Foolish to go with z87 over z97?

[BlueWeasel]

Currently running an overclocked 2500k on a Z77. However, Sandy Bridge and z77 boards still hold some value and I can sell my current CPU+MB to offset the upgrade cost.

I'm considering upgrading the board and going with a 4790k. I know that the upgrade won't affect gaming much, but multi-threaded performance would be an improvement. Selling my current components would result in an out of pocket upgrade costto z87/z97 and a 4790k would be approximately $300. Even less if I bought off the FS/FT forum.

I don't think the features of z97 are worth it to me and a good z87 would do just fine. Does z97 provide a significant future/upgrade path?

 

[crashtech]

Just make sure the Z87 has a BIOS that will allow the Haswell Refresh CPU to boot. Other than that, the feature set is not worth the premium, and it turns out that the supposed Broadwell compatibility of the 9-series does not matter after all.

 

[BlueWeasel]

Just make sure the Z87 has a BIOS that will allow the Haswell Refresh CPU to boot. Other than that, the feature set is not worth the premium, and it turns out that the supposed Broadwell compatibility of the 9-series does not matter after all.

At this point in time, a new z87 board purchased online should come with a BIOS that's compatible with Devil's Caynon, right?

 

[crashtech]

I don't think that is a sure thing, there is always old stock lurking out there. Boot failure isn't always a given if the BIOS is old, but success isn't guaranteed either.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I would definitely opt for a z97 board and check the manufacturers site to make sure that it is compatible with any processor that you might be considering.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Z97 would likely offer improvements or less bugs than a Z87, for the same socket. Or, that's a reasonable speculation.

If it were me, and if I weren't taking pot-luck or buying used parts, I'd incline to Z97.

The contrary thought occurs to me that BIOS revisions for the older chipset would be more mature.

If it comes down to getting a real bargain on a good, highly-rated Z87 board, you need to nail down any uncertainties about Refresh compatibility. As I understood, though, you could at least expect such compatibility with BIOS updates, if anything at all was necessary.

But usually, if a CPU revision is released such as the DC or Refresh chips, a BIOS update for the previous gen boards is likely required.

 

[nenforcer]

If you targeting Z97 / 4790K levels, i'd considering waiting until the Broadwell chips are released later this month (just for comparison sake) and then if your willing to wait until August when the Skylake chips are announced with availability in September - you might be able to get slightly better deal.