Test Methodology
Comparison Motherboard Configurations |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Model | |||
| Reviewed Price | £275 |
£260 |
£225 |
| Firmware Version | 0501 |
E7A93IMS.12Z |
F4G |
| Chipset | X299 |
Z270 |
|
| CPU | Intel Core i9-7900X |
Intel Core i7-7700K |
|
| CPU Cores / Threads | 10 / 20 |
4 / 8 |
|
| CPU Base Clock | 3.3GHz |
4.2GHz |
|
| CPU Turbo Boost 2.0 Clock | 4.3GHz |
4.5GHz |
|
| CPU Turbo Boost 3.0 Clock | 4.5GHz |
- |
|
| CPU L3 Cache | 13.75MB |
8MB |
|
| CPU TDP | 140 |
91W |
|
| Memory | Corsair Dominator 32GB |
G.Skill 32GB |
|
| Memory Configuration | 4x8GB |
2x16GB |
|
| Memory Speed | DDR4-2666 |
DDR4-2400 |
|
| Memory Timings | 14-16-16-36-2T |
16-16-16-36-2T |
|
| CPU Cooler | Noctua NH-D15S |
||
| Graphics | EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW (382.53) |
||
| Storage Device | SK hynix Canvas SC300 512GB |
||
| Power Supply | be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 (750W) |
||
| Operating System | Windows 10 Home (64-bit) |
||
CPU and Memory Benchmarks |
||
|---|---|---|
| HEXUS PiFast | Our number-crunching benchmark stresses a single core by calculating Pi to 10m places | |
| Cinebench | Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses all cores | |
| Handbrake | Free-to-use video encoder that stresses multiple CPU cores | |
| AIDA64 | Benchmark that analyses memory bandwidth and latency | |
Storage Benchmarks |
||
| CrystalDiskMark | Popular free-to-use storage benchmark, used to gauge read and write performance via SATA (512GB SK hynix Canvas SC300), M.2 (512GB Samsung 950 Pro), and USB 3.1 (256GB Adata SC660H) | |
Gaming Benchmarks |
||
| 3DMark | Run using Time Spy DX12 test | |
| Deus Ex: Mankind Divided | 2,560x1,440, ultra settings | |
| Rise of the Tomb Raider | 2,560x1,440, ultra settings | |
Miscellaneous Benchmarks |
||
| Power Consumption | Noted at idle, while running the HandBrake video-transcoding test and when playing Deus Ex: Mankind Divided | |
Notes
We begin X299 testing with a head-to-head comparison of the Asus Prime X299-A and MSI X299 SLI Plus. Both are similarly priced near the lower-end of the X299 spectrum, and it will be interesting to see how these popular manufacturers fare with regards to BIOS maturity so soon after launch. To illustrate the differences between Z270 and X299, we've also included Core i7-7700K numbers on a Gigabyte Aorus Z270X-Gaming 7.