Asus Z97 Sabertooth Mark 2 or Asus Z97-Pro (Wifi)

[ravihpa]

Hi guys,

I already bought the Z97 Sabertooth Mark 2, but I have the option of returning it and getting the Z97-Pro (Wifi). Only reason the Z97-Pro (wifi) is an option is coz am getting a very good price on it with only a difference of say $10 or $15.

I don't really care about the wifi thing. The only reason I am even considering the Z97-Pro (wifi) is coz it has Sata Express and M.2 port and 12 lanes compared to 8+2 on Sabertooth Mark 2.

Now, I won't be getting a SSD anytime soon but might get one in the next 6 to 8 months. Since the Mark 2 has a PCI-E 2.0 x4 port (apart from the PCI-E 3.0 x16 port, which I might SLI later in future), I was thinking if I EVER need a Sata Express port or a M.2 port, I would simply get a PCI-E M.2 card adapter and install the SSD.

But now that the price difference isn't much, should I return the Mark 2 and get the Z97-Pro (wifi)?

One plus point the Mark 2 has over Z97-Pro (wifi) is it's the TUF series and most probably has better components and will hopefully last longer compared to Z97-Pro (wifi).

What would you guys recommend I do?

Thanx a lot in advance. Desperately waiting for a reply 🙂

Edit: The specs for Z97-Pro (wifi) say this...

1 x SATA Express port, compatible with 2 x SATA 6.0 Gb/s ports
1 x M.2 Socket 3, , with M Key, type 2260/2280 storage devices support (both SATA & PCIE mode)

 

[Ketchup]

In many cases, most SSDs aren't saturating the regular SATA bus. If you haven't gone SSD yet, you are going to be blown away by the speed. M.2 drives and bus speeds do have a nice increase over that, but in DTD activity, noticing a difference is doubtful.

If you return the board, do you have to pay for shipping? Just something to think about. I have been quite pleased with my Mark 1 board.

 

[ravihpa]

In many cases, most SSDs aren't saturating the regular SATA bus. If you haven't gone SSD yet, you are going to be blown away by the speed. M.2 drives and bus speeds do have a nice increase over that, but in DTD activity, noticing a difference is doubtful.

If you return the board, do you have to pay for shipping? Just something to think about. I have been quite pleased with my Mark 1 board.

Well, that is why originally I was thinking of getting the ASUS Hyper M.2 X4 card so I could upgrade to a M.2 SSD and connect it to my spare PCIe x4 card.

No return shipping. I will just place a return pickup request. They'll pick it up.

By the way, I will be gaming on this PC, might do SLI later on too. Here are my specs...

Monitor - Dell S2409W 24" Full HD Monitor.
Processor - Intel Core i5 4440 @ 3.10 Ghz.
Motherboard - ASUS SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK 2.
GPU - ASUS Strix GTX 970 4 GB GDDR5.
RAM - Kingston 8 GB 1600 Mhz.
PSU - Seasonic M12II 620W EVO Edition (FULLY MODULAR)
FANS - 3 x Cooler Master Silencio FP 120 PWM Fans.

So a future SLI with probably another GTX 970 and a M.2 or Sata Express SSD are in the works but not anytime soon.

A friend of mine recommended to just keep the Mark 2 board and buy the M.2 adapter later on. Research also shows Mark 2 has better components and vrms.

I am getting a little confused now 😛

 

[ravihpa]

Sorry for the double post.

Kept the Mark 2 🙂 Will add a PCIe M.2 Adapter card later in the future when I get my SSD 🙂

 

[JechtShot]

Are you experiencing any problems with the UEFI Bios? It seems buggy on the Asus Mark 2 - sometimes my computer doesn't reboot properly and it throws me back into the BIOS or sometimes it freezes in the BIOS. I should of never updated from version 2401. It's pretty annoying and when I select to Boot up "Boot Drive" only (speed up POST time), it does not like it unless I switch back to boot up all SATA drives.