# Which ATX/mATX z97 Board choose?



## Exodus (Jun 28, 2014)

Hey guys ,

I'm seeking for the best z97 that can fit in my budget. I'm not sure wether I'll get a mATX or ATX tower for my next gaming rig so if you could give me recommendation for both size it would be awesome. 

NEEDS:

Here the things I care about in order:

1- Overclocking capacity
2- Bios
3- Audio chipset
4- Aesthetics
5- Optimized for gaming ( I don't know if that one is possible )
6- Other features (Ethernet chipset and things like that)
7- Warranty/customer service 

I looking for a motherboard that allows a great customization that allows a nice overclock. I would to have a motherboard that make overclocking as easy as possible while still giving me a great control on my hardware.
I own a Sennheiser HD25-II and would like to able to use at its full potential so I would like to have a good audio chipset.
Aesthetics is really important to me so the only color allowed are black, grey, white, silver, red or blue. A fully black motherboard would be perfect.

BUDGET:

I can spend a maximum of 200$.

BUILD SPECS:

I'm not really sure about how my rig will look like.

It will be either:

Processor: I5 4690k
Motherboard: Z97 mATX board
CPU cooler: H220/Fractal T12/S24
RAM: Fury 2 x 4GB DDR3 1866
GPU : directCU II R9 290 4GB
Storage: mx100 256GB
PSU: Cooler Master VSM 550w
Case: Bitfenix Aegis

or


Processor: I5 4690k
Motherboard: Z97 board
CPU cooler: H220/Fractal T12/S24
RAM: Fury 2 x 4GB DDR3 1866
GPU : directCU II R9 290 4GB
Storage: mx100 256GB
PSU: Evga G2 750w
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Luxe

 Which build is better and what board do you recommend me and why?

Have a great day.


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## Hood (Jun 28, 2014)

I recently went through the same process of selecting a Z97 board for the upgrade to Devil's Canyon, and I wanted a board that supports maximum overclocking.  I'll never use more than 1 or 2 graphics cards, so I didn't need one of the expensive boards designed for 4 cards ($300-$400), but I wanted the best VRM phase count and high grade power components.  Luckily I found this chart - http://www.sinhardware.com/images/vrmlist.png -  which details the VRM section of most popular boards from Z68 up through Z97.  It lists the "marketing" phase count, along with the actual phase count, and the number and quality of all the various components included.  This is great for cutting through the admen's hype and finding out that the board really has only a crappy 4 phase actual count, even though they're claiming 8 or even 16 in their ads.  Some of them are surprisingly marginal for their price, even some of the so-called OC segment boards.
  I had pretty much already settled on the Asus Z97-Deluxe a while back, (the $280 one, not the $400 one with all the extra crap) and this chart only confirmed my choice, since it has one of the best VRMs on the chart.  In fact, all the Asus boards on the chart look better than the competition in all the different price ranges.  I'm glad to know that Asus at least gives you better parts for the premium price they charge.  I've always bought Asus boards when I could fit one in my budget, and I've never been disappointed.  For your budget you might have to look at the Asus Z97-Pro, but it's VRM also looks good for overclocking.  Not sure if their color scheme will match your gear, but it's mostly black.  Both of these boards have M.2 slots and SATA Express ports, which are missing on many "gaming" and "overclocking" Z97 boards.  I like the 2nd build.


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## Exodus (Jun 29, 2014)

Thanks for answering. 



Hood said:


> I recently went through the same process of selecting a Z97 board for the upgrade to Devil's Canyon, and I wanted a board that supports maximum overclocking.  I'll never use more than 1 or 2 graphics cards, so I didn't need one of the expensive boards designed for 4 cards ($300-$400), but I wanted the best VRM phase count and high grade power components.  Luckily I found this chart - http://www.sinhardware.com/images/vrmlist.png -  which details the VRM section of most popular boards from Z68 up through Z97.  It lists the "marketing" phase count, along with the actual phase count, and the number and quality of all the various components included.  This is great for cutting through the admen's hype and finding out that the board really has only a crappy 4 phase actual count, even though they're claiming 8 or even 16 in their ads.  Some of them are surprisingly marginal for their price, even some of the so-called OC segment boards.
> I had pretty much already settled on the Asus Z97-Deluxe a while back, (the $280 one, not the $400 one with all the extra crap) and this chart only confirmed my choice, since it has one of the best VRMs on the chart.  In fact, all the Asus boards on the chart look better than the competition in all the different price ranges.  I'm glad to know that Asus at least gives you better parts for the premium price they charge.  I've always bought Asus boards when I could fit one in my budget, and I've never been disappointed.  For your budget you might have to look at the Asus Z97-Pro, but it's VRM also looks good for overclocking.  Not sure if their color scheme will match your gear, but it's mostly black.  Both of these boards have M.2 slots and SATA Express ports, which are missing on many "gaming" and "overclocking" Z97 boards.  I like the 2nd build.




The sinhardware list is pretty useful. If only they could add some missing motherboard like the sabertooth mark 2 or the gryphon or other mATX boards.
The Asus Z97-Pro looks to be a good board. How is the audio on the Deluxe? Is the same that on the Pro?
I'm also looking at the Hero or the gene that could fit in my budget and looks kinda great. What do you think of those boards?

Also, why do you prefer the second build?


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## GhostRyder (Jun 29, 2014)

Exodus said:


> Hey guys ,
> 
> I'm seeking for the best z97 that can fit in my budget. I'm not sure wether I'll get a mATX or ATX tower for my next gaming rig so if you could give me recommendation for both size it would be awesome.
> 
> ...



The asus z97 Maximus VII Hero is an excellent board with a loaded feature set for $220 bucks but it's an Matx board.

There is also the Asus Z97 pro wifi that's a full atx board and has built in wifi (if you want that).


EVGA Z97 FTW is also a very cool board right now for 210 that offer a wide feature set.

There is the MSI Gaming 7 board which have great gaming and overclocking features.

Any if those are excellent, the MsI boards offer great value but I personally like the Asus boards the best.


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## Hood (Jun 30, 2014)

Exodus said:


> Thanks for answering.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The Sabertooth Mk 2 should be the same as the Mk 1, it's just missing the thermal armor and backplate.
It's early days for the Z97 chipset, I'm sure he'll fill in the list as time allows.
The Z97-Pro is almost as good, but the VRM is only 6 tru phases instead of 8, with lower quality parts.  Also I notice the audio section on the Deluxe has twice as many high quality Japanese capacitors as the Pro, if that's a consideration.
The M7 Gene and M7 Hero both have a decent 8+0 true phase count, but without the doubler used by the Deluxe, (so with only half the other parts), but they do use the latest NexFet power MOSFETs, which helps.  I really like the look of the Hero, not too crazy about the name.
After due consideration of all the alternatives, I decided that for once I would treat myself to the best, so I ordered the Z97-Deluxe and it will arrive tomorrow.  This way, if my i7-4790K doesn't OC as high as I want, at least I'll know it's not the board's fault.  But if super-high overclocks are not that important to you, any of the boards you mention will suffice.
I like the 2nd system because I prefer full ATX boards, at least for my main rig - easier  to work on, better layout, and more slots/ports.  Smaller boards always involve compromises.


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## Exodus (Jul 2, 2014)

Thanks for answering. 


Hood said:


> The Sabertooth Mk 2 should be the same as the Mk 1, it's just missing the thermal armor and backplate.
> It's early days for the Z97 chipset, I'm sure he'll fill in the list as time allows.
> The Z97-Pro is almost as good, but the VRM is only 6 tru phases instead of 8, with lower quality parts.  Also I notice the audio section on the Deluxe has twice as many high quality Japanese capacitors as the Pro, if that's a consideration.
> The M7 Gene and M7 Hero both have a decent 8+0 true phase count, but without the doubler used by the Deluxe, (so with only half the other parts), but they do use the latest NexFet power MOSFETs, which helps.  I really like the look of the Hero, not too crazy about the name.
> ...



Wow, those thermals armors are expansive lol. 
So do you have your z97-deluxe now? How is the board? Have you tried to overclock your I7?

I have never tried to overclock anything yet so I don't really know what I should be looking for. My would be to maximize my rig's performances without reaching a voltage where it could damage the CPU. Basically I don't want to break a world record but I want to be able to get a decent speed that will boost my FPS.
Do you think the Gene or the Hero will be enough in my case? The Z97
I'm also considering AsRock's Z97 extreme 4/6. From what I've read they are the best bang for buck motherboard. What do you think of these boards? Aesthetically they look pretty nice but I'm worried about the audio and the overclock capacity of the board.



GhostRyder said:


> The asus z97 Maximus VII Hero is an excellent board with a loaded feature set for $220 bucks but it's an Matx board.
> 
> There is also the Asus Z97 pro wifi that's a full atx board and has built in wifi (if you want that).
> 
> ...


What do you think of AsRock's boards? And were you talking about the gene when you said :
" The asus z97 Maximus VII Hero is an excellent board with a loaded feature set for $220 bucks but it's an Matx board."
Because the Hero is an ATX board.

Which board is better for ovclocking and audio between the z97-pro and the hero?
I would also like to have your thoughts on AsRock's boards.


So I'll try to get the hero or the gene in the case I'll be making an mATX build. The z97-pro looks to be a great board but I don't love the gold color scheme. So I don't think I'll get that one unless it beats the hero for overclocking and has a better audio.

In the case I can't afford those boards which cheaper mobo do you guys recommend me?


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## GhostRyder (Jul 2, 2014)

Exodus said:


> Thanks for answering.
> What do you think of AsRock's boards? And were you talking about the gene when you said :
> " The asus z97 Maximus VII Hero is an excellent board with a loaded feature set for $220 bucks but it's an Matx board."
> Because the Hero is an ATX board.
> ...


Whoops, I was really tired when I posted that and for some reason was thinking the Gene and Hero were flip flopped.  My bad on that...

I like Asrock boards, I have bought a few for friends/client builds recently (Being last year or so) and all have been excellent (But I could just be lucky).  The new Asrock come with feature rich boards at a good price and look aesthetically pleasing at least in my eyes.  I highly recommend Asrock boards but my personal favorites still sit with Asus.

The Hero will technically be the better clocker board because the Maximus series is designed to be the extreme boards for the gamers including the best of overclocking, networking, etc.  Both will overclock very well and you could most likely push a chip on them to the max or at least close.  However as far as audio is concerned I think they are both about on par with eachother but the Hero sports the ROG variant so I would assume based on that its supposed to be the better chip.  However I do not know how much of a difference the audio would make as post are top notch.


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## Fixit123 (Jul 3, 2014)

The Maximus VII Hero is the way to go.


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## Exodus (Jul 3, 2014)

Fixit123 said:


> The Maximus VII Hero is the way to go.



Okay thanks.

So If I get an ATX board it will be the Hero and if I get a mATX board it will the Gene (if I can afford them).


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