to spend more time on the hardware quality & stability R & D vs designing flashy-looking boards like the ROG's, etc. Having 4 PCI E 3.0 X16 on a Z97 is also a big plus in my book, but again, it's overkill for most enthusiasts. Most sane people will never run 4 gfx cards anyway, but it's all the ability to, hehe.

 
I doubt the quality of the VRM's and other components on that WS board are as high as the stuff on the ultra high end OCing boards. Really the only thing good about it is that it has two intel NICs
 
Just a thought or two on my part.
Seems to me he's wanting a gaming setup with OC'ing in mind, not a setup for extreme OC'ing.

The ROG boards are gamer-oriented and will serve you well for that use with the added plus these can be used for extreme OC'ing if you'd really want to in the future. The ROG boards I've had so far have been great, the quality is there and they've held up to eveything I've thrown at them.
Can't knock one of the Sabertooth boards either, not as flashy yet are still capable of gaming and the like.

The workstation board that was linked would be a good choice too as long as it's capable of doing some OC'ing itself and the description indicates it is BUT be sure to research it before buying - Some OC'ing boards have more features/options than others do with a few just having the basics and that's about it, others having a great selection of these to fine tune your setup.

Quality with it isn't an issue since it's a workstation board but the question to be answered is "What exactly will I be doing with the system once it's setup" - The answer will tell you what to look for.

Just sayin.....
 
Bishoff said:
Do you have a source saying so? What's an ultra high-end OC board?
Click to expand...

Think:
- ASRock OC Formula
- EVGA Classified
- Asus Maximus Formula
- Gigabyte SOC Force LN2

For the OP, I can't recommend the Z97 Extreme6 enough. Loaded with features, great price, more than capable of pushing every ounce of an overclock on ambient temps.
 
Bishoff said:
Do you have a source saying so? What's an ultra high-end OC board?
Click to expand...
The IR chokes/PWM with 60A caps are found on some of these boards that ATM listed. The WS board, while it can overclock just fine, may/may not have those. Look it up and report back to us...regardless its not needed anyway for ambient overclocking. ;)
 
Not finding too much on the exact type of Caps & Chokes used other than this:

"The Z97-WS comes standard with eight digital power phases, featuring a new revision of the Dr MOS MOSFETs, Beat Thermal chokes, and Japanese-sourced 12k-hr rated solid capacitors. The Beat Thermal chokes offer up to 93% load-based power efficiency, resulting from the thermal-sensitive packaging design with integrated cooling fins as well as a specialized gold coating."
 
Bishoff said:
Not finding too much on the exact type of Caps & Chokes used other than this:

"The Z97-WS comes standard with eight digital power phases, featuring a new revision of the Dr MOS MOSFETs, Beat Thermal chokes, and Japanese-sourced 12k-hr rated solid capacitors. The Beat Thermal chokes offer up to 93% load-based power efficiency, resulting from the thermal-sensitive packaging design with integrated cooling fins as well as a specialized gold coating."
Click to expand...

If they don't call out the 60A Blackwing Chokes, then it isn't ;)
 
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