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Help with new motherboard choice

post #1 of 8
5/23/12 at 9:07am
Thread Starter 
Hey guys. I'm looking to make the move to the Z77 platform. My choices are between the Asus Z77 Sabertooth and the Asrock Z77 Extreme 6 board. I understand the Asrock board is quite a bit cheaper but I would go for the Asus board in a snap if it was that much better.

Also I was wondering how much system benchmarks such as PCMark 7 really matter? I compared the scores between these two boards and the Asrock board seemed to score consistently higher. Granted they were done by two different review sites (Tweaktown and Hi-tech Legion) so I'm not too sure how valid the comparison is.

I do not do much overclocking so capability in that department is not of much concern.

Any input is appreciated. Thanks!
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post #2 of 8
5/23/12 at 9:14am

I would say go with the ASRock board. It's got better onboard audio Realteak ALC898 vs the ASUS mobo's ALC892. As far as other differences go (except maybe OC capabilities), I don't think it justifies the higher price, especially since you said you don't plan on overclocking much.

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post #3 of 8
5/23/12 at 9:21am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by auroraborealis View Post

I would say go with the ASRock board. It's got better onboard audio Realteak ALC898 vs the ASUS mobo's ALC892. As far as other differences go (except maybe OC capabilities), I don't think it justifies the higher price, especially since you said you don't plan on overclocking much.

Cool thanks, although I probably won't be making much use of onboard audio since I use a dedicated soundcard. redface.gif

Is there any difference Intel and Broadcom LAN? I have heard people say that Intel is better than Realtek but I was never exactly clear why. redface.gif
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post #4 of 8
5/23/12 at 9:28am
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Both are quality boards ... it is hard to choose a clear winner ... especially seems you wont be overclocking ..

the 5 year warranty that Asus offers always a nice thing to have ... and the board looks good ...

The Asrock has a higher memory support (if you will be benching or going for some extreme performance memory)


As for the Ethernet port ... there are no real differences as far as I know ...
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post #5 of 8
5/23/12 at 9:31am

Quote:
Originally Posted by albatross_ View Post

Is there any difference Intel and Broadcom LAN? I have heard people say that Intel is better than Realtek but I was never exactly clear why. redface.gif

 

You probably will never notice a difference as far as LAN chips go. In the vast majority of cases, if it works, it works. They both have gigabit internet capability, so you'll be 100% fine with either one.

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post #6 of 8
5/23/12 at 10:06am
Thread Starter 
Hmm so far it seems that there's nothing much to differentiate the boards if OC capability is not considered. So if I were to throw OCing in the mix the Asus would be a better board?
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post #7 of 8
5/23/12 at 10:26am

Quote:
Originally Posted by albatross_ View Post

Hmm so far it seems that there's nothing much to differentiate the boards if OC capability is not considered. So if I were to throw OCing in the mix the Asus would be a better board?

 

ASRock boards tend to overclock pretty well too, so while the Asus might OC somewhat better, I don't think it would be worth the price difference, at least it wouldn't be for me. That kind of difference is subjective, though, depending on the priorities of the buyer.

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post #8 of 8
5/24/12 at 9:21am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for all the responses so far. I have also heard that ASRock boards boot faster than Asus boards so I think I will probably go for the Extreme 6. biggrin.gif

One last thing, how important are system benchmarks across motherboards really? Do these numbers really matter on a real world basis?
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