Two mATX boards, which to chose?

[fredtrix]

I'm going to build a small but yet powerful Gaming/LAN PC in the mATX size and I got some questions about it. The plan is to have one graphics card and a sound card. So the PCI-e lanes doesn't really matter that much. But I am going to overclock it and it is going to be water cooled.

I've boiled it down to these two motherboards, but need some help.

I couldn't find any decent reviews or information about the MSI board so thought I'd ask you guys. Is the MSI Z77MA-G45 any good at overclocking? If yes, is the Asus Maximus V Gene that much better so it's worth the extra cost.

Thnx. for the help. Drown me with your knowledge.

 

[seumasbeathan]

Just curious, Why do you want an matx board?

 

[fredtrix]

Just curious, Why do you want an matx board?

As stated in the topic post I want to build a small gaming rig that I can bring with me to LAN parties and such. With that in mind I've concluded that mATX is a nice alternative and offers all the features I seek with this build. The system is going to be housed in a Fractal Design Arc Mini case.

+ I've always wanted to test the mATX form factor =)

 

[seumasbeathan]

Ah right, well in that case I would say go with MSI one

 

[Master&Puppet]

I havent actually read any reviews of the MSI but judging by their atx boards it will be brilliant. The ROG is a top notch board. To be honest I shouldn't think it makes any difference.

 

[Taurus]

[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Asus Maximus V Gene! [/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]I have one of these and they are great boards and very easy to OC.[/font]

 

[SieB]

The Gigabyte G1 Sniper M3 is a good mATX board as well.

 

[fredtrix]

The Gigabyte G1 Sniper M3 is a good mATX board as well.

I know, but it comes at the same price as the V Gene board which offers more OC features. Besides that I already got a banging soundcard.

 

[SieB]

I know, but it comes at the same price as the V Gene board which offers more OC features. Besides that I already got a banging soundcard.

Fair enough, either way you will be happy with your purchase

 

[KING_OF_SAND]

ROG mATX boards are the best. I may say this because I have a hard on for ASUS, but the ROG series have always been some of the best boards on the market and the mATX selection in the enthusiast line is VERY small and most companies sacrifice important parts to make an enthusiast grade mobo. ASUS on the other hand has not and the only difference between the mATX ROG and the standard ATX ROG is pci lanes. But performance is exactly the same, as well as overclocking.

 

[seumasbeathan]

ROG mATX boards are the best. I may say this because I have a hard on for ASUS, but the ROG series have always been some of the best boards on the market and the mATX selection in the enthusiast line is VERY small and most companies sacrifice important parts to make an enthusiast grade mobo. ASUS on the other hand has not and the only difference between the mATX ROG and the standard ATX ROG is pci lanes. But performance is exactly the same, as well as overclocking.

#

When I read this I was like "hmm....I must of read that wrong" so I went back to it and found that no I hadn't that was actaully what you typed

 

[fredtrix]

ROG mATX boards are the best. I may say this because I have a hard on for ASUS, but the ROG series have always been some of the best boards on the market and the mATX selection in the enthusiast line is VERY small and most companies sacrifice important parts to make an enthusiast grade mobo. ASUS on the other hand has not and the only difference between the mATX ROG and the standard ATX ROG is pci lanes. But performance is exactly the same, as well as overclocking.

Now that you mention it, I can see that they actually use quality transistors etc. I think I might go for the ROG board, after all I totally agree with what you said.