[section_title title=Test Setup]
Testing Setup
Motherboard:Â MSI Z170I Pro Gaming AC
CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K @ 4.2 GHz
CPU Cooler:Â Noctua NH-D15
GPU: GALAX GTX 980 SOC @ 1228 (1329 boost)/1800
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-2666 2x8GB C14
PSU:Â Cooler Master V1200 1200W 80PLUSÂ Platinum
OS: Windows 10 Professional x64
Previous motherboard reviews:
ASUS Maximus VIII Hero
ASUS Z170I PRO GAMING
ASUS Z170 PRO GAMING
MSI Z170A GAMING M7
MSI Z170A KRAIT GAMING
ASUS Z170 Maximus VIII Impact
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
Isn’t it just as good on average as the Asus Z170i, meaning partly clearly better, and in 3DMark and CPU tests of all things?
As an unconvinced buyer I hate both boards, which are kind of the only selection, but I don’t know why the MSI usually gets the worse average performance score and the Asus’ problems are often not even noticed. Asus shucks… Completely unreliable. But the others are not even trying, in mini ITX and humane prices, at least.
It’s horses for courses really. The overall difference in performance isn’t MASSIVE, but there is still a minute difference which is why we compare! 😀