Hey guys, need some help real quick. I've got a pal who is looking to build a quick and dirty desktop, but he refuses to even consider an ASUS mobo. I've got an ASUS Z97-PRO in my kitchen computer and I love it to death, but I need some good suggestion for a Z97 mobo other than ASUS. Price range for mobo is $140 - $210. He's willing to look into any other brand, MSI, Gigabyte, ASRock, all that good stuff. If you have any recommendations from personal experience that would be great as well. Here's the rest of his computer, which has already been purchased. i5-4690k Sapphire R280X 2x8GB DDR3 2400Mhz Corsair Dominator 750W XFX PSU of some kind. 256GB Samsung 840 Evo Thanks in advance.
You've not really said what kind of features he's looking for but in the end, if it's just basics he's after, then any will do really. I don't regret buying my MSI if that helps any, which it probably doesn't
Thanks for the reply. Just very basic stuff. 1 SSD, 1 HDD. No RAID. Enough OC capability to get the 4690k to 4.4 or 4.5 in the future. Single graphics card, no crossfire or SLI. He does have 2 CPU fans and 4 case fans which he wants to run off the mobo, so that makes finding a candidate harder. The only ones I know of that can do that and stay under $200 are the ASUS Z97 PRO and a Gigabyte model with 4 fan headers lined on the bottom edge of the mobo. Any additional personal experience would be appreciated.
I just brought a Gigabyte Z97mATX, you get some cash back with that Mobo and an even higher amount when brought with a i7. As for performance I think the difference might be a little too close in order to make a choice. I wanted to get the Z97 MSI Mini ITX board, comes with a kick ass sound card, Wifi and bluetooth + the standard Killer Network card across all Z97's.
