Testing methodology
Comparison Motherboard Configurations | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
ASUS Z97 Pro Gamer
|
ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming
|
MSI Z170A Gaming M7
|
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| MSRP |
£105
|
£118
|
£180
|
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| BIOS |
0501
|
0231
|
151
|
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| Chipset Revision |
Intel Z97 Express
|
Intel Z170 Express
|
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| CPU |
Intel Core i7-4790K
|
Intel Core i7-6700K
|
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| Memory |
Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB DDR3 (2 x 8GB)
|
G.Skill RipJaws V 8GB DDR4 (2 x 4GB)
|
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| Memory Timings |
9-10-9-27-2T @ 1,866MHz
|
15-15-15-36-2T @ 2,133MHz
|
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| Discrete Graphics |
EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (347.09 drivers)
|
EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (353.62 drivers)
|
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| System Drive |
AMD OCZ Radeon R7 SSD (240GB)
|
Corsair Force LX (512GB)
|
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| Test Drives |
Corsair Neutron GTX (240GB) and Plextor M6E M.2 (256GB)
|
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| Chassis |
Lian Li PC-T60 test bench
|
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| Power Supply |
Corsair AX760i
|
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| Operating System |
Windows 8.1 (64-bit)
|
Windows 10 (64-bit)
|
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CPU 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 all CPU cores (64-bit), 4K clip to 720p MP4. | ||||||||||
Gaming Benchmarks | |||||||||||
| 3DMark | Firestrike, 1,920x1,080 | ||||||||||
| Bioshock Infinite | DX11, 1,920x1,080, ultra preset | ||||||||||
| Total War: Rome II | DX11, 1,920x1,080, extreme preset | ||||||||||
Memory Benchmarks | |||||||||||
| AIDA64 Engineer | A comprehensive test of memory copy, latency, read and write performance | ||||||||||
Storage Benchmarks | |||||||||||
| CrystalDiskMark | Three runs of the sequential read and write preset on M.2, SATA and USB drives. | ||||||||||
Audio Benchmarks | |||||||||||
| LatencyMon | A Windows 8.x and 10 compatible DPC latency tester | ||||||||||
| Rightmark Audio Analyser | Audio software that analyses a line-in line-out loop | ||||||||||
Miscellaneous Benchmarks | |||||||||||
| Power Consumption | Desktop idle and total system load using AIDA64 stress test | ||||||||||
Notes
The Corsair Neutron GTX is used to test SATA and USB performance, and for USB performance the drive is placed within a USB 3.0 docking station. The Plextor M6E is used to test M.2 performance if a motherboard has an M.2 port.