# mobo choose msi z97 gaming 5 or asus z97 a?



## PedroGoodal219 (May 22, 2014)

Hi,

I want to DIY a new gaming computer,

and I always use BT to download some video or game,

my friend told me to buy msi z97 gaming 5 or asus z97 a,

so I did some work about msi z97 gaming 5& asus z97 a info,

how should I choose?

but now,I’m confuse that if I choose the killer NIC for msi or intel NIC for asus,which is better?


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## RCoon (May 22, 2014)

PedroGoodal219 said:


> and I always use BT to download some video or game,



I fail to see how this is relevant, or even allowed on these forums (see rules RE: piracy)

Killer is just a fancy NIC with irritating software. I have one, and I do my damndest to ensure it does not open on startup. Intel NIC is just a generic Gb port like every other. Either are fine, but I find the Killer software more of an irritation than anything else.


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## d1nky (May 22, 2014)

Never had an issue with my Asus lan, although I hear lots of problems with the killer software.

Also know someone with the msi z87 gaming mobo which had bsod all the time and uninstalled the drivers and used windows ones and all is fine.


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## MartinNixon0422 (May 22, 2014)

The different between killer and intel is the software
well, killer software can allow you shape network traffic on your PC and monitor it
I think that's it!!!


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## AsRock (May 22, 2014)

Nothing wrong with Intels NIC.

More of a concern would be your ISP \ connection  like speed and max connections you can have.



RCoon said:


> I fail to see how this is relevant, or even allowed on these forums (see rules RE: piracy)
> 
> Killer is just a fancy NIC with irritating software. I have one, and I do my damndest to ensure it does not open on startup. Intel NIC is just a generic Gb port like every other. Either are fine, but I find the Killer software more of an irritation than anything else.



Enough to make me think twice in buying a mobo with a killer nic that's for sure..


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## Jack1n (May 22, 2014)

I Would get the msi one.


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## Shambles1980 (May 22, 2014)

well i had to return my msi h61 board because it wouldnt post. 
just sat at a black screen with "99" in the bottom right corner...
google showed me i wasn't the only one.  this was the 1st msi board i bought in years and i must say im still not an msi fan.


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## RCoon (May 22, 2014)

MartinNixon0422 said:


> well, killer software can allow you shape network traffic on your PC and monitor it



As an MSI Gaming owner, and unfortunate user of the Killer NIC, I have yet to find out why any gamer would need to do this.
It's a worthless piece of software, and all it does is get in the way of your normal everyday routine. It's just another thing you have to set up in order for it to stop throttling your connection for various software.

I always buy MSI for intel CPU's and Asus for AMD CPU's, however since MSI started bundling this annoying device in their MoBo's, I'm apt to try someone else.


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## d1nky (May 22, 2014)

After having this formula I'll probably keep to Asus motherboards from now on. May try a gigabyte but don't like the looks. Someone I know has the msi gaming and I used it for a bit and didn't like it too much.

Also Asus has similar software (gamefirst) it is useful for when stupid programs decide to download and update which the traffic shaping limits or stops. 

The ping improvement also helps when on laggy servers, or when you got crappy net.


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## cadaveca (May 22, 2014)

RCoon said:


> As an MSI Gaming owner, and unfortunate user of the Killer NIC, I have yet to find out why any gamer would need to do this.
> It's a worthless piece of software, and all it does is get in the way of your normal everyday routine. It's just another thing you have to set up in order for it to stop throttling your connection for various software.
> 
> I always buy MSI for intel CPU's and Asus for AMD CPU's, however since MSI started bundling this annoying device in their MoBo's, I'm apt to try someone else.


It doesn't matter if you buy Killer or Intel NIC..they both have the software. Using that as a selling feature, or lack there of, is rather well...hilarious.


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## RCoon (May 22, 2014)

cadaveca said:


> It doesn't matter if you buy Killer or Intel NIC..they both have the software. Using that as a selling feature, or lack there of, is rather well...hilarious.



Intel is easy enough to get the driver only though, you just copy and paste the intel software text into google and add .zip on the end and download the one from the intel site that has the Ds moniker on the end. Killer however, is a more irritating story.

In case anyone didn't know this nifty trick:


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## cadaveca (May 22, 2014)

RCoon said:


> Intel is easy enough to get the driver only though, you just copy and paste the intel software text into google and add .zip on the end and download the one from the intel site that has the Ds moniker on the end. Killer however, is a more irritating story.


meh. Neither bit of software bother me in the least. It's not like my gaming PC has a shortage of power that such things actually have any impact in how I use my PC.

I guess I'm getting old and quibbling about such things isn't worth the breath any more.


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## RCoon (May 22, 2014)

cadaveca said:


> meh. Neither bit of software bother me in the least. It's not like my gaming PC has a shortage of power that such things actually have any impact in how I use my PC.
> 
> I guess I'm getting old and quibbling about such things isn't worth the breath any more.



Oh I'm not saying my PC can't handle it. It's just sometimes it randomly throttles something and I don't realise until half an hour later. Then I have to go into the software and change the priority it has so kindly set to "low" for me, back to "high/normal"


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## cadaveca (May 22, 2014)

RCoon said:


> Oh I'm not saying my PC can't handle it. It's just sometimes it randomly throttles something and I don't realise until half an hour later. Then I have to go into the software and change the priority it has so kindly set to "low" for me, back to "high/normal"




Never noticed such myself, but I'll gather that our browsing habits are quite different.


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## RCoon (May 22, 2014)

cadaveca said:


> Never noticed such myself, but I'll gather that our browsing habits are quite different.



Maybe I'm just old fashioned and preferred the days when drivers were just a folder full of cab files. Don't like none of this software that does fancy things. I like things to just work, and not require any input from me.


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## cadaveca (May 22, 2014)

RCoon said:


> Maybe I'm just old fashioned and preferred the days when drivers were just a folder full of cab files. Don't like none of this software that does fancy things. I like things to just work, and not require any input from me.


Pshaw! You're like half my age young man.

I do hear your argument, of course. As I've said elsewhere, I actually find the KillerNIC to be better for my needs. Yet most favor Intel NICs. With new boards, KillerNIC updated it's software, and I like it's visual appearance less, but seeing that new GUI also had me realize that those bits of software...really aren't for advanced users.

I've got a few boards here with BOTH Intel and Killer E2200-series NICs. I'm going to do some testing with these boards and see if anything sticks out, since having both on the same board makes such compares truly possible...where they weren't before. BTW, the software I refer to is "CFOS"-based, and as such, isn't really included with the driver. That said, you do raise a very valid point of contention.


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## RCoon (May 22, 2014)

cadaveca said:


> Pshaw! You're like half my age young man.
> 
> I do hear your argument, of course. As I've said elsewhere, I actually find the KillerNIC to be better for my needs. Yet most favor Intel NICs. With new boards, KillerNIC updated it's software, and I like it's visual appearance less, but seeing that new GUI also had me realize that those bits of software...really aren't for advanced users.
> 
> I've got a few boards here with BOTH Intel and Killer E2200-series NICs. I'm going to do some testing with these boards and see if anything sticks out, since having both on the same board makes such compares truly possible...where they weren't before. BTW, the software I refer to is "CFOS"-based, and as such, isn't really included with the driver. That said, you do raise a very valid point of contention.



Don't get me wrong, the Killer is a good network card, but so is every other. It's just a network card, I don't really know how to gauge the performance of two gigabit ports. perhaps one has a more economical machine language and therefore improves latency by like, 1ms or something? It's not like you can compare them like CPU's from a completely different range or anything. From my very limited knowledge, a gigabit port is just a gigabit port! I genuinely don't know. Maybe it's something to add to your already bursting motherboard reviews. Start seeing how identical network transfers on different boards with different network ports from Killer and Intel. Then maybe I will overlook the software in favour for an improvement in overall network performance.


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## WalterHughes1986 (May 23, 2014)

3 seconds that you know which one is better  ))


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## AsRock (May 23, 2014)

LMAO, that on a LAN to get those numbers as if ya online gaming your ISP and the hops to and from it will make that worthless.


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## BeardHolloway0329 (May 23, 2014)

i will choose msi,msi audio is use Realtek ALC1150,but asus is use Realtek ALC892,msi NIC is use Killer E2205,but asus is use Intel I812-V,(I think maybe killer is better on quality & CP!!)so…….pay more 10$ let you become pro~


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## Shambles1980 (May 23, 2014)

a lot of people seem to have had better expirience with msi than i have, but then again i only just went back to gigabyte after a few bad boards.
my personal choices are "and were" Abit (gone now) Asrock. asus.
never had a bad board from any of them. abit was my fave, followed by asrock and then asus..

Msi and gigabyte have let me down horrifically.
I guess every one probably has companys that have let them down in the past. but i did just try gigabyte again, and credit where credit is due they do seem better now. MSI however still not quite up to acceptable standards IMO

maybe i could throw this in to your dilema..
http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z97 OC Formula/


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## Vario (May 23, 2014)

I had a basically DOA Asrock z77e itx, but the replacement has been flawless so far.  I returned it opened to Amazon for no cost replacement, but RMA would have probably been a nightmare.  I only buy boards from companies that have no hassle returns because the RMA to mfgr instead of retailer is such a pain.  My Asrock 970 Extreme3 was a very solid board.

I had a Biostar for many years that overclocked like crazy and was dirt cheap.

It seems to be entirely random probability of DOA except for a few specific turd boards, usually newegg's reviews indicate which boards are turds.


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## MxPhenom 216 (May 23, 2014)

Id probably choose the MSI board over the Asus. Especially if I am building a gaming rig. 

MSI gaming line is for gamers, all the features they have are for the gamer, and don't offer much more. Just what you need.


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