i7-4790K: looking for a very good MB

[rxnnxs]

Hello dear hardware enthusiasts.
a while ago a lightning struck our house.
my mainboard has some serious problems since then and i am going to buy a new one.
My actual board is an Asus Z97-A Mainboard Socket 1150.
I did not like the behavior when it was in "top" condition, namely for this reasons:
- the onboard soundchip is from realtek. i had this realtek chip in the last 3 mainboards and while it seems that there are not many alternatives i ask you: are/is there an alternative, and if not, is there a board still without a soundchip on board?
the chip is not that bad, but it is not good either..
i do not want to have any sound problems while playing supcom..
- the bios is a mess. i do not know about the new bios setups and how others look like, but iwant it simple and clean and not an tweak turbo super setting with an "Pro" overclocking crap. yes, i would like to overclock, but without any chinese gimmick looking super menu..
- the onboard network card is behaving odd for me. when i start up the system, it often is not even disconnected and i have to wait for a while. also sometimes while in game (supcom) i got disconnected (i guess the lan/nw card/chip just wants to sleep even if ineed the connection...
- the energy saving stuff is somehow not really working seamless
- the boot up super speed asus fast boot stuff is even forcing me to reboot twice as often because the dual system with linux is most of the time problematic because the mouse and keyboard are recognized differently so they just function for one OS but not for the other.. the usb ports are not correct initialized.. therefore, another "normal"reboot has to be done..

ok, to sum it up:
i am looking for a good, robust, just doing what it has to do mainboard where the i7-4790K is working flawless with and where ideally the capacitors also are kept cool by the cpu top blower.

i hope you have some alternatives for me.

[da_monstr]

ASUS has some really good audio solutions on their mobos, especially their ROG series (if you don't find them overpriced)
If you are looking for better audio, you should buy a USB DAC and use that instead.
But pretty much all Z97 boards are as a rule of thumb "not bad", it's just about extra features.

Tom's Hardware made a pretty good comparison review of Z97 boards:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ent ... ,3893.html

[IceDreamer]

ASUS make the best boards on the market mate. BIOS are totally solid, they have the best components and specs, great designs aesthetically. As for audio, the Realtek chips are fine unless you have REALLY good audio equipment. Unless you have say, Sennheiser HD600s or better, it's your equipment, not the chip, that's going to make the bigger difference. As for alternatives if you really want, Realtek make 99.9% of motherboard audio these days. Your only alternatives are a USB DAC or a PCI sound card. I'd recommend the latter, again, by ASUS if you can afford it.

Everything here depends on your budget of course. Money no object, get a ROG Maximus edition board or a Sabretooth series one. Cheaper? Well... Shop around, take a look at MSI and Gigabyte, but don't get your hopes up for anything much better than what you've been using.

[SeraphimLeftNut]

I would just like to stay that my last ASUS board has been a total nightmare with the 4790k processor (and I did get it replaced by the manufacturer once). PCIe would switch from x16 to x8 depending on some random bios settings. The power saving options totally kill everything. Never getting asus again.

[rxnnxs]

Thank you all for your fast and quick response.
I know ASUS has good quality but is overpriced. and you are mostly right about the asus quality.
BUT your last two posts totally fit also for me.
i had a gigabyte and was very happy with it. that means, i did not recognize it because it went so smooth.
briang, can you tell me what you are using?
i am going to take a gigabyte, just going to look for a very good one from them.

but i also look into the ROG series.
i was looking at some pci soundcards and was disappointed about soundblaster. asus also makes fancy addidtions that are unnecessary like the "metal" plate on top of the chip.
or soundblaster with a peep hole. OMG, exactly because of this, i did not buy that. they do not even know how they can make that stuff better, but to keep the price up, they wrap some nasty looking plastic crap around it.
and plugging the stuff into a USB port has its pro and cons.
i will wait for the board and than i decide about the sound..

[manread]

I use a gigabyte z97-x gaming 7 and i havent had a problem with it. Got it from amazon for ~£130

[The Mak]

I have a ASRock Z87 Extreme9/ac LGA 1150 Intel Z87 for my i7-4790K. I cannot really recommend the board as the onboard wired network card just died one day (one port and then the next). Luckily it has an onboard wifi so I got around that lost. Plus I have a better network card sitting in a pile somewhere, just have not been bothered to plug it in.

The board also has the Realtek onboard sound, which I am in agreement with you that I want a better quality separate card. I tried a Sound Blaster card years ago, but it did not work out, so I never looked again.

[rxnnxs]

Well well, i took the pretty price friendly Gigabyte G1.SNIPER Z97 with a soundblaster on board..
i am looking forward assembling my system again.. from ground zero so to speak..
argh, that is hard work to do...

[DarkTemplar]

With regards to sound quality specifically, an external DAC is a good option. Personally, I've had great experience with my Asus XONAR STX. It has a dedicated headphone amp with manual gain selection, swappable op-amps, and insulation to protect from the noise generated from the many things on your motherboard. Onboard sound could never touch this level of quality. Admittedly, it is an expensive option, but if you have a nice set of headphones (Sennheiser, Audio-technica, Beyerdynamic, etc) it is a necessity.

All that being said, maybe everything I've just said is overkill to achieve "not having sound problems in sup com", but I also listen to a lot of music and appreciate the fidelity this sound card brings to the table. Plus not having that soft buzzing noise when everything is quiet is something I can't put a price tag on.

[rxnnxs]

oh yes, that sounds (reads) interesting.
i was reading about the

and found from Carlos at Amazon about the Asus Essence STX II Soundcard
this list where he tested the card with and found it VERY GOOD.

Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue
Amber Rubarth - Sessions From the 17th Ward
Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon
Hoft Ensemble - Quiet Winter Nights
Victor Wooden - A Show Of Hands
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
Yello - Essential
Genesis - Foxtrott
Keith Jarrett - The Köln Concert
Natalie Merchant - Tigerlily

thank you all for your input, now i got the board already and have to find the time when to screw two pcs into one very good one.. then i am testing and then i am reporting..

p.s.: me myself would favorite the following artists for checking the sound :
-assemblage 23 - bruise, especially Over & Out and next song: The Noise inside my head (with good hardware, how deep does the base go? ) (or as one old song: OLD -> watch my musicvid
-ASP Horror Vacui (Disc 1 and 2) while listening to this (Stille der Nacht and Biotopia) i hear that the on-board soundcard from the asus MB is danaged because.. i dunno.. the caps or whatever are damaged by the lightning..
-Nickelback, All the right reasons..
-AND ONE tanzomat
just to give you some new impressions if not already known and old

p.s.2:
i hope i am not the only one who hears those shutters in music and sound when watching vids (and listening) to dvds.
do you know what i mean? it is poor coded or whatever but there is always a stuttering inside every music when a tone is hold for some seconds..