Review: MSI Z170A Tomahawk

by Tarinder Sandhu on 13 January 2016, 16:31

Tags: MSI

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qacvu3

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Testing methodology

Comparison Motherboard Configurations

 
Gigabyte Z170XP-SLI
MSI Z170A Tomahawk
Asus Z170-K
MSRP
BIOS
F5a
1.20
0323
Chipset Revision
Intel Z170 (Intel 10.1.1.1019 driver)
CPU
Intel Core i7-6700K
Memory
G.Skill TridentX 3,600 8GB DDR4 (2 x 4GB)
Memory Timings
15-15-15-36-2T @ 2,133MHz
Discrete Graphics
Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 (353.62)
System Drive
SK hynix Canvas SC300 (512GB)
Chassis
Corsair Graphite 600T
Power Supply
Corsair AX760i
Operating System
Windows 10 (64-bit)

CPU and Memory Benchmarks

HEXUS PiFast Our number-crunching benchmark stresses a single core by calculating Pi to 10m places
Cinebench R15 Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses all cores
Handbrake 0.9.9.1 Free-to-use video encoder that stresses all CPU cores (64-bit)

Gaming Benchmarks

Grand Theft Auto V DX11, 1,920x1,080, very high quality
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor DX11, 1,920x1,080, ultra quality
Total War: Rome II DX11, 1,920x1,080, ultra quality

Miscellaneous Benchmarks

Overclocking and Power Maximum CPU and memory frequencies, plus power consumption when gaming

Notes

We've historically had a large number of benchmarks detailing performance between chipsets. Due to the levels of integration in the processor practically all modern motherboards benchmark at the same levels, give or take a per cent or two, so 15 graphs showing near-identical performance isn't what you (or we) want to see.

We're running nine benchmarks - three CPU, three gaming, three storage - to see if the boards perform at the expected levels. This is more of a sanity check than anything else. Of rather more importance is how well the board(s) are able to overclock the CPU and DDR4 memory.

The line-up includes a couple of boards also targetting the crucial £100 segment. Let's see how MSI does.