Asus Z97-A or Asus Z97-Pro?

Hardware Motherboards
#1

Upgrading my CPU soon to the I7 4790k. Will I notice any overclocking difference between these two boards?

I've looked around and haven't found much (in terms of overclocking performance of the actual boards) so any information is welcome.

#2

In terms of overclocking, no there is no diffrence between them except that the "Pro" one has 12-phase power design for the CPU while Z97-A has 8-phase power design. Also the VRM heatsinks on the Pro motherboard are larger so I'm expecting better passive cooling. All and all the Z97-Pro has little bit more bells and whistles than the Z97-A. If you are aiming on overclocking, pick the Pro one. If you are mild overclocker, Z97-A is just fine.

P.S. I bought this: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4953#ov

from my local pc store from a sale event and it is holding 4,7Ghz stable according to Intel Extreme Tuning Utility and I've had no issues with it so far.

 

#3

I did a write up on this at PCDIY. 

http://pcdiy.asus.com/2014/06/6-4970k-cpus-overclocked-oc-impressions-of-devils-canyon-on-asus-z97-motherboards/ 

There will be no OC difference between the boards ( -A, PRO or DELUXE ). The only difference comes into the thermal performance of the VRM assembly. The VRM has even higher tolerances and superior thermal thresholds. This is for users who want to just have that "extra" layer of tolerance and performance especially at very higher frequencies under consistent loads. Overall though you will not have any issues reaching solid speeds that will be more dependent on the quality of the CPU and your cooling solution.

 

Oscar overall is pretty close but regardless if your target is 4.6 to 4.8GHz both board will achieve this without issue. You should look at other aspects outside of overclocking such as connectivity ( WiFi, USB, SATA etc ) or the number of fan headers that help to additionally make your decision clerarer.

Hope this helps. Best of luck.

#4

Thanks for the help, I'm probably going to end up going with the pro since it does have the 12 phase power delivery.

#5

I believe that the diffrence of 8- and 12-phase power delivery would not even be seen with overclocking with LN2 but I am supporting your choice. Even I would pick that motherboard but I'm so cheap that I always pick the inexpensive one. :)