Building new PC and need MOBO recommendations..

JayFiveAlive

I'm going to be building a new beast of a rig for the first time in about 5 years.. I've decided on most components, but I'm really stuck on the mobo. I want to overclock to ideally 4.7-4.8Ghz. I'm strongly considering ASUS as my motherboard as it's been a long time since I've used them and I like to try different brands (last 4 builds used Asrock, Gigabyte, MSI, and like 15 years ago ASUS)

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K
Cooler: CRYORIG R1 Universal
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series
Storage: 512/1TB Samsung 960 Pro NVMe m.2 (coming out in a week or so), and 1TB WD Caviar Blue
GPU: EVGA 08G-P4-6286
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (White)
PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 750

Mobos... ugh I don't know. As I mentioned I'm strongly leaning toward ASUS since its been so long. I've looked at Z170-A, Z170-Deluxe, Maximus VIII Hero, VIII extreme, Sabertooth S. It seems there are so many variations on motherboards with only a few differences.

This is a gaming machine... any one have thoughts on mobo ? It's the only thing holding me back!

bartoni33

I have an Asus Z170 Pro Gaming and have had zero issues.

Check it out: https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z170-PRO-GAMING/

Looks awesome too with all the lights and such, if that means anything to you.

JayFiveAlive

I am liking the Aura version of that with the RGB LEDs. Big fan of LEDs Thanks for the recommendation. I am now leaning more towards that one as it will look good in my case color wise and has better sound card than Z170-A. I will need to double check the cooler will fit, but looks like it should.

JayFiveAlive

SedrynTyros said:

If you're okay with using Windows 10, you may want to wait for Intel's Kaby Lake i7 that's due early next year.

This is a good point and I have considered waiting. I know there aren't any concrete benchmarks yet, but there are rumors it will essentially be same performance as the 6700K with a hair lower power consumption. Cannonlake is due out later next year as well and I was originally planning on waiting for that, but I do have a need for the new machine

Renoaku

Asus, makes the good boards other brands not so sure I would say average personally like the asus ones (Although Asrock boards) are kinda bugged with the USB ports on my first one being too loose meaning you have to manually tighten these carefully.

Western Digital, Because Seagate suck, I had two back-up drives from them they familed to mention on the box that they were Internal IDE coverted to sata, and they both failed after like less than 20 hours power on time just used to back-up data. (They actually had a recall from what I was told but as they didn't notify me by mail they failed to honor it and refund the purchase amount at the time being $500 or so a drive...

Simply put my Maxtor Drive (Old Drive) has been running for 11 + years and still working great (Please explain Seagate) Also which maxtor was bought out by (Western Digital)

Anything else = meh? I would honestly look at the designs yourself and see what you like check every little detail of the board.

cormach

I used EVGA mobos for a long time, until I started running in to QC issues. I had really good experiences with them, and their support is first rate.

I built both my wife's and my own computers a few years ago using Z97. My wife's has an ASUS mobo, and mine has an MSI. They have both been good, reliable mobos, but personally I think I prefer the MSI.

In my experience, the support and mobo updates are easier with MSI than they are with ASUS. MSI seems to keep their drivers more up to date, and they are easier to find and download than what ASUS does. Also, with the MSI fast boot options, at least compared to the ASUS one, it boots significantly faster than hers.

Ridelynn

The differences in motherboards are largely in features. The more expensive ones will have a few more features on them (custom lighting, better cooling, more robust power delivery, built-in WiFi, SATA RAID, M.2, etc), but they will all at least offer the basic chipset features and have enough to get a decent gaming rig up and running.

Your basic Z110 will overclock to some degree. A top of the line ROG would probably be able to get a bit more overclock out of the same CPU, but it won't be by a huge amount (unless your jumping to something like LN2). As to if it's worth it or not, that is totally up to you and what you desire in your system. If your really wanting to push the overclock, that's going to be more dependent on the silicon lottery draw you get with your CPU than anything (and you may want to think about buying a pre-binned CPU).

I've had good luck with Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI, and I would recommend them equally. I've personally steered clear of Asrock, I don't like their build quality, but a lot of folks have had good results with them and they tend to be a lot less expensive.

JayFiveAlive

Thanks guys, I think I'm pulling the trigger on the Asus Z170 Pro Gaming Aura! I appreciate the help steering me in some direction haha.

Asrock... I know there is a decent following with them, but I'm not too fond of them. My current build uses Asrock and it was so finicky for years and years with USBs failing to power devices, not registering the type of component, etc. and then finally out of the blue it starting working with everything. Anytime i plug a USB I still cringe waiting to see if it fails, but it seems good now.

WOOHOO! It's so exciting building a new computer after so long!

Saxx0n

Motherboard

Manufacturer Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd.

Model Z170X-Gaming 3 (U3E1)

laserit

I've been very happy with my Sabertooth. Asus has never done me wrong.