MSI Z97 XPOWER AC Motherboard Review

[section_title title=”Test Setup”]

Testing Setup

• CPU: Intel Core i7-4770k @ 3.9GHz
• CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15
• GPU: Intel HD4600 On-board
• Motherboard: MSI Z97 XPOWER AC
• RAM: GSkill TridentX 8GB (2x4GB) Dual channel @ 2400MHz CL10
• PSU: Cooler Master V1200 1200w
• OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit

Methodology:

All benchmarks are done on a fresh install of Windows 7 Ultimate 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
• SiSandra – Processor Arithmetic/Processor Multi-Core Efficiency/Cache & Memory Bandwidth

3D Benchmarks:

• 3DMark 11 – Performance
• 3DMark Fire Strike – Normal

Gaming Benchmarks:

• Hitman Absolution – Medium Settings 1080