Building a new gaming system

[Deleted]

Greetings lads! Im building myself a new gaming system based on i7-4770K, and im trying to figure out which board to invest in.

I have a dilemma between these two ASUS MAXIMUS VI HERO, and ASUS Z87 Socket 1150 Z87-C.

Ive started to think if maximus is worth the money, since DDR4 is on the horizon?


What would you do?

[Biernot]

1. Forget about DDR4
It has not even yet been announced for any specific products and it will be most likely about 2 years before we see it in actual motherboards sold to consumers. DDR4 won't be compatible with current boards and cpus at all, so just erase that thought from your memory.

2. More expensive motherboards are not necessarily better
They give no performance increase whatsoever. They just provide you with additional features (which most of them you don't need anyways) and different/better looks. If you are one of those high-end overclockers that try to push the last 100MHz (with custom water cooling or sub-zero cooling solutions), then you might find some of the higher end boards better. But in terms of your average power-user with a 4.5GHz oc, the difference is negligible.


Suggestions:

Instead of the Z87-C, i would suggest the Z87-A. It's nearly the same, but it has better voltage supply for the cpu. It should not make a big difference, but it can improve (long term) stability with higher overclocks (say e.g. around 4.4GHz and above).

Another great board in the lower price range is the Asrock Z87 Extreme4. It offers all the Asus Z87-A does and a bit more for a lower price. Some people don't like Asrock (the were considered a cheap brand a few years ago), but they stepped up their game, and around gamer circles the Z77 Extreme4 was probably the most-recommended board.

Now for the Asus Maximus VI Hero: The only differences i see compared to the Asrock Z87 Extreme4:
- Better onboard audio: If you are somewhat audiophile and have good speakers/headphones this could mean you don't need a separate sound card.
- Different Looks

If these differences are worth $80 to you, then get the Hero. Else i would probably recommend the Extreme4.

[Deleted]

Nah, i prefer Asus, i do love music and have a decent speaker system, but i do believe that Z87-A is a better choice, and il have some extra money for a good sound card, which i can keep after future upgrades.