H81 vs Z97 - Big difference when gaming?

[Spanjex]

My Z97 mobo has died.

Finding a replacement mobo that has a LGA 1150 is difficult except for ones that have the H81 chip.

There's just a few 'new' Z97 mobos available but they're 3 times the price!
I can try and get a second-hand one from eBay instead but would rather buy a new mobo.

What I'd like to know is will there be a noticable difference in gaming performance between the two chips?

I can see the Z97 has more features such as overclocking but I'm not interested in that anymore.
I also see the H81 supports RAM only up to 1600Mhz whereas the Z97 supports faster speeds. My RAM is 2400Mhz so it will be downgraded to 1600Mhz using a H81 mobo, but will this affect gaming performance?

In short, will I notice a big drop in FPS if I use the H81 instead of the Z97 chip?
Should I buy a new H81 mobo or a second-hand Z97 one?

I play games such as Assassin's Creed Odyssey, my CPU is an i5-4460 and the GC is a GTX1050Ti if that helps.

Thanks very much and hope you can help.

 

[tamzzy]

Z97 supports CPU and ram overclocking. That's the main difference really.
(Also less pcie lanes, usb3, sata3 ports and only supports 2 sticks of ram and no dual GPU capability)
As you have a locked CPU, the difference is likely minimal, but you may find your gaming experience slightly less smooth, as faster ram increases the minimum FPS (AVG FPS is largely the same though)

 

[Spanjex]

Z97 supports CPU and ram overclocking. That's the main difference really.
(Also less pcie lanes, usb3, sata3 ports and only supports 2 sticks of ram and no dual GPU capability)
As you have a locked CPU, the difference is likely minimal, but you may find your gaming experience slightly less smooth, as faster ram increases the minimum FPS (AVG FPS is largely the same though)

Thank you very much for your help, I really appreciate this.

What you've said about the RAM is interesting. It's not the answer I was hoping for though!
I wish it didn't make a difference, but it looks like I will have to source a second-hand Z97 mobo and send the new H81 back.

If using 2400Mhz of RAM instead of 1600Mhz gets a few more FPS out of a game then that might make all the difference. Unfortunately I'll have to wait a few more days to hopefully source a Z97 mobo. I like to crank up all the settings as much as I can!

Thanks again.

 

[tamzzy]

Why don't you try the h81 board out first and see if the performance is acceptable to you? Z97 is a dead end platform, there's no point spending a pretty penny for it.
As above, the difference (albeit negatively impacted) is likely going to be minimal...

 

[Spanjex]

Okay, may do as it's minimal.

Unfortunately I won't be able to compare because the graphics card is brand new and haven't used it on my old Z97.
I won't buy a new Z97 anyway but should be able to get a second-hand Z97 for the same price as new H81 though.

My Z97 works fine when it wants to switch itself on and that's the problem!
However, through my anger because of not being able to switch it back on after installing the new GC, I accidentally spilt a bit of coolant on it and now I think it's well and truly banjaxed.....sigh.

Thanks again.