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ATX 1150 Intel-compatible motherboard under $110 for gaming / graphic design PC

First of all I am new to this site and I hope my question is not off-topic. I have done some research in the Meta and looked up if similar questions have been closed or not and I think I am on-topic. If not, I apologize.


I am currently preparing a configuration for my next PC and, although I know enough to chose almost all the components myself, I really have poor knowledge when it comes to motherboards. I really can't tell if a motherboard is a good one or a bad one, if it will suit my needs and which chipsets are best.

My configuration :

CPU : Intel Core i7-4790K (4.0 GHz)

GPU : Asus GeForce GTX 960 STRIX DirectCU II, 4 Gb

RAM : 2x4Gb DDR3-1866 HyperX Fury, Cas10

One 250Gb SSD

One 1Tb HDD

(theses are the informations I think are needed, if you need to know what other components I have chosen, ask in the comments and I will update this question)

Requirements & additional info :

  • The motherboard must be ATX format.

  • It should be under $110 if possible

  • I need it to have USB 3.0 ports

  • Socket is 1150

  • I will use my PC for graphic design and for playing games.

  • I don't plan to ever buy an additional GPU (which means only one slot is enough).

  • There will be no sound card in my configuration so I prefer a motherboard with good sound quality

  • I prefer having 4 RAM slots for it is possible I buy more RAM in the future.

  • Bonus points if the motherboard is black and yellow or black and white ;)

As I am getting an overclockable CPU I read - but am unsure if this is true - I will need a Z97 chipset if I want to exploit my CPU to the max, and that Z97 is also one of the best chipsets available for a configuration with recent components. If Z97 isn't required or specially better than other chipsets I have no idea which one I should get.

Motherboards I consider buying

Obviously I have already done some research and there are 2 motherboards that caught my attention :

This one has very good reviews but I wonder if it is not a bit "cheap" (in both meanings) and if it will be sufficient for my configuration

I thought is was a good idea to get a motherboard from the same constructor as my GPU (correct me if this is a stupid thought) and this one seems pretty good. But here I am wondering if I really need a motherboard at this price if some cheaper ones like the MSI above can do the job.


So here are all the informations. What motherboard would you buy to suit this configuration and these requirement best ?

user2601