Looking for Z97 motherboard with PCI, can you give me your opinion?

[Fassou]

@Espinetenbolas:

By the way, you don't need either of the two boards because if you're not going to do OC (which is the only thing you've made clear) there's no need to buy a board from the Z series... it's throwing away money that you could save or invest in a micro or more RAM that never hurts but well.

[Plok]

@Espinetenbolas:

or rather the approach is wrong… that's why I had only made a few observations and I'm not going to recommend any board to you.

It's like going to a car dealership and asking the salesman for a vehicle to get around Venice... Ok, what you want is a boat :facepalm:

Well, I understand that your job is to advise on the most suitable PB based on the use and the size of the wallet and that I get out of those parameters because the whim factor on what I want to have weighs quite heavily on me (in Venice perhaps I would look for a cool amphibious vehicle like the one in the photo) so I have no choice but to apologize and thank you for the time you dedicated.

[whoololon]

Edited.

[Plok]

Well, once I solved the problem with my WiFi, I go back to the PB issue.

I am quite determined to go for the ASUS Z170-A (the only thing I don't know is if it will have a manual and bios in Spanish).

But I see that for these LGA-1151 motherboards, there is no possibility of putting a 4th or 5th generation micro, only 6th.

I am looking at 2 micros: the i7-6700 of 65W and the i5-6600 also of 65W at 3,4 GHz. Not the K which is for OC and sucks 95W nor the T which only consumes 35W but at 2,8 GHz.

The i7 seems very expensive to me at 339 € at PCComp and the i5 more affordable at 216 € at PCComp.

Main difference 4 against 8 threads and 3,6 against 4 GHz and in the graph 50 Hz more.

I am not going to do OC. What do you think?

[krampak]

Well, it's not much of a secret, if you're not going to do OC and you need the highest possible power (I think you haven't mentioned yet what you use the PC for) the fastest one your wallet allows... :sisi:

And about the BIOS in Spanish, I don't know what to tell you... 80% of the words in the BIOS are technical terms in English even though it's in Spanish, leaving aside the fact that the explanations given for the BIOS options leave much to be desired in any language.

[Espinetenbolas]

Punishments:

• All the motherboards translate the BIOS into several languages but the translation is garbage if you go out of English (they use an automatic program like Google Translate :facepalm: ).

• The user manuals for the motherboard are all in English, or in Chinese or circumstantially you find German and Japanese in PDF but never in Spanish or printed. There is also usually a multilingual manual but it is only for quick guidance (like assembling the motherboard and little more)

• LGA-1151… well yes, it is another socket and it is not compatible with previous generations... it is the newest but more expensive.

[Plok]

@krampak:

Well, it's not much of a secret, if you're not going to do OC and you need the highest possible power (I don't think you've mentioned yet what you use the PC for) the fastest one your wallet allows... :sisi:

And about the BIOS in Spanish, I don't know what to tell you... 80% of the BIOS words are technical terms in English even if it's in Spanish, leaving aside the fact that the explanations given for the BIOS options leave much to be desired in any language.

Krampak, I'm going to give it a general use, I don't think I'll use it for gaming, but I want to have a good beast. Anyway, I'm increasingly inclined to think that the micro will be an i5-6600, because the i7 is €110 more expensive and I think that's excessive.

Regarding the BIOS language, I also accept that English is pretty understandable, but not the manual.

@Espinetenbolas:

Clarifications:

• All motherboards translate the BIOS into several languages but the translation is garbage if you go outside of English (they use an automatic program like Google Translate :facepalm: ).

• The user manuals for the motherboard are all in English, or in Chinese or occasionally you find German and Japanese in PDF but never in Spanish or printed. They also usually come with a multilingual manual but it's only for quick reference (like how to assemble the motherboard and little more)

• LGA-1151... well, yes, it's another socket and it's not compatible with previous generations... it's the newest but more expensive.

Espinete, I really hate a 1 cm manual in English, I can't handle it and the multilingual booklet is a mess. I think it's a bad practice by ASUS, but of course, this seems like a tough choice, either I want this PB and deal with a thick manual in English again or I have to look for another story, because after the time spent searching, I don't think one exists, because the other alternative is the Gigabyte Z97 X Gam7 (which maybe doesn't have the manual in Spanish either) and I think I should take a step forward.

[Espinetenbolas]

@Plok:

Espinete, I'm really annoyed by a 1 cm manual in English, I can't handle it and the multilingual leaflet is a mess. I think it's a bad practice by ASUS, but of course, this seems like lentils, or I want this PB and I have to deal with a thick book in English again or I would have to look for another story, which after the time spent searching, I don't think exists, because the other alternative is the Gigabyte Z97 X Gam7 (which maybe doesn't have the manual in Spanish) and I think I should take a step forward.

I'm going to be more specific… NONE comes with the manual in Spanish except for the QUICK START GUIDE-LEAFLET that is usually in several languages... it's a matter of cost... that's why the bios are translated automatically but with a manual it costs a lot more and it would be ridiculous.

In fact, if you want to laugh for a while, download a manual in supposed Spanish from the ANTEC website, which is not unknown, and you'll see.

Hire a translator or interpreter?... When you have programs that do it for free :facepalm:

Besides, if no one reads the manual :mute:

[whoololon]

Look, I told myself I wouldn't participate in this thread anymore... :wall:

Between the ASUS Z170-A and the GIGABYTE Z97X GAM 7.

Being practical (at least as practical as one can be while maintaining a port whose bandwidth is far below current standards and for which any use that could be made of it has more current alternatives, either via PCI-e or via USB); I would skip the GB (breaking my reputation as a "fanboy") and choose the Asus; for a very simple reason: when we connect a second graphics card (which today is rare the one that doesn't occupy a double slot and deserves to be called that) we will lose access to the PCI socket.

As pointed out above, the thing with the "foreign" manual is better considered peccata minuta: the connections come with diagrams and the configurations (those that aren't in AUTO) are based on technical terms that, even with a good manual in Spanish, would result in barely a determiner, a noun, and a verb in that language.

And while we're at it, as a processor I would recommend an i5-4690K (since we have OC capability...) If we're going to use an integrated one, it's worth remembering that the micro will get hotter, so a good heatsink (either liquid cooling or air) is essential. We can keep the stock heatsink at the bottom of a drawer.

PD: The i5-6600 is LGA 1151, while both Asus Z170-A and GigaByte Z97X-Gaming 7 are LGA 1150.

Regards.

[Plok]

With the help of your comments, it can be said that at this point, I have completely ruled out the Gigabyte, that is, the Z97 (LGA1150) to focus on the Z170 (LGA1151).

I have 2 candidates: The Asus Z170-A and the ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming, almost identical.

What attracted me to the first one was the fact that it has 7 PCI slots, one of them a historical PCI. The one that can be sacrificed under the dual-width graphics card is a PCIEx1. The tower only has 2 USB 3.0. I would have useful 1 PCI, 2 PCIEx1 and 3 PCIEx16.

Of the second, with 6 PCI slots (it doesn't have a historical PCI) what attracts me more is the rear tower with 4 USB 3.0, although I don't know if it is more advantageous to have these 4 USBs on the tower and 2 internal ones on the board, or like the Z170-A, 2 USB 3.0 on the tower and 4 internal ones.
This one doesn't sacrifice PCI slots under the graphics card, it would have useful 3 PCIEx1 and 3 PCIEx16.

Both motherboards have a very similar price, when not the same, currently about 152 €.

Except for these details mentioned, I don't see significant differences that make one stand out from the other. I have compared the specifications of one and the other and they are minimal things, although I wouldn't know how to value them.

As for the Micro, my preferred one is the i5-6600 of 65W - 3.6 Ghz, for about 216 € since the i7-6700 - 4GHz goes up 110€ more.

@whoololon:

Look that I told myself that I wouldn't participate more in this thread… :wall:

And since we're at it, as a processor I would recommend an i5-4690K (since we have OC capacity...)

PD: The i5-6600 is LGA 1151, while both Asus Z170-A and GigaByte Z97X-Gaming 7 are LGA 1150.

Greetings.

Will I not drink from this water? :wall:

Whoololon, the LGA1151 doesn't support 4th generation micros like the i5-4690K.

The Z97X Gaming7 is LGA1150, but the ASUS Z170-A is LGA1151.

[whoololon]

Indeed, my mistake: Z97 is 1150 and Z170 is 1151.

On the other hand, the lapsus makes it clear that the recommended the i5-4690K thinking of a Z97, unless you want to understand something else.

A Z170 configuration is frugal, efficient and perfect for a multipurpose environment, without discrete graphics and without a gamer orientation. :facepalm:

Good luck.