Testing Configuration and Benchmarks Used
To verify that the motherboard works as advertised, the board was run through our standard benchmark suite. In most cases, the results are presented for the motherboard under review as well as a different similar-class motherboard for performance comparison purposes. The benchmark tests used should give you a good understanding of the board’s capabilities for both office and gaming use so that you, the reader, can make a more informed purchasing decision.
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Test System Setup |
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CPU |
Intel Core i5-3570K (3.4GHz, 34 x 100MHz Base Clock) |
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Motherboards |
GIGABYTE Z77X-UP7 MSI Z77 MPOWER |
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Memory |
G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 modules (1600MHz, 11-11-11-30-1T) |
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Hard Drive |
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA III HD |
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Sound Card |
Onboard sound |
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Video Card |
AMD Radeon HD 5870 1GB |
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CPU Cooling |
Laing DDC pump with EK-DDC X-TOP Rev 2 Plexi Swiftech MCR320-QP Radiator Swiftech Apogee HD water block |
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Video Drivers |
AMD ATI Catalyst 13.1 |
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Power Supply |
Corsair 650w |
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Operating System |
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 |
The 64-bit Windows 7 based test bench used for LGA1155 board testing includes an Intel Core i5-3570K CPU, 8GB of DDR3-2133 memory, an AMD Radeon 5870 1GB video card, and a Western Digital Black 1TB SATA hard drive. Using the selected components gives us the ability to demonstrate the motherboard’s capabilities rather than that of the components themselves.
Benchmark Tests used for evaluation:
- SoftPerfect Research NetWorx Speed Test
- ATTO Disk Benchmark v2.47
- SiSoft Sandra 2012
- LinX Intel Linpack Benchmark v0.6.4
- 7-Zip v9.20
- Handbrake video transcoder v0.9.8
- Maxon Cinebench 11.5
- Tech ARP's x264 HD Benchmark v5.01
- FutureMark PCMark 7
- FutureMark Peacekeeper in Fire fox browser
- FutureMark 3DMark 11
- Hitman: Absolution
- Batman: Arkham City
- Hard Reset
” Note that the card requires
” Note that the card requires a USB 2.0 header connection for enhanced functionality unlocked via its Windows app.”
No.
Contrary to popular beleif, Mini PCI-E cards are dual mode and support PCI AND USB
On combo WiFi/BT Cards such as this Atheros and Intel Centrino, Bluetooth is routed to the USB pins of the mini PCIE (the small end)as Bluetooth is designed for USB drivers/software only.
Inserting a combo card into a slot wired for PCI only will simply just not enable the Bluetooth.
Some Mini to full Carrier cards such as the one included with this board have a USB port to fully enable the Mini PCIE slot.
Some carrier cards such as generics or Intel’s 6205 Desktop card do not pass USB through and as such cannnot use Bluetooth or 3G cards.
Mini PCIE WWAN/3G are also USB only due to the driver/softwre stack.
Getting mSATA to work in a Mini PCIE slot is anothr matter, and some new laptops have a fully universal slot, some motherboards dont. One can see a Marvel IC in the periphery of this boards mSATA.
KngtRider – thank you for the
KngtRider – thank you for the clarification on the functioning of the Atheros card. The review information has been updated for accuracy…
Color scheme makes it look
Color scheme makes it look like an old DFI Lanparty.
Why does every motherboard
Why does every motherboard bundled software have glossy, flashy and badly skinned UI? Can’t anyone make clean, readable and aesthetically pleasing UI? Is it just me?