Can't decide on a z270 board

<Dubz> · 4 Mar 2017 at 15:21

I looking to spend around 150-160 on the board but i can't decide, i know overall there isn't much in it.

I've been reading reviews on 3 - 4 boards all morning..

Asus rog strix-z270f
MSI-z270 gaming pro carbon
Gigabyte-ga-z270x ultra gaming
or maybe
Gigabyte-aorus-ga-z270x-gaming-k5

II like the looks and style of the MSI and the software looks very good along with 3.1 on most usb,(although i hear most usb 3 on z270 are actually 3.1?) Shame the Heat shield for the M.2 doesn't actually work.

The gigabyte board look also very tempting with the fan headers which can can take and fan / pump through bios adjustment, also the ability to reconfigure the RGB outputs, i really don't yet so what the benifit of the K5 is over the Ultra.

Asus is kind of there just on rep and i've had strix gfx card before which were great cards.

I just don't know.

Ryzen hasn't wow'ed me and i'm not sure if i wan't to wait to see if bios / drivers changes will help or for the 6 / 4 core variants show up.

stulid · 4 Mar 2017 at 16:01

Here is a side by side of the K5 vs Ultra gaming - http://www.gigabyte.com/Comparison/Result/2?pids=6095,6096

So I see a second m.2 slot, Creative X-fi emulation and a few other little differences in number of SATA express and USB etc.

But the K5 also has 4yr vs 3yr warranty.

<Dubz> · 5 Mar 2017 at 01:40

thanks, not seeing anything i would really use there so went with the Ultra.

Hopefully 7700k, The Gigabyte Ultra and 16gb Kingston Hyper x Predator should be a good upgrade to my 2500k! (bottleneck of my 1070).

pieman109 · 8 Mar 2017 at 09:03

I've been using an Asus Z270 TUF mk. 2, for good few weeks now. Cost £143 from here a with a 7600K and 16gb Kingston Fury 2400mhz ram. The same day I got it set up, I did a bit of overclocking and within about 30mins I was sitting at 5ghz at stock volts. That was using the Asus(R) Intel extreme tuning utility which finally took the 7600K to 5.2ghz after which, the Vcore reqd to get higher was a bit extreme, so I'm calling 5.2ghz the max on this combo (though if you're happy to have a real tweak in the bios it might go a bit higher, for me, it ain't worth it as I run virtually at stock and only overclock if I have too).
The mobo itself is quite plain to look at (if thats important to you) but has a nice bios to fiddle with and has been totally stable since I've had it.

orbitalwalsh · 8 Mar 2017 at 10:37

Morning, I have both the Ultra Gaming and Strix Z270. used the auto OC on both to see what i got with an i5 7600k and both landed 4.8Gh. Saw the Strix was using more voltage 1.36v 1.308v and would not allow C-States to be active , were as the Ultra did which is a handle little feature .

I know you will be running a 7700k and most likely be maunally overclocking but worth checking out the boards Auto OC .

I now run the Strix @4.9Ghz with 1.265v but no C States so hoping i can tweak the Ultra to either 4.9 at its ultra auto tuned Volt and keep the C-State enabled or try to lower the Voltage a bit

<Dubz> · 14 Mar 2017 at 19:56

Thanks for the reply's systems up running, i'm still using my 6 year old air cooler at the moment so i may need to change that, idle around 30c, BF1 about 62-65 @ 4.7, basic tuner OC.

What's your temps like?

Classic BLUUUU (cos i can't change cooler / case colour

)

Doug2507 · 15 Mar 2017 at 07:51

Just go for whatever has the best set of features and aesthetically pleasing for your build.

orbitalwalsh · 15 Mar 2017 at 13:05

<De@thW!sh> said:
Thanks for the reply's systems up running, i'm still using my 6 year old air cooler at the moment so i may need to change that, idle around 30c, BF1 about 62-65 @ 4.7, basic tuner OC.

What's your temps like?

Classic BLUUUU (cos i can't change cooler / case colour )

looking good

I get about 66c using default OC @ 4.8 with 1.308v running through it, but is underwater in the pic above . Still waiting for De-lid tool

Psycho Sonny · 16 Mar 2017 at 09:06

MSI are the only ones that offer 4K @ 30fps through HDMI.

All other manufacturers it's 4K @ 24fps through HDMI.

Just in case you ever want to use it as a HTPC on a 4K tv.

<Dubz> · 22 Mar 2017 at 18:45

Psycho Sonny said:
MSI are the only ones that offer 4K @ 30fps through HDMI.

All other manufacturers it's 4K @ 24fps through HDMI.

Just in case you ever want to use it as a HTPC on a 4K tv.

Wut?

My old cooler is doing okay then, 4.8 and around 65-70c on bf1, can be a little noisy at that temp though.