[section_title title=”Test Setup & Methodology”]

Testing Setup:

Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z170X-GAMING 7
CPU: Intel Core i7 6700K @ 4.2 GHz
CPU Cooling: EK Supremacy EVO, Black Ice 140mm (fat), 2x 140mm fans in push/pull, DDC Ultra pump
GPU: GALAX GTX 980 SOC @ 1228 (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
MSI Z170A GAMING M7
MSI Z170A GAMING PRO CARBON
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 R11.5 – CPU & OpenGL
Cinebench R15 – CPU & OpenGL
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