# Whats the best MOBO for the I7-4790k?



## sebastian869 (Jul 17, 2014)

What do you guys think is the best i really want to stick to asus or asrock and its obviously 1150 and i want z97 chipset. I do plan to do probably a 2 card SLI when prices drop and put in a SSD.
P.S. How much mem is best like 12 gigs? Its mainly for hardcore gaming. Lastly what model of mem do you guys recommend ive always been using corsair and they have lifetime warrantee so i never been burnt and Asus has very good tech support so ive always stuck to them to date.
Thanks,
Sebastian


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## EarthDog (Jul 17, 2014)

Just about any motherboard will be fine in the $130-$200 range honestly. Mobo's don't make NEARLY as much of a difference as they did pre Sandybridge really... 

12GB? Not sure how you are going to do that on a dual channel platform... I would go 2x8GB and never have to worry about it again (DDR3 1866 CL9 is a solid sweet spot). As far as brand. Ram is ram is ram to me... whatever is 1866 CL9 1.5v, looks good, and is the cheapest would be my choice.

Off topic, are you the one that emailed Overclockers.com about a registration issue?? (Feel free to PM me if its you...)


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## fusionblu (Jul 17, 2014)

With the Z97 chipset there is a ridiculous amount of options for motherboards. You have the expensive motherboards with most of the advancements and multiple features included, but features still vary a lot and it is best to do research to find the motherboard which has particular features that interest you the most (and that you are going to use). A expensive or top-tier motherboard isn't really needed to have a good gaming PC.

The clear advantage of Z97 is no correction revision has been needed for this chipset at all like it was with early generation chipset equivalents, a lot of motherboards have good in-built sound cards (not necessary better than sound cards, but better than built-in sound cards in previous generations), improved USB 3 and Sata III/6GBs.

As for me I went for a striped down motherboard with less features that I really wouldn't want (or even have any intention of using) and as for the introduction of Sata Express and Thunderbolt they are too early generation and a bit to specialist for my liking at the moment as not many devices have a significant reliance on those features. Also I haven't quite been brought in by the M.2, mSata or other unusual SSDs, although I've looked into these and some others a bit though.

My reasons for choosing my particular motherboard was that it had some features from more higher-tier equivalents which I did like such as its sound card, I did like the Ethernet port as well as the motherboard's overall layout for general layout and selection of rear ports which were to my liking.

As for RAM 12GB would simply be incorrect given modern Desktop PCs are a lot more sensitive to mismatched RAM and 12GB is more for triple channel setups from the first generation i7 CPUs with the X58 chipset where the configuration is either 6x2GB or 3x4GB. Intel never continued the triple channel RAM setup and replaced it with quad channel instead.

For recommended RAM for a gaming PC I would recommend 8GB at the very minimum, but for the price 16GB is generally a lot better even though you might not require or manage to use an application which would make most use of 16GB.

My choice in relation to choosing 32GB is because I wanted to go all out with my upgrade from my previous system (as I have such luxuries to do so), but if I feel there is a performance benefit of having 16GB instead I can just remove two modules and I'm fine.


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## Hellfire (Jul 17, 2014)

For me it is Asus... and then I tend to go for the higher end boards, I just got a 4790K and got a Asus Sabertooth Mk1, I can honestly say the board is amazing.

I'd say 8Gb of Ram, in terms of brand, I always go Corsair, never had a problem and doubt I will, 


I will say I am biased, I pick my brands by who I get on with, I've had nothing but problems with A-Data and G-skill in the past that now, I don't touch them.


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## SethPeters57 (Sep 19, 2014)

I would recommend the Asus Maximus VII Hero, as legend001523 said. It has many tweaks and customizations that can be made to the BIOS that makes overclocking with this mobo very easy. In addition, when combined with the i7-4790K, which is said to be one of the best processors when overclocked, you can make one of the highest performing, and easiest to optimize, computer builds.


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## EarthDog (Sep 20, 2014)

Overkill.


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## eidairaman1 (Sep 20, 2014)

Sabertooth


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## EarthDog (Sep 20, 2014)

Gimmick ^^


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## Naito (Sep 20, 2014)

Is this guy serious? Or just trolling? 

Similar thread here. Seemed like he had already decided here. 

Something seems a bit odd.


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## gasolin (Sep 20, 2014)

I have read that the asrock extreme 6 is very good but i have a Asus Vii ranger, i noticed 5-10% lower read speeds then i had with my Asrock Z77 Extreme 6 (i7 4790k and i5 3570k) but i don't notice it (500gb samsung 840 evo) comparded to my asrock Z77 mb my cpu cooler is much more quiet (don't use extreme quiet setting), my asrock had a tendency to go up to fast in rpm and reduce rpm to slow.


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## INSTG8R (Sep 20, 2014)

Look some new member just necroed this thread from July. Let it drop again please...

And yes Naito this guy was a tad annoying


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## GhostRyder (Sep 20, 2014)

Depends on what you want from your motherboard...If SLI is your primary focus there are plenty out there that support it very well and will leave you with no troubles.  That being said there are also boards fitting into every price point and generally speaking performance does not change from motherboard to motherboard except factoring overclocking in and normally they all run about the same depending on how many and what quality phases power the CPU (You could also argue bios's can make all the difference).

My suggestion to you is dependent on your budget:

For an inexpensive motherboard that supports SLI and offers great features, try the MSI Z97-G55 as its one of the best (IMHO) board I have worked with especially considering the price point.

For a more power house board you can try either the MSI Gaming 5, the Asus ROG Hero, or a Asrock Z97 Fatal1ty Professional.  But those generally carry some extra gaming/overclocking features and such.


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## Tascavengur (Oct 10, 2014)

I have a similar question. I still have a 3770K (I think, I'm at work and can't check).
What I wanted to know is if i can upgrade to 4790K + upgrade ram and what speeds specs should i get on the RAM?


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## puma99dk| (Oct 10, 2014)

what kind of features you need for your usage? and go out from there.

you need M.2. or Sata Express?

i run my i7-4790K on my MSI Z97I Gaming AC, i know i lag of M.2 and Sata Express support, but honestly i am not worrying too much because i change hardware like twice a year or something like that when it comes to cpu and boards.

only thing i think would have been nice on this board would be support for M.2. that would have been really nice since it only got 4xSATA 3 ports and weirdly enough 2xE-Sata 3 ports (the e-sata's i will properly never use...)


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## erixx (Oct 10, 2014)

Assus Blackteeth FTW Ultra Windows 10 Edition


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## Tascavengur (Oct 10, 2014)

Found the answer in the meantime. It's been a long time since I actively overclocked / researched hardware. I was looking if my mobo (sabertooth Z77 would fit that new gen CPU.. .it won't). Now i'm actually looking of just upgrading my RAM. What I don't know is the max freq. i can get out of the Z77 with I-3770K (not sure of the number as well though). My "previous" RAM is rated 1600 :-s and i tried it at 2200 not stable with Intel Burn but stable in some games


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