What Z87 Motherboard Brand For Haswell Would You Choose?

[Dorito Bandit]

What brand of Z87 motherboard would/did you use for your build around Haswell and why?

With so many Z87 boards to choose from, what features (besides over-clocking) do you like about a particular board?

What features do you feel are nothing more than marketing hype on these boards?

I am still in the early stages of researching components for a build around Haswell, and I certainly appreciate any feedback you have to offer.

Thank you very much!

 

[Lvcoyote]

That's certainly an open ended question......LOL. It really depends on what features you want/need, what you're going to be using the system for, and of course your budget.

 

[Knufire]

I got a Gryphon because it had a longer warranty, not really anything to do with the board itself.

Really, any board with 6+ power phases is fine. The only part of the board that has a super large effect on overclocking is the power delivery system. However, Intel CPUs are a low enough draw that a typical user doesn't really need anything special. Between the low end and high end boards, the difference in OCing might be a multiplier or two.

Other than that, make sure it has the ports you need and that's about it. Other than built in Wifi/Bluetooth (which can be added in with PCIe cards or USB adapters anyway, but I can understand built in being a bit more convenient), most of the other features are either a gimmick or for more extreme overclocking. High end boards are generally just there for benchmarking and overclocking with subzero cooling.

 

[turbobooster]

here to a asus gryphon, not just because the warrenty, but also a good bord with all the settings you need, and stable for a overclock to 4.5 afcourse mayby more but i have it on 4.5

 

[EarthDog]

That's certainly an open ended question......LOL. It really depends on what features you want/need, what you're going to be using the system for, and of course your budget.

+1.

With the reality being that 90% of those available being able to satisfy his needs.

 

[SomeSoldier]

I purchased a Asus Maximus VI Formula.

Reasons:
1. Asus makes a great board
2. I love the fact that it is set up for water cooling from factory
3. It has bluetooth
4. Because my rig is mostly for gaming
5. Did I mention that Asus makes a great board?

 

[EarthDog]

Its a great board, however, you could have spent 2/3 or less and received a great board too.

(water cooling the VRM's really isn't necessary at all. When using LN2 we don't even cool those things really .

Regardless, awesome board. Enjoy!

EDIT: You are not the OP, LOL! I thought you were the OP!

 

[sno.lcn]

In addition to the replies above, between all of the boards that will suit your needs, go with whichever has your favorite color scheme and a good warranty

 

[Knufire]

I purchased a Asus Maximus VI Formula.

Reasons:
1. Asus makes a great board
2. I love the fact that it is set up for water cooling from factory
3. It has bluetooth
4. Because my rig is mostly for gaming
5. Did I mention that Asus makes a great board?

Out of all of these the only reasonable point is #3.

 

[dudleycpa]

What brand of Z87 motherboard would/did you use for your build around Haswell and why?

With so many Z87 boards to choose from, what features (besides over-clocking) do you like about a particular board?

What features do you feel are nothing more than marketing hype on these boards?

I am still in the early stages of researching components for a build around Haswell, and I certainly appreciate any feedback you have to offer.

Thank you very much!

If you don't mind us asking how much are you willing to spend? You can get an excellent Z87 motherboard these days for ~125. If you bundle it with a processor/memory/etc., you may find it even cheaper.

Both Microcenter, Newegg,Mwave, etc..... have good deals.

Other little thing that would need to be talked about is what is you O/C idea?
Looking for 4.5 or lower and just about any board will do!

Let us all know whatever question you may have. It does take a lot of research with the "new" technology!

 

[Dorito Bandit]

Thanks for the replies, guys!

Yes, I understand we all will choose a board based on what our needs are, I was just trying to get a general consensus on what brand of motherboard you guys liked the most and why. I thought my question was pretty clear-I wanted to know what YOU liked and why. If the general consensus was for brand X, then I would like to know why.

If you don't mind us asking how much are you willing to spend? You can get an excellent Z87 motherboard these days for ~125. If you bundle it with a processor/memory/etc., you may find it even cheaper.

Both Microcenter, Newegg,Mwave, etc..... have good deals.

Other little thing that would need to be talked about is what is you O/C idea?
Looking for 4.5 or lower and just about any board will do!

Let us all know whatever question you may have. It does take a lot of research with the "new" technology!

Thanks for your reply, bro.

I am not looking to spend more than $300 US dollars on a motherboard. Possibly no more than $200. As far as over-clocking, I would ONLY consider this once my system started showing it's age. I think stock clocks would be fine for me as of now. Choosing a Z87 board now will allow me to do some over-clocking down the road. Plus, I feel you get what you pay for and if I am going to spend $200+ on a motherboard, I may as well go with a Z87 board.

The main reason for my new build is to be able to play Battlefield 4. I am also a wildlife photographer and I do a lot of Photoshop work, so I will have my machine on for hours at a time between work and play. Considering this, I would love to find a board that is very energy efficient. A few of the brands are claiming their boards to be very efficient and I like that!

Yes, I also understand the components I use in my build will also play a role in how efficient it is, for this reason I am considering low-voltage 1.35v RAM. It may not be that much more efficient over 1.5v RAM, but hey, why not do what we can to conserve a little, eh? By the way, this is the RAM I would like to have in my build. Crucial Ballistix Tactical 16GB Not sure what motherboard can use it. Haven't seen it listed on the few sites I've checked.

Anyway, thanks again guys. I apologize if I wasn't clear with my original post.

 

[Knufire]

You don't need to spend anywhere near $200 on a motherboard. It won't offer you any significant advantage over a $130 board.

"You get what you pay for", well, simply isn't true. Maybe in some industries, but definitely not computer components.

The amount of power low voltage RAM saves is so minuscule, it's not even really worth it if you're paying significantly more for it. Same with the motherboard. The majority (90%+) of the power draw of a computer is from the CPU and GPU.

Brand bias is bad, no matter what way you put it, and is something that we (at least I) actively try to discourage here on the forums, which is why your question didn't really get answered.

 

[Pepi93]

I recently purchased a gigabyte z87x ud3h...it was down to that and the asus pro...but I got the ud3h for $115 after rebates/discounts so it's a no brainer...there was also not much difference btwn the ud3h-ud4h-ud5h except about a $30 jump from each to the next...didn't feel I needed the little extra so I stuck with the ud3h

What I looked at is the following

1) Do I want to run 3gpu's? no...2 at most
2) Do I need extra bells and whistles, nope
3) Overclocking potential, both boards do great for OC'ing

It came down to practicality and price...the gigabyte also didn't waste time in putting 2.0usb ports on the board as did the pro...but the pro has other nice features...

Pro was cheapest $185 when I was looking...

I'm very happy with my mid range board and it will serve me for years to come

You didn't ask but I chose the i5k over the i7k because there was a $100 difference in price...again, a no brainer for me to not spend the extra $100