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 | |
| Motherboards | Intel X99-based systems GIGABYTE X99-SOC Champion GIGABYTE X99 Gaming G1 ASUS X99-Deluxe EVGA X99 Classified Intel Z97-based system ASUS Maximus VII Formula |
| CPU | Intel X99-based systems Intel Core i7-5960X (3.0GHz, 30 x 100MHz Base Clock) Intel Z97-based system Intel Core i7-4770K (3.5GHz, 35 x 100MHz Base Clock) |
| Memory | Intel X99-based systems Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 modules (2133MHz, 15-17-17-35-1T, 1.225V) Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-3400 modules (2133MHz, 15-17-17-35-1T, 1.225V) Intel Z97-based system Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 modules (1600MHz, 9-10-9-27-1T, 1.525V) |
| Hard Drive | Intel 730 EVO 240GB SSD Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA III HD |
| Sound Card | On-board sound |
| Video Card | ASUS Poseidon GTX 780 3GB |
| CPU Cooling | XSPC Raystorm D5 Photon RX480 V3 WaterCooling Kit 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 X99 LGA2011-V3 board testing includes an Intel Core i7-5960X CPU, 32GB of DDR4-2666 memory, an ASUS Poseidon GTX 780 3GB video card, and an Intel 730 240GB SSD drive. The Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4-3400 memory was used for testing with the GIGABYTE X99-SOC Champion motherboard. Note that both DDR4 memory kits were run with similar timing settings to minimize differences seen in testing. For the Z97-based board testing, an Intel Core i7-4770K CPU, 16GB of DDR3-2400 memory, an ASUS Poseidon GTX 780 3GB video card, and a Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD drive were used in the test system. 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 2014 SP3
- LinX Intel Linpack Benchmark v0.6.5 with Intel Linpack version 11.1.3
- Maxon Cinebench R15
Can anyone explain why modern
Can anyone explain why modern motherboards STILL come with PS/2 ports? Does some common non-KB/Mouse hardware peripheral that i’m completely unaware of use them? I can’t imagine someone forking out cash for a new X99 system and thinking “alright, done. Now to plug in this old PS/2 mouse and keyboard”
Exactly you fucking jackass.
Exactly you fucking jackass.
Yes PS/2 keyboards are very
Yes PS/2 keyboards are very much in use by builders/overclockers/tweakers. The support is better, the pitfall fewer. Some gamers think they get better performance with PS/2, but I dunno. I just know it is much less of a pain to deal with an overclocked and unstable system with a PS/2 keyboard. USB needs to init correctly, PS/2 usually hasn’t that problem.
Of course an extreme overclockers board has at least a keyboard PS/2 port. It would sell a lot less if it lacked it.
I’ve overclocked my last
I’ve overclocked my last three personal 24/7 systems and cant say i’ve ever run into an issue with my usb kb/mouse setup, but i’m not an extreme overclocker either. I admit, i don’t follow that scene closely. So perhaps it’s just an issue i’ve never run into. I have a stack of old PS/2 keyboards and mice that i haven’t touched in years. The idea of using one, to me, is on the same level as adding in an old 3.5″ floppy drive. I’ll have to read up on the pros/cons of PS/2 peripherals since i haven’t looked at one in so long.
Yes, you should read up on
Yes, you should read up on this. PS/2 has some important advantages over USB that should not be ignored or glossed over.
PS/2 has a much lower CPU overhead, especially when running mouse polling above 100Hz. If you want low latency input with low CPU overhead and you also want high polling rates then you must use PS/2. USB simply cannot do all three of those things at the same time.
For me, the inclusion of two PS/2 ports on a motherboard is a must have, even now in 2015. Motherboards with only one, or no PS/2 ports don’t even make it on to my short list.
Somehow I got a double post.
Somehow I got a double post.
It has less input latency and
It has less input latency and overhead, supports key rollover better, and is supported by many UEFIs and BIOSes better than USB. I enjoy it because it will give you a much faster boot than anything else if you have your keyboard plugged into that and disable USB init in the UEFI.
In the pricing section you
In the pricing section you talk about the gaming G1 instead of the SOC?????
Thanks for the heads up, it
Thanks for the heads up, it has been corrected…
it is good to have at least
it is good to have at least one PS/2 keyboard & mouse if overclocking/IT “desktop” computer repair. USB keyboard & mouse require drivers but PS/2 one doesnt. overclocking require more time testing & not in windows OS boot with drivers. meaning sometimes usb keyboard & mouse are plug in & dont work because drivers hasnt been loaded yet & try PS/2 one instead. PnP stand for Plug and Play today but early it was Plug & Pray it work.
i work at a small computer store & build over 40+ new computers in 2014 from simple “Low End”, “high End” & even something close to the “Dream System” (tinyurl.com/m4zpl8k). using USB keyboard & mouse is fine. but get desktop repair with DDR1 or DDR2 with windows xp even IDE hard drives with AGP/PCI cards. so good to have spare parts around.
this is the same thing with serious & parallel ports. i dont use it personally since 1990s but get about a few requests for it from businesses for old LEGACY machines.
Right, i understand having
Right, i understand having them around if you’re in the business of repairing and maintaining old systems. That’s the exact reason i have a few around. But an X99 board isn’t an old system with AGP ports and Windows XP.
Anyway, there’s a good reply up above about it that i responded to as well.
I dont know about anyone
I dont know about anyone else. but I have a Z97 UD5H with same bios. and I find it incredibly annoying, and very contradictory
So Gigabyte copies Asus’ OC
So Gigabyte copies Asus’ OC Socket plus violates patents in order to enable the higher clock speeds on both the CPU and memory side and nothing is mentioned about it? This is not Gigabyte engineering prowess, it is their ability to once again copy whatever Asus does on their boards.
Also, Gigabyte no longer advertises their copied socket as being Intel Certified like on their other X99 boards. Does this mean if I use this board and the cpu dies that Intel will not provide a warranty? Will Gigabyte warranty the CPU?