{"video_id":"yqp9TdLNNfs","title":"Bang for the Buck Z97 Motherboard Showdown Part 2 - Building Experience","channel":"Linus Tech Tips","show":"Linus Tech Tips","published_at":"2015-05-07T14:53:29Z","duration_s":476,"segments":[{"start_s":0.08,"end_s":8.4,"text":"Welcome to the second installment of the 100ish dollar Z97 motherboard showdown.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":6.48,"end_s":13.2,"text":"As you know from the last video, we normally focus on badass top tier","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":10.559,"end_s":16.88,"text":"motherboards, which are uncommon in the real world, and as we've demonstrated in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":15.28,"end_s":21.6,"text":"the past, don't really impact performance in a positive or negative","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":19.039,"end_s":27.039,"text":"way. So, this series will focus on the more sensible, affordable motherboards,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":24.0,"end_s":28.96,"text":"which most people will actually be","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":27.039,"end_s":33.28,"text":"buying. And we're going to explore their pros, cons, and tradeoffs. In this","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":31.76,"end_s":37.52,"text":"episode, we'll be covering the experience of building a computer with","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":35.2,"end_s":41.44,"text":"these motherboards. Things like PCI layout, fan header, and plug positioning","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":39.84,"end_s":46.399,"text":"when installing into a case, accessories, and even color selection","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":44.16,"end_s":51.36,"text":"will be covered. And videos for stuff like BIOS usability and finished system","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":48.399,"end_s":58.879,"text":"experience will be coming after CES, so stay tuned.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":58.879,"end_s":65.84,"text":"The Cooler Master Neptune 240M features an exclusive pump design and their new","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":63.28,"end_s":69.84,"text":"Sencio fans to provide impressive near silent performance. Click now to learn","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":67.92,"end_s":74.32,"text":"more. One thing on motherboards that gets a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":71.6,"end_s":78.08,"text":"lot of attention is the PCI layout. Even people that I've built for in the past","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":76.08,"end_s":82.88,"text":"have been overly worried about the futurep proof aspect of PCI layout","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":80.72,"end_s":88.0,"text":"despite them having no real intention of adding more than one GPU or any other","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":85.759,"end_s":91.92,"text":"card for that matter to their system. So for most people it is unlikely to make a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":90.159,"end_s":96.24,"text":"difference, but it's still worth considering just in case. The top two","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":94.32,"end_s":100.96,"text":"slots and the bottom three slots on these boards are all identical. And","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":99.2,"end_s":104.88,"text":"those will be the most used slots anyways because even when someone does","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":103.2,"end_s":109.119,"text":"decide to add more cards, they're unlikely to use the ones in the middle","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":106.799,"end_s":115.119,"text":"that did vary somewhat because of their proximity to the top PCIe 16x slot,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":112.799,"end_s":120.24,"text":"which will render one useless with any dual graphics card setup and the other","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":117.68,"end_s":124.719,"text":"not recommended to give affforementioned cards some breathing room. The fan","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":122.64,"end_s":128.16,"text":"headers, however, are of much greater importance if you want to take advantage","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":126.479,"end_s":132.4,"text":"of the fan speed control that's built into your motherboards. Many, if not all","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":130.479,"end_s":136.4,"text":"of these headers can be used in a normal system, and their position can make or","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":134.56,"end_s":141.04,"text":"break the appearance of your cable management. Every board accommodated","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":138.64,"end_s":144.72,"text":"having a rear case fan, but after that, they varied quite heavily. Gigabyte had","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":143.28,"end_s":148.8,"text":"a pretty balanced setup overall, although only having two headers near","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":146.48,"end_s":154.48,"text":"the top may limit your selection of AIO coolers slightly if the pump must be","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":150.959,"end_s":156.959,"text":"powered by a fan header. As Rock had the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":154.48,"end_s":160.959,"text":"most included fan headers at six, but the positioning of them, while quite","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":158.72,"end_s":164.64,"text":"good for an air cooler, will no doubt be frustrating for anyone who wants to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":162.4,"end_s":168.879,"text":"install a liquid cooling system in the top of their case, as none of the fan","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":166.72,"end_s":174.0,"text":"headers are at the top of the board, and only some of them were actually four pin","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":170.56,"end_s":176.08,"text":"PWM headers. ASUS lacked quantity with","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":174.0,"end_s":181.04,"text":"only four available fan headers, but at least the layout was fairly balanced and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":178.319,"end_s":184.56,"text":"MSI had, in my opinion, the best layout of all of them with headers spread out","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":182.879,"end_s":188.0,"text":"all around the board, giving you the versatility to play around a little bit","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":186.319,"end_s":193.76,"text":"with the placement of your setup. Something to note is that the positioning in general here is the key","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":191.44,"end_s":198.56,"text":"point, not amount of headers. Don't forget, you can mostly fix availability","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":195.76,"end_s":201.76,"text":"issues with inexpensive splitters. On to other connectors. Luckily for the PC","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":200.56,"end_s":205.28,"text":"building community, motherboard manufacturers seem to have come to a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":203.599,"end_s":209.599,"text":"good old consensus when it comes to positioning of standard CPU and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":207.44,"end_s":214.0,"text":"motherboard power and standard case headers. We've passed the dark ages of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":212.0,"end_s":219.28,"text":"randomly placed headers halfway up your freaking motherboard and 24 pin or 8pin","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":216.72,"end_s":224.799,"text":"power plugs randomly placed where they really really shouldn't be for the sake","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":222.159,"end_s":230.0,"text":"of system air flow. I like right angle sockets for SATA, but not all cases","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":227.68,"end_s":234.239,"text":"allow the stiff USB 3.0 no front panel cable to be installed this way. So, I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":232.159,"end_s":238.4,"text":"understand why most boards opt for a non-angled socket, but I must say I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":236.48,"end_s":243.12,"text":"really like MSI's implementation with two sockets, one angled and one normal,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":241.519,"end_s":247.599,"text":"because even though very few cases actually have four USB 3.0 ports, this","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":245.84,"end_s":251.84,"text":"gives you the flexibility to even either have tidier cable management or better","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":250.239,"end_s":256.16,"text":"compatibility. As for the rest of the headers, USB 2.0, know front panel audio","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":254.08,"end_s":260.639,"text":"and front switches. ASUS, Gigabyte, and ASRock all had varying degrees of good","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":257.919,"end_s":264.72,"text":"enough labeling, but MSI's front panel switches labeling was kind of off in the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":262.88,"end_s":267.759,"text":"middle of nowhere, which was a little bit annoying to actually kind of find","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":266.24,"end_s":272.479,"text":"and could be frustrating for some people. ASUS, MSI, and Gigabyte all","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":270.479,"end_s":276.8,"text":"featured some degree of plastic guard around their headers, which can help you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":274.639,"end_s":281.68,"text":"not screw up when tediously plugging in all your various headers, but the ASRock","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":278.96,"end_s":284.72,"text":"board did not feature any of these, but not a huge deal. The accessories","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":283.36,"end_s":288.88,"text":"included with these boards were essentially all the same standard fair","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":286.639,"end_s":293.6,"text":"you'd expect on a value board. Exactly what you need with no flashy LED","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":290.88,"end_s":297.6,"text":"displays and OC brackets or any of that kind of stuff. Each included a user","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":295.28,"end_s":302.16,"text":"guide of some sort, an IO shield, two SATA cables, one driver disc, and every","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":299.84,"end_s":306.16,"text":"board except for MSI included a case badge with Gigabyte and ASRock also","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":304.24,"end_s":310.4,"text":"giving you an SLI bridge as they support that feature. In terms of colors, every","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":308.4,"end_s":316.08,"text":"board had an unfortunate shade of brown for their PCB except for ASRock and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":313.6,"end_s":321.039,"text":"ASRock, Gigabyte, and MSI all went with fairly standard blue or red color scheme","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":318.24,"end_s":325.52,"text":"with ASUS deciding to be a hero and go with gold. I get it. They're trying to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":323.759,"end_s":330.24,"text":"communicate their whole we are the gold standard motherboards","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":327.6,"end_s":335.28,"text":"thing. But personally, I would prefer a propaganda sticker on the box instead of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":332.56,"end_s":338.639,"text":"tacky gold on my motherboard. Although, if you want to go for that Iron Man","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":337.12,"end_s":344.479,"text":"look, matching it with some red components may work out for you. All one","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":341.84,"end_s":348.56,"text":"of you. Who's ever going to do that, Mr. Downey Jr.? In summary, this video is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":346.88,"end_s":352.639,"text":"about the importance of paying attention to how all your components will work","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":350.4,"end_s":357.039,"text":"together instead of just how many raw features each one of them has","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":354.479,"end_s":360.88,"text":"individually. Thanks to standardization, your case will probably determine how","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":358.56,"end_s":364.96,"text":"well your cable runs work more than your motherboard. Your cooler will probably","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":362.639,"end_s":368.88,"text":"determine what fan header layout is best for you and your desired color scheme.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":367.44,"end_s":372.8,"text":"Also, the colors of the rest of your components in all likelihood will","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":370.72,"end_s":377.68,"text":"probably determine what color you want your motherboard cooling heat sinks to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":375.039,"end_s":383.52,"text":"be. So, the moral of the story is to plan for what you will actually use and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":380.72,"end_s":389.12,"text":"not to overspend based on what you think you might possibly use in four to 5","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":387.039,"end_s":393.6,"text":"years when you'll probably be replacing this board. Anyways, by the way, the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":392.24,"end_s":398.0,"text":"next video coming in this series will be the BIOS usability rundown of all these","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":396.08,"end_s":401.12,"text":"boards, which will also be very important. So, stay tuned for that. All","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":399.6,"end_s":404.8,"text":"right, guys. In the comments down below, let me know what you think is important","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":402.88,"end_s":408.319,"text":"about motherboards. And in the finished system experience and BIOS usability","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":406.72,"end_s":412.4,"text":"videos, let me know what you guys want to see. Again, comments down below or on","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":410.96,"end_s":415.84,"text":"the forum. While you're commenting down below, or before you leave to the forum,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":414.24,"end_s":419.84,"text":"be sure to like or dislike this video depending on how you like the fact that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":417.52,"end_s":423.52,"text":"we're doing kind of lowerend motherboards than we normally do. Share","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":422.0,"end_s":427.599,"text":"the video if you think it's good and subscribe to the channel if you have not","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":425.199,"end_s":430.56,"text":"already over on the forum. And if you don't like the ads on the forum, you can","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":428.88,"end_s":434.479,"text":"become a contributor. If you notice that new office campaign banner at the top,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":432.639,"end_s":437.759,"text":"that will soon be going away for those of you that don't like it. For those of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":436.0,"end_s":441.199,"text":"you that might be interested, click on that. You'll see how the new office","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":439.039,"end_s":444.4,"text":"campaign is doing. Also, in the description below this video, you can","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":442.88,"end_s":447.52,"text":"check to see any shirts. If you're interested in buying one of our cool","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":445.919,"end_s":452.96,"text":"shirts, like keep on digging. I think that's still going. And if you jump back","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":450.319,"end_s":456.639,"text":"over to the forum again one last time, there should be a support us kind of box","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":455.039,"end_s":461.68,"text":"chilling there. If you click on that, it'll show you different ways to change your Amazon affiliate codes and stuff","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":460.08,"end_s":467.27,"text":"like that, so you can support us in other ways. Thank you guys a ton for","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":464.08,"end_s":477.73,"text":"watching and I'll see you next time.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0}],"full_text":"Welcome to the second installment of the 100ish dollar Z97 motherboard showdown. As you know from the last video, we normally focus on badass top tier motherboards, which are uncommon in the real world, and as we've demonstrated in the past, don't really impact performance in a positive or negative way. So, this series will focus on the more sensible, affordable motherboards, which most people will actually be buying. And we're going to explore their pros, cons, and tradeoffs. In this episode, we'll be covering the experience of building a computer with these motherboards. Things like PCI layout, fan header, and plug positioning when installing into a case, accessories, and even color selection will be covered. And videos for stuff like BIOS usability and finished system experience will be coming after CES, so stay tuned. The Cooler Master Neptune 240M features an exclusive pump design and their new Sencio fans to provide impressive near silent performance. Click now to learn more. One thing on motherboards that gets a lot of attention is the PCI layout. Even people that I've built for in the past have been overly worried about the futurep proof aspect of PCI layout despite them having no real intention of adding more than one GPU or any other card for that matter to their system. So for most people it is unlikely to make a difference, but it's still worth considering just in case. The top two slots and the bottom three slots on these boards are all identical. And those will be the most used slots anyways because even when someone does decide to add more cards, they're unlikely to use the ones in the middle that did vary somewhat because of their proximity to the top PCIe 16x slot, which will render one useless with any dual graphics card setup and the other not recommended to give affforementioned cards some breathing room. The fan headers, however, are of much greater importance if you want to take advantage of the fan speed control that's built into your motherboards. Many, if not all of these headers can be used in a normal system, and their position can make or break the appearance of your cable management. Every board accommodated having a rear case fan, but after that, they varied quite heavily. Gigabyte had a pretty balanced setup overall, although only having two headers near the top may limit your selection of AIO coolers slightly if the pump must be powered by a fan header. As Rock had the most included fan headers at six, but the positioning of them, while quite good for an air cooler, will no doubt be frustrating for anyone who wants to install a liquid cooling system in the top of their case, as none of the fan headers are at the top of the board, and only some of them were actually four pin PWM headers. ASUS lacked quantity with only four available fan headers, but at least the layout was fairly balanced and MSI had, in my opinion, the best layout of all of them with headers spread out all around the board, giving you the versatility to play around a little bit with the placement of your setup. Something to note is that the positioning in general here is the key point, not amount of headers. Don't forget, you can mostly fix availability issues with inexpensive splitters. On to other connectors. Luckily for the PC building community, motherboard manufacturers seem to have come to a good old consensus when it comes to positioning of standard CPU and motherboard power and standard case headers. We've passed the dark ages of randomly placed headers halfway up your freaking motherboard and 24 pin or 8pin power plugs randomly placed where they really really shouldn't be for the sake of system air flow. I like right angle sockets for SATA, but not all cases allow the stiff USB 3.0 no front panel cable to be installed this way. So, I understand why most boards opt for a non-angled socket, but I must say I really like MSI's implementation with two sockets, one angled and one normal, because even though very few cases actually have four USB 3.0 ports, this gives you the flexibility to even either have tidier cable management or better compatibility. As for the rest of the headers, USB 2.0, know front panel audio and front switches. ASUS, Gigabyte, and ASRock all had varying degrees of good enough labeling, but MSI's front panel switches labeling was kind of off in the middle of nowhere, which was a little bit annoying to actually kind of find and could be frustrating for some people. ASUS, MSI, and Gigabyte all featured some degree of plastic guard around their headers, which can help you not screw up when tediously plugging in all your various headers, but the ASRock board did not feature any of these, but not a huge deal. The accessories included with these boards were essentially all the same standard fair you'd expect on a value board. Exactly what you need with no flashy LED displays and OC brackets or any of that kind of stuff. Each included a user guide of some sort, an IO shield, two SATA cables, one driver disc, and every board except for MSI included a case badge with Gigabyte and ASRock also giving you an SLI bridge as they support that feature. In terms of colors, every board had an unfortunate shade of brown for their PCB except for ASRock and ASRock, Gigabyte, and MSI all went with fairly standard blue or red color scheme with ASUS deciding to be a hero and go with gold. I get it. They're trying to communicate their whole we are the gold standard motherboards thing. But personally, I would prefer a propaganda sticker on the box instead of tacky gold on my motherboard. Although, if you want to go for that Iron Man look, matching it with some red components may work out for you. All one of you. Who's ever going to do that, Mr. Downey Jr.? In summary, this video is about the importance of paying attention to how all your components will work together instead of just how many raw features each one of them has individually. Thanks to standardization, your case will probably determine how well your cable runs work more than your motherboard. Your cooler will probably determine what fan header layout is best for you and your desired color scheme. Also, the colors of the rest of your components in all likelihood will probably determine what color you want your motherboard cooling heat sinks to be. So, the moral of the story is to plan for what you will actually use and not to overspend based on what you think you might possibly use in four to 5 years when you'll probably be replacing this board. Anyways, by the way, the next video coming in this series will be the BIOS usability rundown of all these boards, which will also be very important. So, stay tuned for that. All right, guys. In the comments down below, let me know what you think is important about motherboards. And in the finished system experience and BIOS usability videos, let me know what you guys want to see. Again, comments down below or on the forum. While you're commenting down below, or before you leave to the forum, be sure to like or dislike this video depending on how you like the fact that we're doing kind of lowerend motherboards than we normally do. Share the video if you think it's good and subscribe to the channel if you have not already over on the forum. And if you don't like the ads on the forum, you can become a contributor. If you notice that new office campaign banner at the top, that will soon be going away for those of you that don't like it. For those of you that might be interested, click on that. You'll see how the new office campaign is doing. Also, in the description below this video, you can check to see any shirts. If you're interested in buying one of our cool shirts, like keep on digging. I think that's still going. And if you jump back over to the forum again one last time, there should be a support us kind of box chilling there. If you click on that, it'll show you different ways to change your Amazon affiliate codes and stuff like that, so you can support us in other ways. Thank you guys a ton for watching and I'll see you next time."}