Thoughts on my motherboard? Other motherboard's I found were almost double the price in Canada but I have heard that this motherboard could have a shorter lifetime, and cause potential damage to other components which worries me. http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2313226/asrock-z97-anniversary-4690k.html
Lower than the $110~ price point is the Z97 Anniversary really that bad? I'm worried now that I bought it only looking at newegg reviews.
I really don't know much about motherboards so I don't know if the features I'm possibly missing are something I need. I'm probably only going to be overclocking around average like 4.5ghz.
Asus was asrocks parents company up until about 2010 as a spin-off company to compete with Foxconn which is basically oem quality.
Since then ASrock got bought out by another company and is now building their own brand. They do have a large market share in Asia (where there parent company is now).
In general, and I don't want to scare you, cheap parts are cheap if you get my meaning. They can charge less because they use parts that are less. When it comes to builds in general you never want to cheap on mobo and psu. Its like cheap engine and tires on your car.
Then I look at your board and in general there is a lot of cheap boards in this chipset you picked. Its probably not a bad board. I can't really suggest a better board without you spending another 150-200 on a 'gaming board' like asus rog or gigabyte gaming board.
Yeah, I definitely can't afford a "gaming board" since Canada usually has meh deals/prices are higher.
I'm not sure what you mean by "there is a lot of cheap boards in this chipset you picked". I guess you mean there are a lot worse boards I could have picked. I literally couldn't find a better board around the $110~ price range besides maybe a ASRock Fatal1y Z97 which was $10 more or go down for a Asus Z87-A which was around the price at the time, damn I kind of regret buying before extensively asking around first.
The main problem for me was not knowing if a $150 Asus Z97-A board was worth literally double of what I would spend on another Z97 board. Do you think it's worth double?
Side note: My PSU is cheap? o.O I thought bronze rating was decent.
Thanks again, knowing Asus was a parent company comforts me a little.
I mentioned mobos and psu's in general not yours in particular when building a system. Yours is fine.
I was actually thinking about getting that Z97-A board but it just lacks in what it is. There's only 4 satas and the software set on that board really lacks if you look it its price.