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ASUS Z170 Gaming MOBO vs Maximus VIII Hero?

Post Date: 2016-04-06
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Slopecop View Drop Down
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Posts: 9 		  Quote Slopecop Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: ASUS Z170 Gaming MOBO vs Maximus VIII Hero?
    Posted: 06 Apr 2016 at 8:07am
Is there a performance justification for choosing the Maximus VIII MOBO over the standard Z170 gaming?
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FrankW View Drop Down
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Posts: 2254 		  Quote FrankW Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 06 Apr 2016 at 8:28am
Hi Slopecop,

Motherboards are all about features and what you are going to do with your system. The best way to go about selecting a motherboard is to compare the two or three you are considering. If you don't care about overclocking or just want a low level overclock, then most any Z170 board will do that. If you want auto overclocking or want to push it to the max then you need a motherboard that has those features and adequate power. If you want three or more GPUs then you need a motherboard that has the PCIe slots to meet your requirements. You need to look at the I/O features and select what you need. Do you want dual BIOS or lots of fan connections? Do you want one or two M2 slots?

You can see there are a lot of things to think about. Most people pick based on cost or performance. I think your best approach is to set yourself a budget and look at boards that fit that budget. If you can't find one with the features you want in that budget range then you have a decision. Do you raise your budget or do you go without that/those features.

After you have an Idea of what motherboards you are interesting in, go to this site:    http://us.hardware.info/category/1/motherboards You can compare motherboards and see reviews.

Frank
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Slopecop View Drop Down
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Posts: 9 		  Quote Slopecop Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 06 Apr 2016 at 8:48am
Thanks Frank! At this point, I'm kind of shooting in the dark. I'm building a new gaming rig, but it's my first in YEARS! Here's my configuration as it sits now. If you can critique it with an experienced eye, I would sure welcome your input and expertise! I have a classic Klipsch 5.1 speaker setup which I need to drive, so wondered about how good on board audio really is. I always saw it in the same light as on-board graphics.

Digital Storm Velox (Config # 1395510)

$3,989.00
$3,989.00
Chassis
Chassis Model: Digital Storm Velox

Core Components
Processor: Intel Core i7 6700K 4.0GHz (Codename Skylake) (Unlocked CPU) (Quad Core)
Motherboard: ASUS MAXIMUS VIII HERO (Intel Z170 Chipset) (Up to 5x PCI-E Devices)
System Memory: 16GB DDR4 2666MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series
Power Supply: 850W EVGA SuperNOVA

Storage / Connectivity
Optical Drive: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x)
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD M.2 (512GB Samsung 950 PRO) (NVM Express) (Extreme Performance)
Storage Set 2: 1x Storage (1TB Western Digital - Black Edition)
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)

Graphics / Multimedia
Graphics Card(s): 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB (VR Ready)
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Zx (Includes Audio Control Module)

Digital Storm Engineering
Extreme Cooling: H20: HydroLux LITE: Integrated Cooling System (1x Graphics Card + CPU)
HydroLux Tubing Style: Flexible Tubing (Requires HydroLux Liquid Cooling System)
HydroLux Fluid Color: Blue Fluid (Requires HydroLux Liquid Cooling System)
Cable Management: Exotic Cable Management - Blue - (Cable Combs with Custom Color Sleeved Extension Cables)
Chassis Fans: Corsair LED Airflow Performance Edition (Blue) (Up to 6 Fans)
Internal Lighting: Digital Storm RGB LED Lighting System (Requires Thermal Management Control Board & Software)
Airflow Control: Digital Storm Thermal Management Control Board & Software

Digital Storm TwisterBoost Technology
Boost Processor: Stage 1: Overclock CPU - Up to 4.4GHz (Depends on Cooling and Motherboard)
Boost Graphics Card(s): Yes, Overclock the video card(s) as much as possible with complete stability

Software
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows CD)
Virus Protection: FREE: McAfee AntiVirus Plus (1 Year Service Activation Card) (Not Pre-installed) ($35 Value)

Accessories / Goodies

Customer Care
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 10-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty (3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement)
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Slopecop View Drop Down
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Posts: 9 		  Quote Slopecop Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 06 Apr 2016 at 8:51am
The other I was toying with is this one:
Digital Storm Velox (Config # 1395519)
1
$3,990.00
$3,990.00
Chassis
Chassis Model: Digital Storm Velox

Core Components
Processor: Intel Core i7 6700K 4.0GHz (Codename Skylake) (Unlocked CPU) (Quad Core)
Motherboard: ASUS MAXIMUS VIII HERO (Intel Z170 Chipset) (Up to 5x PCI-E Devices)
System Memory: 16GB DDR4 2666MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series
Power Supply: 1000W Corsair HX1000i (Digitally Controlled Power)

Storage / Connectivity
Optical Drive: Blu-Ray & DVD Writer/Reader (Burn + Play Blu-Ray & DVDs) (12x BD-R)
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD (512GB Samsung 850 PRO)
Storage Set 2: 1x Storage (1TB Western Digital - Black Edition)
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)

Graphics / Multimedia
Graphics Card(s): 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB (VR Ready)
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Zx (Includes Audio Control Module)

Digital Storm Engineering
Extreme Cooling: H20: HydroLux LITE: Integrated Cooling System (1x Graphics Card + CPU)
HydroLux Tubing Style: Flexible Tubing (Requires HydroLux Liquid Cooling System)
HydroLux Fluid Color: Blue Fluid (Requires HydroLux Liquid Cooling System)
Cable Management: Exotic Cable Management - Blue - (Cable Combs with Custom Color Sleeved Extension Cables)
Chassis Fans: Corsair LED Airflow Performance Edition (Blue) (Up to 6 Fans)
Internal Lighting: Digital Storm RGB LED Lighting System (Requires Thermal Management Control Board & Software)
Airflow Control: Digital Storm Thermal Management Control Board & Software

Digital Storm TwisterBoost Technology
Boost Processor: Standard Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 Automatic Overclocking

Software
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows CD)
Virus Protection: FREE: McAfee AntiVirus Plus (1 Year Service Activation Card) (Not Pre-installed) ($35 Value)

Accessories / Goodies

Customer Care
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 10-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty (3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement)
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bprat22 View Drop Down
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Posts: 20391 		  Quote bprat22 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 06 Apr 2016 at 9:04am
Both builds look great.  If you plan on sticking to the single 980 ti then the 850 watt psu is all you need.  If you want the option to add another 980ti in sli, then stay with the 1000watt in the second build.

The Pro Gaming mobo is all you might  need, unless you want the added looks of the board or, like Frank said, the ability to tweak the overclock yourself.  The Hero allows to use of the KeyBot for custom keyboard features and I believe it allows the use of an Overclock Panel for easier overclocking.   The Hero also has the seperate buttons like Start, Reset, etc for on the board control.  If you don't want to mess with overclocking then this would all be useless to you.

Whether you get the separate audio card is dependent on your sound system..  Onboard audio is very good nowadays.

Big%20Smile
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Slopecop View Drop Down
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Posts: 9 		  Quote Slopecop Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 06 Apr 2016 at 9:31am
Thank you for that feedback. I'd be lying if I ignored the "Looks cool" geek factor, but if I can spend that somewhere else and get a performance boost, I'll trade bling for zing. Any opinion on the choice of a 850 Pro vs 950 Pro SSD? Am I paying an extra $168 for something I'll never notice?
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bprat22 View Drop Down
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Posts: 20391 		  Quote bprat22 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 06 Apr 2016 at 11:01am
The 950 will give you many times the read/write performance of the 850, it's interface not bottle-necked by the SATA bus.   The new m.2 is a large step up in performance with its larger bandwidth, lower latency, smaller footprint in the case, etc.

Whether its worth the extra money is up to you, but if you can, than go for it.  Conventional  SSD are plenty fast, but M.2 is real nice.
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FrankW View Drop Down
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Posts: 2254 		  Quote FrankW Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 06 Apr 2016 at 2:18pm
I had a 850 Pro 256Gb and I now have a 512Gb 950 Pro. I much prefer the 950 Pro. The 951 512Gb is a sweet spot in performance. If you can afford it, go with the 950 Pro 512Gb.

Frank
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bprat22 View Drop Down
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Posts: 20391 		  Quote bprat22 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 06 Apr 2016 at 2:23pm
Hi Frank... If you don't mind me asking, what mobo do you have now?    Curious what your research led you to.
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FrankW View Drop Down
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Posts: 2254 		  Quote FrankW Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 06 Apr 2016 at 6:06pm
Hi bprat22,

This is what I have now.

1. MSI XPower Titanium motherboard.
2. 3200 memory
3. 4.6 OC
4. MSI 980 GPU
5. i7 6700K
6. Samsung 512Gb 950 M2

Frank

Edited by FrankW - 07 Apr 2016 at 4:24am
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bprat22 View Drop Down
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Posts: 20391 		  Quote bprat22 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 07 Apr 2016 at 2:33am
Nice.

Ever since I researched for a new card and went with MSI, I've looked at them for other products.   

Enjoy.
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