Which Motherboard for a 4770k + OC Noobie?

nick1988

nick1988

nick1988

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Joined
31 May 2005
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328
Location
Surrey
Hi Guys,

I am in the process of building a new PC and really stumped on what motherboard to go for.

I have not done any overclocking before but will be with this new setup. Price is not too much of an issue if it is worth it, but don't want to just spend for the sake of it. Everything will be running on Air for the first month or two while I plan/build a custom loop.

I'm only going to run a single gtx780 however would also quite like to add a sound card into one of the expansion slots, Xonar Essence or Phoebus.

The three I'm deciding on are:

Gigabyte Z87X-OC: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-434-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2574

(Wouldn't be able to use the 1x slot for a sound card I guess)

Gigabyte Z87X-UD5H: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-433-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2574

Asus Z87 MAXIMUS VI FORMULA: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-562-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2574

The layouts of the formula and UD5 I think are better for what I want (Space to use the 1x slot) but I have only heard good things about the OC board. Is the Asus worth the extra money considering as a first time overclocker I probably won't use anywhere near all of the features it offers (no OC plans out of the ordinary) and also seeing as the overclocking potential seems to be heavily chip dependent with Haswell will a more expensive board really make that much of a difference?

Which would you guys go for, also open to other suggestions?

Thanks for the help!

Nick
 
For the price, the Z87X-OC is a cracking board. Got the formula here and tbh it's a bit overkill for my needs. Massive amount of bios options, many of which ill never likely need/use. Great looking board though.
 
+1 for the Z87X-OC. The Force OC is massive overkill. The thing with Haswell is that you're much more likely to be limited by the thermals and silicon lottery on your CPU than you are from your motherboard. Even basic Z87 boards clock very well. The Z87X-OC offers decent features and is priced very well.
 
shadow_boxer said:
+1 for the Z87X-OC. The Force OC is massive overkill. The thing with Haswell is that you're much more likely to be limited by the thermals and silicon lottery on your CPU than you are from your motherboard. Even basic Z87 boards clock very well. The Z87X-OC offers decent features and is priced very well.
Click to expand...

+1, very happy with my OC board - must change my sig Lol

Mark
 
Thanks a lot for the replies guys very much appreciate it!

Think the OC Force is too much for my needs/ability. The OC is looking more and more like the winner.

Thanks again!
 
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