VII Formula vs Z97-Deluxe

[Rhage]

I am between on which of these boards would be a better buy
on paper they are very similar, wondering if anyone can provide some insight as to why one would be a better purchase than the other?

I see that the Z97 has higher audio quality
I see that the Formula has better cooling options for the VRM

Would greatly appreciate some guidance here.

Setup:
Asus GTX 780 DCUII (May Purchase another for SLI in the future)
Gigabyte Z87X-OC-FORCE (beautiful board but hasn't worked properly even after 3 rma's. looking at this as an upgrade.)
Custom Watercooling Loop
Corsair Dominator Platinum 2133MHZ 8GB
i7-4770k

I will be using the PC for gaming and streaming my games. Also possibly some Youtube video creation.

[Arne_Saknussemm]

Hi Rhage 🙂

That is a difficult choice if you are going by specs...really look the same board to me. So might just come down to looks...do you want the ROG red etc. how does that fit with your build...and maybe the watercooling option for the VRM if you are going to OC it. Featurewise they are the same for just about everything as far as I can tell...maybe might come down to the best price you can get...

Either way I suspect the asus boards your looking at will be a step up in quality...

[Rhage]

Arne Saknussemm wrote:
Hi Rhage 🙂

That is a difficult choice if you are going by specs...really look the same board to me. So might just come down to looks...do you want the ROG red etc. how does that fit with your build...and maybe the watercooling option for the VRM if you are going to OC it. Featurewise they are the same for just about everything as far as I can tell...maybe might come down to the best price you can get...

Either way I suspect the asus boards your looking at will be a step up in quality...

Hello to you as well Arne,

Yeah, i completely agree, I've been going over it again and again trying to justify the price difference and marketing differences, I just can't find anything that sets the 2 apart other than aesthetics really, the additional cooling offered through the vrm being water cooled is minimal, and the armor hardly adds much to passive cooling that fans won't dissipate anyhow. As for price I can currently get the deluxe for $60 less than the formula.

[ConkersGrillfor]

I would suggest to take the Asus Maximus VII Formula.
Reason 1 it has a great feature set for gaming :).
Reason 2 you don't have to buy an additional waterblock for the VRM :), at least as long as you don't use the M2-Slot on the ComboCard, because then the CrossChill-Cooler will get in the way. 😉
Reason 3 connectivity is the same as on the Z97 Deluxe and the price range is almost the same.

[randyenergy]

Hey Bud, forget about the $60. Really, close yours eyes, pull the $60 out of your wallet and let it go. The Formula VII is ROG. Easy!!!

[Rhage]

This doesn't really explain why or why not. The ROG tag is meaningless aside from a label.

Aside from color schemes and labels, I'm asking about things that actually matter.

After speaking to a rep at ASUS it seems that the rep is convinced that the deluxe is a slightly better board, "the deluxe offers better sound quality and includes all the features and specs of the VII FORMULA, the deluxe would be my personal choice as it would be more versatile."

[ConkersGrillfor]

Rhage wrote:
This doesn't really explain why or why not. The ROG tag is meaningless aside from a label.

Aside from color schemes and labels, I'm asking about things that actually matter.

After speaking to a rep at ASUS it seems that the rep is convinced that the deluxe is a slightly better board, "the deluxe offers better sound quality and includes all the features and specs of the VII FORMULA, the deluxe would be my personal choice as it would be more versatile."

Cool to hear this, in that case, have you made your choice? :confused:
What I meant with specific gaming features, was the amount of additional software and hardware delivered with the newer ROG boards. Such as GameFirst, which is meant to prioritize gaming packets traffic or SonicRadar, which is in my opinion much more than just a gimmick it's actually a cheat...
Anyway if you're looking for good sound quality you won't come around to buy a sound card, this is the only way to get premium sound quality. I'm using onboard sound myself, but I hear the difference, when I visit my colleague, who is using a sound card in his system. There's a real difference. 😉

[NemesisChild]

So the ASUS rep didn't explain that the ROG boards have top of the line, high quality Japanese VRM's, capacitors, etc?

[01_Wolverine]

Hi Rhage, JJ will settle your mind within the first minute

ASUS Z97 Deluxe Motherboard Definitive Overview

http://youtu.be/o1uWKuI5BJw?list=UUgTTyN54Hljm7TqD13q8FEg