[section_title title=”Testing Setup”]

Testing Setup:

Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z170-Gaming K3
CPU: Intel Core i7 6700K @ 4.2 GHz core / 4 GHz cache
CPU Cooling: EK Supremacy EVO, Black Ice 140mm (fat), 2x 140mm fans in push/pull, DDC Ultra pump
GPU: GALAX GTX 980 SOC @ 1228 MHz (1329 boost)/1800 MHz
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-2666 2x8GB C14
PSU: Corsair AX1200i 80+ Platinum
OS: Windows 10 Professional x64

Previous Motherboard Reviews:

ASUS Maximus VIII Hero
ASUS Maximus VIII Hero Alpha
ASUS Maximus VIII Formula
ASUS Maximus VIII Impact
ASUS Z170I PRO GAMING
ASUS Z170 PRO GAMING
GIGABYTE Z170X-Gaming 7
MSI Z170A GAMING M7
MSI Z170A KRAIT GAMING
MSI Z170 XPOWER Gaming Titanium Edition
MSI Z170I Pro Gaming AC

Methodology:

All benchmarks are done on a fresh install of Windows 10 Professional 64-bit that is fully up-to-date with Windows Updates to ensure that the performance reflects a real-world scenario and not that of a tweaked benchmarking system. Every benchmark runs for a total of three times and then an average is taken of those results.

2D Benchmarks:

AIDA64 – CPU Queen/CPU Photoworxx/CPU AES/Memory Read/Memory Write
Cinebench 11.5 – CPU
Cinebench R15 – CPU
SiSandra – Processor Arithmetic/Processor Multi-Core Efficiency/Cache & Memory Bandwidth

3D Benchmarks:

3DMark 11 – Performance
3DMark Fire Strike – Normal

Gaming Benchmarks:

Company of Heroes 2 – Maximum Settings 1080P/1440P
F1 2015 – Ultra Preset 1080P/1440P
Total War: ROME II – Extreme Preset 1080P/1440P