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ASUS Motherboards Question

Post Date: 2013-10-15
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sbradfor View Drop Down
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Posts: 118 		  Quote sbradfor Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: ASUS Motherboards Question
    Posted: 15 Oct 2013 at 7:34pm
I'm getting ready to buy a new system from DS (my second) and have been researching motherboards. I'm pretty set on two right now, the ASUS Z87 Expert or the Z87 Dual/Quad. I don't know if I will ever care about Thunderbolt (I don't currently have a need) but I do like the new a/c networking standard that the quad supports (the only other board that does is the even more expensive Extreme).

I'm planning on using my new system primarily to play games (a lot of FPS stuff) but I also do some video editing on rare occasions and do a lot of photography on my PC.

I was leaning toward the Z87 Expert due to it having most of the features of the quad but at a lower price. What I'd like to know is do you think it is worth the ~$125 for the a/c networking (which would be nice to be future proof, and my current router supports it).

Thanks.

Shannon
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bprat22 View Drop Down
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Posts: 20391 		  Quote bprat22 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 16 Oct 2013 at 7:32am
Really tough to say.  While 802.11 ac does have the Potential to be a lot faster in the future, its unknown when the technology will be ready and if the rest of the Industry follows along. They probably will.   2014 is mentioned as when some of the hardware will be launched, but from what I've see, it will be expensive and , for the home, not as fast as hyped but still a lot  faster than /n for example.  .  Definitely an individual decision whether to spend the money now in hopes of using it or waiting for your next upgrade in 3-5 years. 
 
Same with Thunderbolt...  Expert mobo has TB and Deluxe Quad has TB2 for twice the speed, but depends on your future buying.   If you think a 4k monitor or two are in your future, then the TB 2 might be worth it for its 2x transfer rate over TB 1. 
 
In my opinion, a typical gamer using a typical 1920x1080 monitor and not needing a mega external storage speed, will not need TB or network ac, but can't see into the future. Hahaha     If only. Big%20Smile
 
Good Luck. Big%20Smile
 
 


Edited by bprat22 - 16 Oct 2013 at 7:42am
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sbradfor View Drop Down
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Posts: 118 		  Quote sbradfor Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 16 Oct 2013 at 7:40am
Yeah, that is kind of what I thought as well. Basically, spend the extra $$ and get possibly more future proof, but that could all end up a waste too.

Thanks for the comments.
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bprat22 View Drop Down
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Posts: 20391 		  Quote bprat22 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 16 Oct 2013 at 7:44am
My pleasure.  Big%20Smile
 
Trying to future-proof can be expensive.    This is when a crystal ball would come in handy.  Hahaha
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fstcvc View Drop Down
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Posts: 2551 		  Quote fstcvc Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 16 Oct 2013 at 8:49am
Depending in your budget, if the computer is mainly being used for gaming then put more money towards the GPU.

Thunderbolt is used for more than video output - it's also for data output to external devices (storage and break out boxes). Unless you're in the audio or video industry, probably not much use for TB none the less TB2. And actually it's DisplayPort technology that pulls video through this port - they just decided to make it the same port. Pretty much most modern GPUs are using DisplayPort already so you'll already have 4k capability covered just by getting a good GPU.

Wireless 802.11ac is just starting to pick up speed but unless you need to transfer large files from system to system, you probably won't use it's full potential much. Majority of ISP's don't provide enough d/l or u/l speed to bottleneck 802.11n - unless you live in GoogleFiber country!

Edited by fstcvc - 16 Oct 2013 at 8:51am
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sbradfor View Drop Down
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Posts: 118 		  Quote sbradfor Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 16 Oct 2013 at 11:52am
I wish I had google fiber!

Thanks for the input!
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fstcvc View Drop Down
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Posts: 2551 		  Quote fstcvc Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 16 Oct 2013 at 1:25pm
I wish I could get GoogleFiber as well - who wouldn't enjoy 1Gb u/d!
HailStorm II
i7 4770K @ 4.5GHz
Asus Maximus VI Extreme
16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum
3xSLI EVGA SuperClocked GTX TITAN
Samsung 840Pro SSD 256GB+512GB
HydroLux+XSPC CPU/MoBo/GPU Liquid Cooling
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