Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 16 of 22

Thread: z97 Boards - Worth the wait?

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Hull
    Posts
    375
    Thanks
    22
    Thanked
    2 times in 2 posts
    • Bounty_Bam's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Abit IP-35 'Dark Raider'
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600 G0
      • Memory:
      • 8GB (4x2GB) OCZ PC6400 800Mhz Platinum
      • Storage:
      • 1TB SATA, 500GB SATA
      • Graphics card(s):
      • AMD Radeon HD7800 Series
      • PSU:
      • Corsair HX520W Modular
      • Case:
      • Coolermaster CM-690 Dominator Black
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 x64
      • Monitor(s):
      • 23" LG LED Flatron IPS234
      • Internet:
      • Virgin Media

    z97 Boards - Worth the wait?

    Seeing as the new z97 motherboards are on the horizon, is it still worth buying a z87 board now? I've read a few articles which state there's not a great deal of difference between the z87's and the z97's - is this the case? I am a few days from which i plan to order my MSI z87 G45, but seeing as those these new boards are rumored to be on the shelves from June (?), would it be better to hold on to my cash and see what these have to offer?

  2. #2
    Senior Member mikeo01's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Wales!
    Posts
    1,402
    Thanks
    294
    Thanked
    98 times in 88 posts
    • mikeo01's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI B85i Gaming
      • CPU:
      • Intel Xeon 1230V3
      • Memory:
      • G.Skill RipJaws 2133MHZ
      • Storage:
      • Plextor M5S 128GB
      • Graphics card(s):
      • VTX3D R9 290
      • PSU:
      • Coolermaster VS450
      • Case:
      • Corsair 250D
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 8 PRO, Ubuntu
      • Monitor(s):
      • LG 22" W2261VP

    Re: z97 Boards - Worth the wait?

    Probably not; unless you care for Broadwell in the future really.
    "If at first you don't succeed; call it version 1.0" ||| "I'm not interrupting you, I'm putting our conversation in full-duplex mode" ||| "The problem with UDP joke: I don't get half of them"
    "I’d tell you the one about the CIDR block, but you’re too classy" ||| "There’s no place like 127.0.0.1" ||| "I made an NTP joke once. The timing was perfect."
    "In high society, TCP is more welcome than UDP. At least it knows a proper handshake."

  3. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Hull
    Posts
    375
    Thanks
    22
    Thanked
    2 times in 2 posts
    • Bounty_Bam's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Abit IP-35 'Dark Raider'
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600 G0
      • Memory:
      • 8GB (4x2GB) OCZ PC6400 800Mhz Platinum
      • Storage:
      • 1TB SATA, 500GB SATA
      • Graphics card(s):
      • AMD Radeon HD7800 Series
      • PSU:
      • Corsair HX520W Modular
      • Case:
      • Coolermaster CM-690 Dominator Black
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 x64
      • Monitor(s):
      • 23" LG LED Flatron IPS234
      • Internet:
      • Virgin Media

    Re: z97 Boards - Worth the wait?

    Have they speculated a price bracket for a Broadwell chip yet? Can't imagine those been too cheap.

  4. #4
    Registered+
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    32
    Thanks
    7
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    • TheSheriff's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus Z97-PRO
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core i5 4670k
      • Memory:
      • 8 GB
      • Storage:
      • 1TB + 4TB HDDs + 128GB SSD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB
      • PSU:
      • Corsair RM 550
      • Case:
      • Cooler Master Storm Enforcer
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 8.1

    Re: z97 Boards - Worth the wait?

    I'm in a similar position to Bam, planning on ordering parts for my PC in the next week or so. I had heard that the new boards would be (slightly) better and (roughly) no more expensive so thought it would be worth the wait. Someone may well know better though!

  5. #5
    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    31,023
    Thanks
    1,870
    Thanked
    3,381 times in 2,718 posts
    • kalniel's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Ultra
      • CPU:
      • Intel i9 9900k
      • Memory:
      • 32GB DDR4 3200 CL16
      • Storage:
      • 1TB Samsung 970Evo+ NVMe
      • Graphics card(s):
      • nVidia GTX 1060 6GB
      • PSU:
      • Seasonic 600W
      • Case:
      • Cooler Master HAF 912
      • Operating System:
      • Win 10 Pro x64
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell S2721DGF
      • Internet:
      • rubbish

    Re: z97 Boards - Worth the wait?

    Well with most of these things there's usually a little window of opportunity when the new boards are imminent or just released when old generations are discounted to reduce stock - it's worth capturing that as you get to either switch to the new gen or spend less. After that window the prices may increase as supply reduces though.

  6. #6
    Senior Member Pob255's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    The land of Brum
    Posts
    10,143
    Thanks
    608
    Thanked
    1,226 times in 1,123 posts
    • Pob255's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus M5A99X EVO
      • CPU:
      • FX8350 & CM Hyper 212+
      • Memory:
      • 4 x 2gb Corsair Vengence 1600mhz cas9
      • Storage:
      • 512gb samsung SSD +1tb Samsung HDD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EGVA GTX970
      • PSU:
      • Seasonic GX 650W
      • Case:
      • HAF 912+
      • Operating System:
      • W7 Pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • iiyama XB3270QS-B1 32" IPS 1440p

    Re: z97 Boards - Worth the wait?

    I doubt there will be much difference, seeing as how much of the motherboard chipset functions have been moved onto the cpu by intel.
    Although the rumour is that intel has moved the voltage regulator back onto the motherboard and off the cpu (although the memoery VR remains ondie) which means you'd need the z97 for Broadwell, potentially at least.
    Although given intel's recent behaviour Broadwell could require a new motherboard, it's far to soon and up-in-the-air to really say.

  7. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Hull
    Posts
    375
    Thanks
    22
    Thanked
    2 times in 2 posts
    • Bounty_Bam's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Abit IP-35 'Dark Raider'
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600 G0
      • Memory:
      • 8GB (4x2GB) OCZ PC6400 800Mhz Platinum
      • Storage:
      • 1TB SATA, 500GB SATA
      • Graphics card(s):
      • AMD Radeon HD7800 Series
      • PSU:
      • Corsair HX520W Modular
      • Case:
      • Coolermaster CM-690 Dominator Black
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 x64
      • Monitor(s):
      • 23" LG LED Flatron IPS234
      • Internet:
      • Virgin Media

    Re: z97 Boards - Worth the wait?

    As for future-proofing for a Broadwell CPU, looking through forums, people are "rumouring" them to start at around the £400+ mark on release. Might just stick to it and go for a 4770k!

  8. #8
    Evil Monkey! MrJim's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    London
    Posts
    2,313
    Thanks
    300
    Thanked
    472 times in 362 posts
    • MrJim's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI Tomahawk X570
      • CPU:
      • AMD Ryzen 5900X
      • Memory:
      • 32gb Kingston 3600 DDR4
      • Storage:
      • Aorus 1Tb NVME SSD, Samsung 1Tb 970 Evo SSD, Crucial 2tb MX500 SSD, Seagate Ironwolf 4Tb SSD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EVGA 3080Ti
      • PSU:
      • Seasonic Prime Ultra Platinum 1300W
      • Case:
      • Fractal Meshify 2
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 11 Pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • Viewsonic 27" XG2703-GS
      • Internet:
      • BT 900 mb/s FTTP

    Re: z97 Boards - Worth the wait?

    The only vaguely significant feature the Z97 motherboards will offer are the M.2 & SATA express interfaces. Although since you can add an M.2 card using a 4X PCIe slot as in the Plextor M6e, even the new interfaces aren't really that important I think. Of course if the prices of Z87 & Z97 motherboards are more or less the same, I'd go for the latter...

  9. #9
    Registered+
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Alkmaar
    Posts
    64
    Thanks
    2
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    • wolfsSpirit's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming
      • CPU:
      • I7-4770k 3.50 Ghz
      • Memory:
      • 2x8gb corsair vengeance 1866
      • Storage:
      • Intel SSD 160Gb , WD 2TB
      • Graphics card(s):
      • MSI Radeon R9 270x gaming,4Gb
      • PSU:
      • Corsair CS750M
      • Case:
      • Corsair Carbide 400R
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 pro 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • Samsung SyncMaster 2032BW
      • Internet:
      • UPC cable 200MB/s

    Re: z97 Boards - Worth the wait?

    i haven't seen much difference between MSI Z87 G65 Gaming (my board) and the new Z97 yet .
    My Z87 also has an Msata interface but it's not likely i am going to use it anytime soon.
    I would stick with the Z87 board untill a new board comes out that has a lot more to offer , the new board has too few new changes to be worth the money , you pay a lot more and you get almost nothing extra for it

  10. #10
    Senior Member Kovoet's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    London
    Posts
    895
    Thanks
    80
    Thanked
    55 times in 45 posts
    • Kovoet's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus ROG crosshair Hero VIII x 2
      • CPU:
      • AMD 5900x
      • Memory:
      • 32GB Viper 3733mhz
      • Storage:
      • Samsung 980 pro 500GB Samsung 850 512GB,Samsung 860 1TB SSD & 950 PRO NVMe M.2 SSD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Gigabyte RTX3070Ti, EVGA RTX 3060Ti
      • PSU:
      • Corsair AX1200i, RMX850
      • Case:
      • Corsair Carbide 680x
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10
      • Monitor(s):
      • Asus Tuf VG32VQ1B
      • Internet:
      • 1GB Virgin

    Re: z97 Boards - Worth the wait?

    I'm going to wait and see. I'm still using the Asus Maximus Formula V so they better be a lot better before I fork out.
    JABULANI NONKE

  11. #11
    Evil Monkey! MrJim's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    London
    Posts
    2,313
    Thanks
    300
    Thanked
    472 times in 362 posts
    • MrJim's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI Tomahawk X570
      • CPU:
      • AMD Ryzen 5900X
      • Memory:
      • 32gb Kingston 3600 DDR4
      • Storage:
      • Aorus 1Tb NVME SSD, Samsung 1Tb 970 Evo SSD, Crucial 2tb MX500 SSD, Seagate Ironwolf 4Tb SSD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EVGA 3080Ti
      • PSU:
      • Seasonic Prime Ultra Platinum 1300W
      • Case:
      • Fractal Meshify 2
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 11 Pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • Viewsonic 27" XG2703-GS
      • Internet:
      • BT 900 mb/s FTTP

    Re: z97 Boards - Worth the wait?

    Quote Originally Posted by wolfsSpirit View Post
    My Z87 also has an Msata interface but it's not likely i am going to use it anytime soon
    As I understand it, the M.2 interface allows SSDs to work in either mSATA mode, or native PCIe mode. The latter is much faster since in can operate up to 2 lanes PCIe speeds.
    Last edited by MrJim; 11-05-2014 at 09:38 AM.

  12. #12
    Registered+
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Edinburgh
    Posts
    89
    Thanks
    1
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    • Stuen4y's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Z77 Mpower
      • CPU:
      • i5 3570k
      • Memory:
      • 16GB 2400 CL11
      • Storage:
      • 840 Evo 120GB + 120 + 120GB SSD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • MSi R9 290X Lightning
      • PSU:
      • FD Edison M 750W
      • Case:
      • FD Arc Midi
      • Operating System:
      • Win 10 Pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • Iiyama GB2488HSU Red Eage
      • Internet:
      • Virgin 150 Meg

    Re: z97 Boards - Worth the wait?

    I am almost sure there is going to be a new generation of chipsets when Broadwell is finally out so this is more or less to fill the gap. Nothing revolutionary, no real reason to upgrade even from a Sandy.

  13. #13
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Hull
    Posts
    375
    Thanks
    22
    Thanked
    2 times in 2 posts
    • Bounty_Bam's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Abit IP-35 'Dark Raider'
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600 G0
      • Memory:
      • 8GB (4x2GB) OCZ PC6400 800Mhz Platinum
      • Storage:
      • 1TB SATA, 500GB SATA
      • Graphics card(s):
      • AMD Radeon HD7800 Series
      • PSU:
      • Corsair HX520W Modular
      • Case:
      • Coolermaster CM-690 Dominator Black
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 x64
      • Monitor(s):
      • 23" LG LED Flatron IPS234
      • Internet:
      • Virgin Media

    Re: z97 Boards - Worth the wait?

    Thanks for all your input
    I've just ordered my MSI z97 GAMING 7 with free H75 Corsair CPU cooler
    A massive upgrade from my abit IP-35 that's for sure!

  14. #14
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Posts
    206
    Thanks
    70
    Thanked
    6 times in 4 posts
    • Sacred's system
      • Motherboard:
      • P5Q-Pro
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core 2 Duo E8500
      • Memory:
      • 4 GB
      • Storage:
      • 500 GB
      • Graphics card(s):
      • nVidia GTX 460
      • Operating System:
      • Windows Vista 64

    Re: z97 Boards - Worth the wait?

    Quote Originally Posted by Bounty_Bam View Post
    Thanks for all your input
    I've just ordered my MSI z97 GAMING 7 with free H75 Corsair CPU cooler
    A massive upgrade from my abit IP-35 that's for sure!
    I'm really tempted by this! Such a great offer from SCAN, although I do like the look of the ASUS Hero, what to choose what to choose!!
    Thanks,
    Sacred

  15. #15
    Registered+
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Edinburgh
    Posts
    89
    Thanks
    1
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    • Stuen4y's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Z77 Mpower
      • CPU:
      • i5 3570k
      • Memory:
      • 16GB 2400 CL11
      • Storage:
      • 840 Evo 120GB + 120 + 120GB SSD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • MSi R9 290X Lightning
      • PSU:
      • FD Edison M 750W
      • Case:
      • FD Arc Midi
      • Operating System:
      • Win 10 Pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • Iiyama GB2488HSU Red Eage
      • Internet:
      • Virgin 150 Meg

    Re: z97 Boards - Worth the wait?

    I think Asus really stepped their game this time and that "round" is for them. Their BIOS-s look absolutely amazing. I had an Asus Z77 board and currently have a MSI Z77 board - my conclusion is that Asus is in a league of their own when it comes to the UEFI. Offering decent audio even for the low-is class ~£100 is great and brings them back into the game. Their Z87 series was their worst for the past probably 10 years so I am happy they addressed that.

  16. #16
    Registered User
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    2
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts

    Re: z97 Boards - Worth the wait?

    I bought an Asus Z87A board when they first came out. I have replaced it twice since then because of the Real Time Clock bug. All three boards, including the latest one, have this bug.

    The bug causes the RTC to not keep proper time. The most common problem is that the clock still shows the time it was at when the computer was last turned off and fails to restart. It's not a trivial problem. Some programmes won't run if the clock shows the wrong time.

    There has been a deafening silence from Asus but some people have speculated that the trouble lies with the Z87 chipset.

    Maybe that is the mean reason for the developement of the Z97

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •