Trying to Decide On A Z170 Series Board

[GamerMAD]

I finally managed to get my i7 6700K ordered. Now I need to decide on the motherboard. I do not want to spend a ridiculous amount, so no $500 Gigabyte G1s (maybe if I was doing a HEDT build I could justify it, but not now). I do intend to eventually try my hand at overclocking for the first time with this build, though not right away.

For what it is worth, this is a pure gaming rig. This is my first build, so I do not want to deal with CLCs or custom water loops. Maybe I would look into switching to CLCs in the future if I got really into overclocking. I do not plan on running SLI/Crossfire, but if I ever did it would probably only ever be in a dual GPU setup. This will be a Full Tower build, as I have rather large hands and do not want to be trying to struggle to maneuver in a mid tower case.

Component Summary:

• Case: Full Tower Corsair Graphite 780T
• CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15
• RAM: 16GB (2x 8Gb DIMMs)
• GPU: EVGA GTX 970 FTW+
• Storage Primary: Samsung 850 Pro
• Storage Secondary: Mechanical HDD
• Other PCI-E Cards: Sound Card?

I am software guy. Hardware, in particular motherboards, is not my thing. Here are my initial list of questions, though I am sure more will probably follow.

Questions:

1. What is the advantage of Alpine Ridge over the other controllers?
2. I do play some older games, do the onboard Creative chipsets I am seeing on some boards support EAX emulation via Creative's ALchemy or would I need to get a dedicated sound card (SoundBlaster Z) for that?
3. Are there any features/technologies that would affect my end user experience that I should consider the pros and cons of when deciding?

 

[Bearmann]

Not having much traction, here, are you? I'll try to get the ball rolling, though I am not a gamer.

1. My understanding is that Alpine Ridge is for Thunderbolt 3.0 which affords 40Gb/sec speeds, and/or for USB 3.1. The chip can support Thunderbolt 3.0 provided that enough PCIe lanes are assigned to it along with the necessary hardware. Most boards with this controller are only using it for USB 3.1. Thunderbolt 3.0 would be useful for those that daisy chain multiple monitors and/or peripherals together, those involved in video editing, those that use more than one 4K or 5K display simultaneously, and those who are coming from the MAC side who own peripherals that only attach with a Thunderbolt cable.

2. On Gigabytes GAZ170X-Gaming 7 board for example, it lists Creative® Sound Core3D™ Quad-Core Audio Processor and EAX Advanced HD 5.0. That's all I know.

3. I like to make sure that I have plenty of ports, USB 2, USB 3.0, USB 3.1, Display Port/HDMI. Some prefer Intel controllers for LAN and USB. Maybe the EUFI, Easy tune, other software that comes with the board.

 

[Spydermag68]

I just bought the gigabyte z170x-UD5. I was looking at gaming 7 but just could not justify the $60 more price tag for the creative audio since I do not game as much.

 

[Sheninat0r]

I just bought the gigabyte z170x-UD5. I was looking at gaming 7 but just could not justify the $60 more price tag for the creative audio since I do not game as much.

i was also debating between these two and ended up with the gaming 7. the ud5 also has an advantage in its dual intel nics, while the gaming 7 uses one intel and one killer (aka trash).

 

[Spydermag68]

The Dual Intel network connection is really nice. I looked at the specs and the $60 price difference was not worth it. If I was a bigger gamer I might of went for the gaming 7 and the better on-board sound card. It also has a few more ports than the UD5 that would not be used.

I am just waiting for my memory to arrive so I can finish the build.

 

[Bearmann]

You can pull your hair out trying to find out the differences in these motherboards! The manufacturers seem to purposely be as obscure as they can. I did recently find a nice comparison chart from ASUS, which I have linked below:

http://www.asus.com/microsite/best-100-series-motherboards/compare/

 

[Deders]

Avoid MSI for this generation if you want to overclock. People are having issues with not enough options in the bios.

 

[Beaner]

The Dual Intel network connection is really nice. I looked at the specs and the $60 price difference was not worth it. If I was a bigger gamer I might of went for the gaming 7 and the better on-board sound card. It also has a few more ports than the UD5 that would not be used.

I am just waiting for my memory to arrive so I can finish the build.

I'm looking at that board as well.
What memory did you go with and how much did you get?

 

[bgstcola]

Spyder, how is the UD5? I'm considering this myself (or the UD5-TH)

 

[Bearmann]

Spyder, how is the UD5? I'm considering this myself (or the UD5-TH)

Tweaktown has a detailed review of the UD5.

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

The UD5 just looks awesome with all of the features it has.

 

[Spydermag68]

I have my build ready to go. I am going to smoke test it tomorrow.