Socket 1150 Maximus VII Gene Intel Z97 died, RMA'd for replacement, none available, what now?

So my motherboard died a month ago, I RMA'd it and just received a credit note email from OcUK.

I'm guessing that means they can't give me a new one? I've not called up yet.

But before I do, I'm just trying to figure out my alternative options.

I'm stuck here with an i7-4790K and some DDR3 ram.

I've completely out of the loop when it comes to motherboards and CPU's so I don't know what the current lay of the land is and if it's worth trying to get a newer setup or find another 1150 board to replace it.

My only real restriction is that is must be mini-atx as it's going in a Fortress FT03.

Can anyone a suggest some options to take?

Thanks

Wasn't the Gene m-ATX not itx? OCUK have none of either form factor anyway so it's a moot point. I can only find a few m-ATX Z97 boards in stock elsewhere:-
ASRock Z97M OC FORMULA at £116
Gigabyte Z97MX-GAMING 5 at £129
ASUS Z97M-PLUS at £107

Can't find any itx boards in stock at all. I think the Asus Maximus VII Impact was the best of the itx boards on Z97.

This is probably going to mean a forced upgrade for you unless you can find a board second hand. It's a shame because the 4790k is a excellent cpu that will be good for a long time yet.

This is one of the downsides to building small form factor rigs, when the socket goes EOL you are between a rock and a hard place when the board needs swapping.

If it was me the CPU is still worth good money, I would sell it and use the cash from that and the credit note to go with more recent gear.

pastymuncher said:

Wasn't the Gene m-ATX not itx? OCUK have none of either form factor anyway so it's a moot point. I can only find a few m-ATX Z97 boards in stock elsewhere:-
ASRock Z97M OC FORMULA at £116
Gigabyte Z97MX-GAMING 5 at £129
ASUS Z97M-PLUS at £107

Can't find any itx boards in stock at all. I think the Asus Maximus VII Impact was the best of the itx boards on Z97.

This is probably going to mean a forced upgrade for you unless you can find a board second hand. It's a shame because the 4790k is a excellent cpu that will be good for a long time yet.

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Thanks, will consider all of them, all still seem pretty pricey for an older socket.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking when I got the CPU! Thought I'd be set for up to 5 years on that bad boy.

Mrjobby said:

This is one of the downsides to building small form factor rigs, when the socket goes EOL you are between a rock and a hard place when the board needs swapping.

If it was me the CPU is still worth good money, I would sell it and use the cash from that and the credit note to go with more recent gear.

Click to expand...

What gear would you recommend? I'm not sure what the equivalent good CPU/Chipset combo is at the moment.

Quote deleted.

Thanks, seems a bit pricey for a second hand one, don't want another one crapping out on me, but without warranty. Will watch it though, maybe I can get it for cheap if he doesn't sell it.

The newer equivalent i7 to your 4790k is the 6700k plus you want a Z170 board so that you can overclock it and then DDR4 on top of that. The price of the 6700k alone is shocking!!

On the off chance I just had a look in the B grade section and there are a couple of Z97 M-atx boards in there. Just keep in mind that it could just be the bare board with no accessories at all plus only 90 days warranty.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte Z97MX-Gaming 5 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard= £90.00
• 1 x **B Grade** Asus TUF Z97 Gryphon Armor Edition Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard= £115.00

UberTiger said:

Thanks, seems a bit pricey for a second hand one, don't want another one crapping out on me, but without warranty. Will watch it though, maybe I can get it for cheap if he doesn't sell it.

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Usually I'd never buy a second hand mobo off ebay, etailer perhaps, but taking into account say:-

i) buying new equivalent Intel CPU/Mobo/RAM to get rig working.
ii) selling off the working parts you may not reuse.

I'd opt to buy a 2nd hand mobo and get rig up and running.

If you happen to find a mobo @ etailer which is used/b grade your pretty much forgoing a lengthy warranty. I would think a used/b grade mobo from an etailer has as much chance of crapping out 3mths+ down the line as a 2nd hand sourced from ebay.

If features which are on the Gene aren't needed plus lengthy warranty is a must, then I'd consider a new other board which is available.

For me dumping the i7 4790K/DDR3 to go i7 6700K/DDR4 would be uneconomical and not be giving be great "bang for my buck" in the context of the situation.

Asus Maximus VI Gene seem to be going for cheaper on auction. Z87 vs Z97 you don't lose anything significant on performance. As the board supports USB flashback if the firmware is too old you can update it via that without even CPU/RAM on mobo. Firmware 1504 onwards has Devil's Canyon support.

One on today, out of 58 selling feedback 1 negative which come across as buyer being a "wotsit". Looks in good nick, complete with accessories/box, got 3h left, sitting at ~£60 at present.

Hi Uber, I find myself in the same situation with my Maximus VII Gene (error code 76). Just wondering what you ended up doing?

I second the B Grade option listed above . got one or two things on a sweet deal. post up in CS and they might be able to give you more details about the item in question

They are long gone now and there are no Z87/Z97 boards in there at all right now.

kronos_100 said:

Hi Uber, I find myself in the same situation with my Maximus VII Gene (error code 76). Just wondering what you ended up doing?

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So err...this is embarrasing, my desktop is still in pieces! I've been working on my laptop the last few months.

I did look on ebay for used when I first made this thread, but couldn't find anything.

Will probably look into seeing what the cpu and board options are at the moment? I'm out of the loop on cpu tech these days

There have been quite a few board coming up in the MM lately with people moving to Ryzen.