Suggested PSU and motherboard for my new build!

Witchdoctor said:

MSI makes some strong boards , they also make some very weak boards just like any other manufacturer.

it's all a matter of how much you are willing to spend

I use an MSI board in my gamer, 4.7 Ghz 24/7 for the last three years.

The two boards i recommended would be fine, as well as the MSI.


Out of the 3 I personally like the Asus Pro board , not the low line Asus you depicted above,

However, as stated in another one of these threads, the z97 OCF is IMO impossible to ignore even for ambient builds with the $ 40 MIR

I mean come on, @ $180.00 for a flagship product......... how can you really take any of mainstream boards seriously.











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I wasn't aware that the OCF was so cheap. Definitely a great idea. Dual 8 pin, looks like 4+1 phase memory, 935 phase CPU power ... Nice board.
I'd say if the OP can swing a few bucks over the Extreme 6 the OCF looks like a winner.

I mean come on, @ $180.00 for a flagship product......... how can you really take any of mainstream boards seriously.

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Feature sets. Its what I hear people using as a barometer against boards like that OCF for similar ($15 less) money...

Stuff like dual NICs (that nobody uses), Realtek ALC1150 audio...etc that boards such as the Ex6 have.

Plenty of solid boards in that price range. Just pick what features sets you want, the look and price, and choose. It shouldn't be that hard and for the average overclocker, nobody really cares about the amount of plugs or power phases as even 4 on a heatsink will take Haswell to its ambient limits.

Some don't want to fight with MIRs either...

Theocnoob said:

I wasn't aware that the OCF was so cheap. Definitely a great idea. Dual 8 pin, looks like 4+1 phase memory, 935 phase CPU power ... Nice board.
I'd say if the OP can swing a few bucks over the Extreme 6 the OCF looks like a winner.

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What OCF are you talking about? When typing Asus OCF I get weird results. Can you send a link to ebay/amazon for me please?

Exteez said:

What OCF are you talking about? When typing Asus OCF I get weird results. Can you send a link to ebay/amazon for me please?

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ASRock OC Formula

I'm not sure which one to use now after you guys responded , and btw will all of them be compatible with my PSU (EVGA Supernova 750W G2) etc?:


ASRock Z97M OCF: http://www.amazon.co.uk/ASRock-Z97M...keywords=ASRock+Z97+OC+Formula#productDetails

ASRock z97 Ex6: http://www.amazon.co.uk/ASRock-1150...422568201&sr=8-1&keywords=asrock+z97+extreme6

Msi Z97 Gaming 7: http://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-Z97-Gam...1422568241&sr=8-3&keywords=gaming+motherboard

For some reason in the title it says the msi has 6 USB 2.0. But in the technical information it has 2? That is very wierd..
Would you please help me to choose one of those?

And there are two types of the Asus OFC, and the link that I posted is the M version, I think its a "mini"? However the full ATX version is too expensive for my budget. Which one you guys recommend then?

At those prices, I'd take the Extreme6. It has the most features and will overclock further than you'll ever need it to.

Also, you've again typed "Asus" instead of ASRock.
M stands for MicroATX. It's a smaller motherboard.

The choice is yours as I said earlier...

You will be happy with any of those boards.

The OCF is geared more towards overclocking. So it has a couple less ports, and slightly inferior audio compared to the ex6.

The ex6 is self

Gaming 7 is a fine choice as well.

EarthDog said:

The ex6 is self

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What do you mean by that?

OP- I think the ASRock Ex 6 is still your best choice. So it has slighly inferior VRM to the OCF, so what? You won't need the VRM on the OCF unless you're breaking records with liquid nitrogen. Even on the Ex 6, the power delivery is way more than you'll ever need.

The Ex 6 has the best feature set (ports, slots, audio/networking chips) of the bunch and it really has no direct competition in its price range. I think you will be very happy with it, as has most everyone else who's bought it and reported their experiences on the forum. It is a VERY solid board. The Extreme 4 below it gives up a little too much IMO and isn't worth the $20 cost savings, and the OCF above it just plain has stuff you don't need, and leaves you with an inferior audio implementation.

To me, the choice is clear and it's Ex 6. JM2C.

I do agree any of these boards will be fine in an ambient arena,

However, the OCF has 1150 chip and is a feature rich board.

IMO as stated previously considering the rebate of course it is difficult to ignore IMO


ASRock Super Alloy
- XXL Aluminum Alloy Heatsink
- Premium Alloy Choke (Reduces 70% core loss compared to iron powder choke)
- Dual-Stack MOSFET (DSM)
- NexFET™ MOSFET
- Nichicon 12K Platinum Caps (100% Japan made high quality conductive polymer capacitors)
- Sapphire Black PCB
OC Formula Kit
» OC Formula Power Kit - 12 Phase CPU Power design + 4 Phase Memory Power design, Digi Power, Multiple Filter Cap, Jumbo V
» OC Formula Connector Kit - Hi-Density Power Connector, 15μ Gold Contact (CPU socket, memory sockets and PCIE x16 slots)
» OC Formula Cooling Kit - 8 Layer PCB, 4 x 2oz copper
» OC Formula Monitor Kit - Multi Thermal Sensor
Supports 5th Generation Intel® Core™ i7/i5/i3/Pentium®/Celeron® Processors (Socket 1150)
Supports New 4th and 4th Generation Intel® Xeon®/Core™ i7/i5/i3/Pentium®/Celeron® Processors (Socket 1150)
Supports Dual Channel DDR3 3400+(OC)
3 PCIe 3.0 x16, 1 PCIe 2.0 x16, 2 PCIe 2.0 x1
Supports AMD 4-Way CrossFireX™ and NVIDIA® Quad SLI™
7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1150 Audio Codec), Supports Purity Sound™ 2 & DTS Connect
Qualcomm® Atheros® Killer™ LAN
1 HDMI, 1 SATA Express, 8 SATA3, 1 M.2 (PCIe Gen2 x2 & SATA, Supports 30mm, 42mm, 60mm, 80mm, 110mm M.2 devices)
8 USB 3.0 (2 Front, 6 Rear), 6 USB 2.0 (2 Front, 4 Rear)
1 COM Port Header, 2 V-Probe, Rapid OC, PCIe ON/OFF, 1 Thunderbolt™ AIC Connector
Supports Conformal Coating, Fine-Tuning V-Controller, Timing Configurator, ASRock HDD Saver Technology, ASRock Cloud, APP Shop, NickShih's OC Profile, Formula Drive

And let be honest here guys, the OCF BIOS is a step above the ex6

I have used both and I an tell you it is , it is better.

you also get mem profiles that actually work with retail and Nick's SPI profile along with presets simply not available on the ex6

Conformal , so if ever wanting water cooling or an AIO provides a level of protection and piece of mind to novice users

Lets not forget the BIOS support and the top shelf customer support that is provided to flagship buyers

For what you get I cannot come up with any other conclusion that this board not only is arguably one of the best z97 available on the market but it also provides the one of best values in the entire z97 line of boards.

When considering the 40 dollar rebate. I think this board brings compelling argument to the table even for ambient users .

I didn't know it had that codec... that is what I get for listening to others complaints about not getting it over the Ex6 and not verifying myself...

Its a great board, there is no doubt. It just depends on what the guy needs. I don't have a problem with the Ex6 bios nor the Z97 OCF bios. That is a subjective thing anyway. They both work just fine and are easy to navigate/ergonomic.

Memory profiles and SPI profiles matter to nobody outside of the extreme overclocking crowd really. 99% of people are XMP and go and could care less about SPI.

I don't buy that their customer service or bios support is any better with the OCF either. Its not like ASUS and ROG where there is a clear separation of the RMA process and what can be done. Also note that OCF had one bios update since June 2014 versus 6 for the Ex6. The Ex6 was out a month or so earlier though. Perhaps that speaks to the stability of the bios that was on the OCF in the first place, perhaps not. Nobody can know for certain.

If someone wants to pay ~$20 more AFTER the MIR (and fuss with the rebate in the first place) it is a great choice. But for most people, to me, its not a better choice as the selling points are not geared towards them.

Either way, any board would be fine for his uses. Choice, as always, is up to the OP. We did our jobs to inform (and then some).

Thanks guys for all your help. I think I will go witht he ASRock Ex6. I can't be changing my mind all the time + I don't have enough budget for the OFC. I the the ASRock ex6 will do the job in me overclocking and will overall do a great job.

The next topic I started is about selling my old PC which will get replaced with this one. If you guys want to help I would appreciate it: http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/755028-Small-case-for-my-specs

Cases are your choice... I don't do small ones so I can't help.

Good luck!