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 | MSI Z97 XPower MSI Z97 Gaming 7 GIGABYTE Z97X-Gaming G1-WIFI-BK ASUS Z97-Deluxe EVGA Z97 Classified MSI Z87 XPower |
| Memory | Stock Testing Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 modules (1600MHz, 9-10-9-27-1T, 1.525V) Z97 Overclock Testing Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 modules (2400MHz, 11-13-13-31-1T, 1.65V) |
| 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
I just bought this mobo
I just bought this mobo (along with a 4790K Devils Canyon CPU) to replace my aging but still viable ASUS Maximus Formula LGA775 mobo/QX9650 3.0GHz Yorkfield setup. I’m expecting the delivery once I get home from work. Can’t wait.
“The Egg Place” has this mobo for less $ than either price listed in this article.
Normally, I look to an ASUS product first, but this Z97 XPower board looks to keep me happy for the next 5 years +
Its a nice board with some
Its a nice board with some very interesting add-ons, should be a good upgrade for you.
Best of luck…
I really enjoyed the Bios
I really enjoyed the Bios features review and the hardware pictures. A very good looking piece of gear. Please, let us know what results you see with further O.C. testing.
I also agree that the use of barbs instead of ports for the targeted customer was unusual. The addition of another NIC would be expected for that price point.
Thanks Morry!
can the barbs unscrew and
can the barbs unscrew and come out and replace with ports?
no, the barbs are fixed in
no, the barbs are fixed in place unfortunately…