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.
|
Test System Setup |
|
|
CPU |
Intel Core i7-4770K (3.5GHz, 35 x 100MHz Base Clock) |
|
Motherboards |
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1 ASUS Z97-Deluxe MSI Z97 Gaming 7 GIGABYTE Z97X-Gaming G1-WIFI-BK MSI Z87 XPower |
|
Memory |
Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 modules (1600MHz, 9-10-9-27-1T) |
|
Hard Drive |
Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA III HD |
|
Sound Card |
On-board sound |
|
Video Card |
NVIDIA GTX 570 1.25GB ASUS Poseidon GTX 780 3GB |
|
CPU Cooling |
Corsair Hydro Series™ H100i Extreme Performance CPU Cooler |
|
Video Drivers |
NVIDIA 335.23 |
|
Power Supply |
Corsair HX750 |
|
Operating System |
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 |
Test Setup Explanation
The 64-bit Windows 7 based test bench used for Intel Z87 LGA1150 board testing includes an Intel Core i7-4770K CPU, 16GB of DDR3-1866 memory, an NVIDIA GTX 570 1.25GB video card, and a Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD drive. For the Z97-based board testing, an ASUS Poseidon GTX 780 3GB video card was used for testing – both it and the GTX 570 had no effect on the benchmark tests run. 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
- LanBench v1.1.0
- ATTO Disk Benchmark v2.47
- SiSoft Sandra 2012
- LinX Intel Linpack Benchmark v0.6.4
- Maxon Cinebench 11.5
ASUS used Newsun CMOS battery
ASUS used Newsun CMOS battery on this board instead of other better known brands. ASUS used maxell, KTS, Panasonic in the past. Seems like a cost saving switch to me.
Cmos battery? I lol’d
Cmos battery? I lol’d
I want ASUS Sabertooth Z97,
I want ASUS Sabertooth Z97, just becomes it looks neat! Or as Ryan puts it “These capacitors are neat looking” *droolz*
Nice review Morry! Thanks for pointing out that cooler issue! 🙂
Finally! Morry likes the
Finally! Morry likes the CMOS battery placement!
I think all mid to high end
I think all mid to high end boards will evolve into something like we see here with just the connections and sockets visible.
I just ordered one this past
I just ordered one this past Friday. Should be here June 6th. Hope it’s worth it.
I just got a Z97 Gryphon. I
I just got a Z97 Gryphon. I would love to see a review of it! Can’t wait to get a 4790K!!!
Thanks!
macmuchmore
Performance should be on par
Performance should be on par with the Sabertooth board since both TUF boards share the same components and design…
Awesome review! I guess
Awesome review! I guess you’re fan of Doctor Who, which is awesome too! Anyways, you just answered the exact questions on my mind.
I am planning a build with
I am planning a build with the Asus Sabertooth z97 Mark 1 with the Corsair H100i.
Can you explain further on the fitment issues you ran into?
Are you saying that instead of the Corsair logo being parallel to the ground, that it should be oriented 90 degrees to the left or right in order for it to fit?
i just put together a new
i just put together a new system with a sabertooth z97 and a h100i n had no problems at all, every thing went smooth.
Me too, just installed an
Me too, just installed an h100i on my z97 mark 1 without problems
After a lot of head fu***ing
After a lot of head fu***ing around. I i have finally decided on my gaming build, it consist of a corsair 750d case, sabertooth z97 (badass looking motherboard) Intel I7 4790k (devils canyon) and a evga 780ti sc.
The only thing I need to decide on now is what color cables and light I should use? I was. thinking blue or white! Can’t wait !
I completed a build with an
I completed a build with an ASUS z97 Mark 1, corsair H100i, ASUS R9 280X, and a i7-4790K.
I had an older Western Digital SSD 256 Gig. Second generation SATA that I used with it. The SSD drive was plugged into the first SATA port.
The SSD failed on me multiple times (was working fine in it’s former laptop).
Changed the SSD to a different port and used a different SATA cable. Seems to be fine now. I was curious if any other SATA issues have shown up. Could be motherboard, cable, or drive. It’s possible that I fixed it with the different cable but I wanted to ask around. I have read of issues with the Western Digital SATA drives so it’s my second suspect.
Robert Hart
I am having problem after
I am having problem after plugging wireless adapter ‘Asus PCE N-53’ in ‘PCI-Express x1’ of ‘asus Z97 mark1’ motherboard. I am using windows 8.1.
During whole installation of OS, I need to unplug the wireless card. I installed all drivers from DVD for this wireless card after OS install and then retried plugging in ‘Asus PCE N-53’ wireless card..Still same problem..
Window 8.1 is showing blue screen saying something that ‘problem deptected and collecting information and wil try to restart PC’.
Any idea, how I can fix this problem?
Thanks,
Krishna