ocaholic - Motherboards > Intel > Z97 > MSI Z97M Gaming Review

MSI Z97M Gaming Review

Category : Z97

Published by Hiwa Pouri on 22.07.14

Also MSI has meanwhile a gaming motherboard in their portfolio, that features mATX form factor. Therefore there is an interesting mix of features mainly targeting gamers but also addressing overclockers to a certain extent. Overall we are really curious to find out what MSI came up with in case of this board and here we will have a look at features as well as layout.

On the next few pages we will be checking out one of the MSI latest Intel Z97 Express based motherboards which is also a part of the company's Gaming series, the Z97M Gaming motherboard.

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

Specs and Delivery

Chipset	Intel Z97
Memory	Dual Channel DDR3, 4 x DIMM, Max. 32 GB DDR3, non-ECC, un-buffered memory DDR3 3300 / 3200 / 3100 / 3000 / 2800 / 2666 / 2600 / 2400 / 2200 / 2133 / 2000 / 1866 / 1600/1333/1066 MHz
Multi-GPU	Supports NVIDIA SLI Technology (2-Way) Supports AMD CrossFireX Technology (2-Way, 3-Way) Supports Lucid Virtu MVP 2.0
Slots	2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 (x16, x8/x8) 2 x PCIe 2.0 x1
Audio	Realtek ALC1150 7.1-Channel High Definition Audio Supports S/PDIF input/output
Storage	Intel Z97 chipset 6 x SATA3 6Gb/s (SATA3 1~6) IDE / AHCI / RAID 0/1/5/10 1 x M.2 port ASMedia ASM1061 2 x eSATA3 6Gb/s (back panel)
Network	Killer E2205 LAN controller (10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet)
Internal Connectors	ATX 24-Pin power connector 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector 4 x 4-pin CPU/System fan connectors 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors 1 x M.2 port 2 x USB 2.0 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 2.0 ports) 1 x USB 3.0 connectors (supports additional 2 USB 3.0 ports) 1 x Front Panel Audio connector 2 x System panel connectors 1 x Chassis Intrusion connector 1 x Power button 1 x OC Genie button 1 x Reset button 1 x Clear CMOS jumper 1 x Power button 1 x Audio power switch 1 x OC Genie mode switch 1 x 2-Digit Debug Code LED 1 x Direct audio power connector
Extrenal Connectors	1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port 1 x Clear CMOS button 1 x Optical S/PDIF-out port 2 x USB 2.0 ports 6 x USB 3.0 ports 1 x RJ45 LAN jack 1 x 6 in 1 OFC audio jack 1 x DisplayPort with max. resolution up to 4096x2160@24Hz, 24bpp/ 3840x1600@60Hz, 24bpp 2 x HDMI ports with max. resolution up to 4096x2160@24Hz, 24bpp/2560x1600@60Hz, 24bpp/ 1920x1080@60Hz, 36bpp
Forfactor	micro-ATX (24.4cm x 24.4cm)
BIOS	2 x 64Mb flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS

Drivers & Utilities Disc
Motherboard User Guide
I/O Shield
4x SATA Cable
Warranty brochure
Software & Application User Guide
M-Connectors
SLI Cable
Interface panel Plug
power Cable Direct audio
Door Hanger

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

Features

Military Class 4 Components	MSI's fancy name for high quality components, the Military Class 4 Components certified motherboards, are equiped with Hi-CCAP, Super Ferrite Choke and Dark CAPs for better stability, durability, efficiency and current as well as DrMOS 4, which is the name of the new MOSFETs which should deliver more than 600+ Watts for extreme overclocking.

Super stable with Guard-Pro	On their latest motherboads MSI has added a couple of new features, named Guard-Pro, which are divided in six different categories and are basicaly the circuit protection where MSI selected the best materials, Eco Power which physically cuts the power to unsed chips in order to save more than 29% power usage, Humidity Protection wich is very good for humid places and has 10% higher failure rate on PCB, High Temperature protection where MSI tested components in the hardest environments to insure stable operation, ESD Protection used for the new black I/O shield protect the board against electro-static discharge, and EMI Protection, which is made to reduce the impact of electromagnetic interference.

Gaming Device Port	Looking at the I/O shield we find two red USB ports which MSI calls Gaming Device Ports and which are optimized to deliver the best connectivity for gaming mice while helping gamers to have faster mouse response where needed.

OC Genie 4 / Click Bios 4	These days, all the motherboard companies care about overclocking and MSI was one of the first companies which helped normal users to overclock their system. The OC Genie 4 is a button for Overclocking CPU, Memory and the iGPU, and allows you to get up to 20 percent more performance with a simple press of a button.

Audio Boost 2	MSI equips its latest and greatest motherboard with an improved audio solution which includes the Realtek ALC1150 chip, Dual headphone amplifier. At the I/O shield we find golden audio jacks which is to improve the audio signals as well as high quality capacitors from nichicon and the PCB separation, As well as USB audio power to inhance USB audio quality and stable 5V power and better signal transmission over USB.

Killer Ethernet	It is rather obvious that MSI is not only optimizing this board for overclocking but also for gaming as well. Next to the beefed up audio solution there is the Killer Ethernet chip, which gives gamers additional control over a variety of network settings, which in the end can help reduce latency.

M.2 Support	The new Z97M Gaming motherboard from MSI features an M.2 slot which is placed between the two PCIe slots. This motherboard can be equipped with an SSD in M.2 format and it is wired directly to the Z97 PCH via two PCI Express lanes, therefore offering x2 bandwidth. In other words up to 10 Gbps can be pushed over the bus through this slot, almost doubling the performance compared to the SATA-III port.

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

Layout

Like we mentioned in the introduction the MSI Z97M Gaming motherboard comes with a Twin Frozr IV based design. Therefore, the PCB has a matte black finish with a few red touches on the heatsinks. The heatsinks themselves have been shaped with a lot of attention to detail and come with a matte black colour scheme. Combined, it makes the design unique and good looking. The layout itself has been well thought and there are plenty of useful features, like six USB 3.0 ports on the back, SATA 6Gbps ports, overclocking features and more.

MSI equipped the Z97M Gaming motherboard with an 8-phase digital power design with the uP1649Q from UPI taking care of the CPU VRM. The Z97M Gaming power design has one DRMOS for two phases rather than one DRMOS for one phase. All those solid capacitors are part of MSI's Military Class IV group of components so we are looking at one pretty strong power design.
The memory got a 2-phase digital power design here driven by the UPI uP01109, which is also one more phase than usual.

As far as the memory goes, you can find four DIMM-slots on the Z97M Gaming motherboard. Officially supported are the DDR3 3300 /3200 / 3100 / 3000 / 2800 / 2666 / 2600 / 2400 / 2200 / 2133 / 2000 / 1866 / 1600 / 1333 / 1066 MHz (O.C.). There is enough space between the DIMM-slots and the CPU socket which means that you will not run into any issues with large coolers, even if you choose to install memory with big heatspreaders. Also supported are the Xtreme Memory Profiles (XMP) in version 1.3. Overclocking the memory on this board with old ICs (PCS,BBSE), which are what all overlcockers are still using, is not really nice because of the BIOS issue. On the other hand, overclocking with the new Samsung ICs or the Hynix CFR,BFR,MFR is not bad for gaming and daily use PCs, but not for getting any serious high memory frequency results.

The PCH as well as the current converters are being held at adequate temperatures via passive heatsinks. The heatsink for current converters is made from a single aluminium block that uses one 8mm nickel-plated copper heatpipe. The PCH heatsink as not been been integrated into the heatpipe loop and is quite simple and flat. The cooling blocks have been very well made and also they are very well attached to the board to provide enough pressure on the components they have to cool down. They are entirely black colored with red stripes in order to go well with the rest of the MSI Gaming series components.

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

Connectors and I/O

In total, MSI equipped the Z97M Gaming with six SATA 6Gbps connectors. This means you get six native SATA-III ports from the PCH and there are even two additional eSATA ports at the I/O panel from another chip which is in this case the ASM1061 from ASMedia. With this motherboard you get two PCIe 16x Gen 3.0 and and two PCIe 1x Gen 2.0 slot and all of them have been coloured black. From top to bottom for the PCIe 16x slots you get, 16 and 8 lanes. This means you can do 8x/8x SLI/CrossFire. Basically, that are the standard options you get with any Intel's Z97 Express based motherboard, that does not come with a PLX chip. The placement of the PCIe slots has been well thought. There are for example two slots inbetween the two main PCIe 16x in order to provide a multi-GPU configuration with enough fresh air.
Something that is almost standard nowadays with premium motherboards are the practical onboard power- and reset-buttons as well as a debug LED. Furthermore there is an OC Genie button and an audio switch.
The BIOS can be cleared by removing the battery or simply by pushing the clr_CMOS button located on the back panel.

The MSI Z97M Gaming motherboard features a total of four fan headers, which is enough to provide an overclocking rig or even a high-end gaming machine with plenty of fresh air. A closer look at the pictures below shows where they have been placed. All four fan headers are PWM (4-pin).

Looking at the external connectors placed directly at the I/O-panel, MSI equipped the new Z97M Gaming motherboard with a P/S2 connector, six USB 3.0 ports, one Gigabit Ethernet port, one HDMI and a DisplayPort output, two USB 2.0 ports, the CLR_CMOS button as well as an optical out and the analogue audio panel.

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

BIOS

The most recent version of MSI’s UEFI BIOS presents itself with an attractive design, and you can not only monitor system information, CPU and motherboard temperature, CPU voltage and DRAM status but you can also create your own fan profiles for the different PWM headers. Other than that MSI has been working on the overclocking options, meaning they've added memory profiles to this motherboard. This helps making memory overclocking quite a bit easier.

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

Test setup

Hardware
Motherboard	ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional ASRock Z87 OC Formula ASRock Z87M Extreme4 ASRock Z87M OC Formula ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer ASRock Z97 Extreme6 ASUS Gryphon Z87 ASUS H97-Pro ASUS Maximus VI Extreme ASUS Maximus VI Formula ASUS Maximus VI Gene ASUS Maximus VII Gene ASUS Maximus VI Hero ASUS Maximus VII Hero ASUS Maximus VI Impact ASUS Maximus VII Ranger ASUS Sabertooth Z87 ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1 ASUS Z87-A ASUS Z87-Deluxe ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual ASUS Z87-Expert ASUS Z87-Plus ASUS Z87I-Pro ASUS Z97-K ASUS Z97I-Plus ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi ac Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87 Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H Gigabyte Z87X-OC Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force Intel DZ87KLT-75K MSI Z87 MPower Max MSI Z87 XPower MSI Z97M Gaming MSI Z97 MPower Max AC MSI Z97 XPower AC
Processor	Intel Core i7-4770K, 3.5 GHz
Memory	8 GB (2x4) G.Skill Ares DDR3-2133 @ 1'066 MHz CL10-11-10-27-Auto
Graphic card	ASUS GeForce GTX 680
Driver	ForceWare 320.18
Hard disk	Intel 335 Series SSD 120 GB
Power supply	Seasonic Platinum Fanless 520W

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

Preview / Gallery

Product Picture	Link to Gallery

	ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional

	ASRock Z87 OC Formula

	ASRock Z87M Extreme4

	ASRock Z87M OC Formula

	ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer

	ASRock Z97 Extreme6

	ASUS Gryphon Z87

	ASUS H97-Pro

	ASUS Maximus VI Extreme

	ASUS Maximus VI Formula

	ASUS Maximus VI Gene

	ASUS Maximus VII Gene

	ASUS Maximus VI Hero

	ASUS Maximus VI Impact

	ASUS Maximus VII Hero

	ASUS Maximus VII Ranger

	ASUS Sabertooth Z87

	ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1

	ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2

	ASUS Z87-A

	ASUS Z87-Deluxe

	ASUS Deluxe Dual

	ASUS Z87-Expert

	ASUS Z87-Plus

	ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi ac

	ASUS Z87I-Pro

	ASUS Z97-K

	ASUS Z97I-Plus

	Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87

	Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H

	Gigabyte Z87X-OC

	Gigabyte Z97-SOC Force

	Intel DZ87KLT-75K

	MSI Z87 MPower Max

	MSI Z87 XPower

	MSI Z97M Gaming

	MSI Z97 MPower Max AC

	MSI Z97 XPower AC

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

3D Mark

Ice Storm

3D Mark Ice Storm Score	Review Rating		Percent
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		153'524	107.04 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		152'769	106.51 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		152'141	106.07 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		151'761	105.81 %
ASUS Z87-A		151'740	105.80 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		151'740	105.33 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		151'732	105.79 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		151'266	105.46 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		151'066	105.33 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		151'006	105.28 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		150'988	105.27 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		150'951	105.25 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	150'751	105.11 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		149'601	104.30 %
ASUS Z97-K		148'866	103.79 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		148'405	103.47 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		148'201	103.33 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		148'750	103.71 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		149'207	104.03 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		148'647	103.64 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		148'605	103.61 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		148'322	103.41 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		148'302	103.40 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		147'814	103.06 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		147'546	102.87 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	147'490	102.83 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		147'120	102.57 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		146'922	102.44 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		146'682	102.27 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		146'081	101.85 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		146'066	101.84 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		146'005	101.80 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		145'788	101.65 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		145'708	101.59 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		145'555	101.48 %
ASUS H97-Pro		145.083	101.15 %
MSI Z87 XPower		144'854	100.99 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	143'428	100.00 %
		more is better

Ice Storm Physics

3D Mark Ice Storm Physics Score	Review Rating		Percent
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		53'077	106.19 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		52'920	105.87 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		52'672	105.38 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		52'001	104.03 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	51'963	103.96 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		51'870	103.77 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		51'846	103.72 %
ASUS Z87-A		51'770	103.57 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		51'727	103.49 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		51'324	102.68 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		51'303	102.63 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		50'388	101.33 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		51'288	102.61 %
ASUS Z97-K		50'759	101.55 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		50'729	101.49 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		50'691	101.41%
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		50'651	101.33 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		50'586	101.20 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		50'537	101.10 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		50'205	102.87 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		50'200	100.43 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		50'117	100.26 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	49'985	100.00 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		49'953	99.73 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	49'819	99.67 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		48'980	97.99 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		49'702	99.43 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		49'615	99.26 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		49'582	99.19 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		49'477	98.98 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		49'393	98.82 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		49'313	98.66 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		49'124	98.27 %
MSI Z87 XPower		48'635	97.29 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		48'881	97.79 %
ASUS H97-Pro		48'847	97.72 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		48'802	97.63 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		48'800	97.63 %
		more is better

Fire Strike

3D Mark Fire Strike Score	Review Rating		Percent
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		6'355	100.27 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		6'353	100.24 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		6'352	100.22 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		6'347	100.14 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		6'341	100.05 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		6'340	100.03 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		6'338	100.00 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	6'338	100.00 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		6'327	99.83 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		6'327	99.83 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		6'326	99.81 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		6'325	99.79 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		6'324	99.78 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		6'322	99.75 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		6'320	99.72 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		6'320	99.72 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	6'319	99.70 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		6'318	99.68 %
ASUS Z97-K		6'322	99.74 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		6'319	99.70 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		6'319	99.70 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		6'318	99.68 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		6'318	99.68 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		6'317	99.67 %
ASUS Z87-A		6'317	99.67 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		6'315	99.64 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		6'315	99.64 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		6'315	99.64 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		6'314	99.62 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		6'312	99.59 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	6'312	99.59 %
ASUS H97-Pro		6'309	99.54 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		6'309	99.54 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		6'307	99.51 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		6'304	99.46 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		6'300	99.40 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		6'292	99.27 %
MSI Z87 XPower		6'272	98.95 %
		more is better

Fire Strike Physics

3D Mark Fire Strike Physics Score	Review Rating		Percent
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		10'202	101.35 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		10'180	101.13 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		10'152	100.85 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	10'152	100.85 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		10'150	100.83 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		10'148	100.81 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		10'146	100.79 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		10'146	100.79 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		10'145	100.78 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		10'144	100.77 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		10'140	100.74 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		10'135	100.69 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	10'122	100.56 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		10.120	100.54 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		10'120	100.54 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		10'119	100.53 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		10'117	100.51 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		10'112	100.46 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		10'109	100.43 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		10'107	100.41 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		10'103	100.36 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		10'082	100.16 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		10'103	100.37 %
MSI Z87 XPower		10'103	100.36 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		10'103	100.37 %
ASUS Z87-A		10'097	100.31 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		10'092	100.26 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		10'091	100.25 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		10'089	100.23 %
ASUS Z97-K		10'078	100.11 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		10'078	100.11 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		10'072	100.06 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		10'071	100.05 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	10'066	100.00 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		10'053	99.87 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		10'050	99.84 %
ASUS H97-Pro		9'994	99.28 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		9'985	99.19 %
		more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

3D Mark 11

3D Mark 11 Total	Review Rating		Percent
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		9'702	101.40 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		9'700	101.38 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		9'698	101.35 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		9'696	101.34 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		9'694	101.32 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		9'692	101.30 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		9'691	101.29 %
ASUS Z87-A		9'691	101.29 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		9'691	101.29 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		9'691	101.29 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		9'690	101.28 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	9'689	101.26 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		9'684	101.21 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		9'684	101.21 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		9'683	101.20 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		9'683	101.20 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		9'678	101.15 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		9'681	101.18 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		9'677	101.14 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		9'676	101.13 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		9'674	101.11 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		9'670	101.07 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		9'668	101.05 %
ASUS Z97-K		9'669	101.05 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		9'664	101.00 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		9'644	100.79 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		9'664	101.00 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		9'663	100.99 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		9'658	100.94 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		9'622	100.56 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		9'622	100.56 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		9'604	100.38 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	9'651	100.86 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		9'651	100.87 %
MSI Z87 XPower		9'613	100.47 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		9'612	100.46 %
ASUS H97-Pro		9'640	100.75 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	9'568	100.00 %
		more is better

CPU

3D Mark 11 Physics	Review Rating		Percent
ASUS Z87-Expert		10'130	108.88 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		10'120	108.77 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		10'120	108.77 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		10'120	108.77 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	10'120	108.77 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		10'119	108.77 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		10'118	108.75 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		10'113	108.70 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		10'109	108.65 %
ASUS Z87-A		10'106	108.62 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		10'106	108.62 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		10'095	108.50 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		10'091	108.46 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		10.080	108.34 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		10'068	108.21 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	10'058	108.10 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		10'036	107.87 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		10'019	107.68 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		10'018	107.67 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		10'013	107.62 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		10'007	107.56 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		10'001	107.49 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		9'999	107.47 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		9'996	107.44 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		9'996	107.44 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		9'996	107.44 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		9'983	107.30 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		9'979	107.26 %
MSI Z87 XPower		9'977	107.23 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		9'954	106.99 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		9'916	106.58 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		9'885	106.24 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		9'882	106.21 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		9'812	105.46 %
ASUS Z97-K		9'792	105.25 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		9'736	104.64 %
ASUS H97-Pro		9'613	103.32 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	9'304	100.00 %
		more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

3D Mark Vantage

3D Mark Vantage Total	Review Rating		Percent
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		33'057	102.49 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		33'053	102.47 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	33'006	102.33 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		32'925	102.08 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		32'916	102.05 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		32'907	102.02 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		32'880	101.94 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		32'877	101.93 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		32'872	101.91 %
ASUS Z87-A		32'869	101.90 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		32'860	101.88 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		32'847	101.84 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		32'831	101.79 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		32'830	101.78 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		32'825	101.77 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		32'820	101.69 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		32'818	101.75 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		32'799	101.69 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		32'788	101.65 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		32'741	101.51 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	32'740	101.50 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		32'724	101.45 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		32'702	101.39 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		32'696	101.37 %
ASUS H97-Pro		32'645	101.21 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		32'657	101.25 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		32'589	101.04 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		32'353	100.30 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		32'560	100.95 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		32'459	100.63 %
ASUS Z97-K		32'402	100.46 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		32'312	100.17 %
MSI Z87 XPower		32'306	100.15 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		32'684	101.33 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		32'272	100.05 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	32'255	100.00 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		32'069	99.42 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		31'738	98.40 %
		more is better

3D Mark Vantage CPU	Review Rating		Percent
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		26'874	103.32 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		26'872	103.31 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		26'870	103.30 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		26'783	102.97 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		26'777	102.94 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		26'764	102.89 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	26'757	102.87 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		26'752	102.85 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		26'750	102.84 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		26'750	102.84 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		26'725	102.74 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		26'719	102.72 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		26'719	102.72 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	26'701	102.65 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		26'672	102.54 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		26'670	102.53 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		26'670	102.53 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		26'640	102.42 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		26'620	102.34 %
MSI Z87 XPower		26'639	102.41 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		26'592	102.23 %
ASUS H97-Pro		26'590	102.23 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		26'585	102.21 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		26'585	102.21 %
ASUS Z87-A		26'563	102.12 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		26'536	102.02 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		26'525	101.98 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		26'523	101.97 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		26'418	101.56 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		26'328	101.22 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		26'510	101.92 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		26'437	101.64 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		26'436	101.63 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		26'333	101.24 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		26'096	100.32 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		26'054	100.16 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	26'011	100.00 %
ASUS Z97-K		25'974	99.86 %
		more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

PC Mark 07

Total

PC Mark 07 Total	Review Rating		Percent
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		6'175	102.02 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		6'163	101.82 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	6'162	101.80 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		6'157	101.72 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		6'156	101.70 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		6'156	101.70 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		6'155	101.69 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		6'154	101.35 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		6'153	101.65 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		6'152	101.63 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		6'152	101.64 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		6'150	101.60 %
ASUS Z87-A		6'149	101.59 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		6'147	101.55 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	6'145	101.52 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		6'142	101.47 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		6'141	101.45 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		6'136	101.37 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		6'135	101.35 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		6'135	101.35 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		6'133	101.32 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		6'129	101.26 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		6'131	101.12 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		6'129	101.26 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		6'129	101.26 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		6'128	101.24 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		6'125	101.19 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		6'124	101.17 %
ASUS Z97-K		6'119	101.19 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		6'119	101.09 %
MSI Z87 XPower		6'116	101.04 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		6'115	101.04 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		6'102	100.81 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		6'098	100.74 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		6'077	100.40 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		6'055	100.03 %
ASUS H97-Pro		6'059	100.01 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	6'053	100.00 %
		more is better

Video playback and transcoding / Video playback	Review Rating	fps	Percent
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		23.98	100.08 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	23.98	100.08 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		23.98	100.08 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		23.98	100.08 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		23.98	100.08 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		23.98	100.08 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		23.97	100.04 %
ASUS H97-Pro		23.97	100.00 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		23.97	100.04 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		23.97	100.04 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		23.97	100.04 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		23.97	100.04 %
ASUS Z87-A		23.97	100.04 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		23.97	100.04 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		23.97	100.04 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		23.97	100.04 %
ASUS Z97-K		23.97	100.04 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		23.97	100.04 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		23.97	100.04 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		23.97	100.04 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		23.97	100.04 %
MSI Z87 XPower		23.97	100.04 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		23.97	100.04 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		23.97	100.04 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		23.96	100.00%
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		23.96	100.00 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		23.96	100.00 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		23.96	100.00 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		23.96	100.00 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	23.96	100.00 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		23.96	100.00 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		23'96	100.00 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		23.96	100.00 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	23.96	100.00 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		23.95	99.96 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		23.95	99.96 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		23.95	99.96 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		23.95	99.96 %
		more is better

Graphics - DirectX 9 / Graphics - DirectX 9	Review Rating	fps	Percent
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		113.84	104.00 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		113.78	103.92 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		113.72	103.86 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		113.69	103.84 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		113.62	103.77 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		113.57	103.73 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		113.52	103.68 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	113.49	103.65 %
ASUS Z87-A		113.48	103.64 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		113.38	103.55 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		113.33	103.50 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		113.30	103.48 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		113.29	103.47 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		113.27	103.45 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		113.26	103.44 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	113.23	103.42 %
ASUS H97-Pro		113.21	103.40 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		113.17	103.46 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		113.11	103.31 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		113.11	103.31 %
ASUS Z97-K		113.08	103.28 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		113.05	103.25 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		112.99	103.20 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		112.95	103.16 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		112.84	103.06 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		112.80	103.02 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		112.68	102.91 %
MSI Z87 XPower		112.58	102.82 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		112.38	102.64 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		112.37	102.63 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		112.34	102.60 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		111.48	101.82 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		111.40	101.74 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		110.52	100.94 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	109.49	100.00 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		108.57	99.16 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		107.88	98.53 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		107.79	98.45 %
		more is better

Image manipulation / Image manipulation	Review Rating	Mpx/s	Percent
MSI Z87 MPower Max		25.22	104.82 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		25.16	104.57 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		25.15	104.53 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		25.14	104.49 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		25.14	104.49 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		25.14	104.49 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		25.12	104.41 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	25.12	104.41 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	25.10	104.32 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		25.05	104.11 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		25.05	104.11 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		25.13	104.44 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		25.12	104.41 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		25.04	104.07 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		25.03	104.03 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		25.03	104.03 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		25.03	104.03 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		25.02	103.99 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		25.02	103.99 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		25.01	103.99 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		25.00	103.91 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		25.00	103.91 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		24.98	103.82 %
ASUS Z87-A		24.98	103.82 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		24.97	103.78 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		24.95	103.78 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		24.90	103.49 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		24.86	103.33 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		24.79	103.03 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		24.61	102.28 %
MSI Z87 XPower		24.85	103.28 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		24.56	102.08 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		24.56	102.08 %
ASUS H97-Pro		24.53	101.95 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		24.48	101.75 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		24.45	101.62 %
ASUS Z97-K		24.47	101.70 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	24.06	100.00 %
		more is better

Web browsing and decrypting / Web browsing	Review Rating	Pages/s	Percent
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		25.98	110.42 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		25.97	110.37 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		25.92	110.16 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		25.89	110.03 %
MSI Z87 XPower		25.67	109.09 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		25.66	109.05 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		25.55	108.58 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		25.49	108.33 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		25.48	108.29 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		25.46	108.20 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		25.42	108.03 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		25.41	107.99 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		25.40	107.95 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		25.40	107.95 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		25.38	107.86 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		25.38	107.86 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		25.38	107.86 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		25.38	107.86 %
ASUS Z87-A		25.33	107.65 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		25.31	107.56 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		25.26	107.35 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		25.25	107.31 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		25.21	107.14 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	25.14	106.84 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		25.13	106.80 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		25.11	106.71 %
ASUS Z97-K		25.11	106.71 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		25.07	106.54 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		25.02	106.33 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		24.71	105.01 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		24.32	103.36 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		24.70	104.97 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		24.19	102.80 %
ASUS H97-Pro		23.93	101.70 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		23.88	101.48 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	23.53	100.00 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		22.46	95.45 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	21.15	89.89 %
		more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

SiSoft Sandra 1

Arithmetic Benchmark

SiSoft Sandra - Arithmetic Benchmark - Dhrystone	Review Rating	GIPS	Percent
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		118.52	100.23 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		118.48	100.22 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		118.39	100.14 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		118.38	100.14 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		118.35	100.14 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		118.33	100.09 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		118.25	100.03 %
MSI Z87 XPower		118.30	100.06 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		118.31	100.08 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		118.29	100.06 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		118.28	100.05 %
ASUS H97-Pro		118.27	100.04 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		118.26	100.03 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		118.24	100.02 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	118.22	100.00 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		118.21	99.99 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		118.21	99.99 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		118.20	99.98 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		118.15	99.94 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		118.14	99.93 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		118.14	99.93 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		118.14	99.93 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		118.13	99.92 %
ASUS Z87-A		118.13	99.92 %
ASUS Z97-K		118.09	99.89 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		118.07	99.87 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		118.00	99.81 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	118.00	99.81 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		118.00	99.81 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		118.00	99.81 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		118.00	99.81 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		118.00	99.81 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	118.00	99.81 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		118.00	99.81 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		118.00	99.81 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		117.90	99.73 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		117.85	99.69 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		117.73	99.59 %
		more is better

SiSoft Sandra - Arithmetic Benchmark - Whetstone	Review Rating	GFLOPS	Percent
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		90.82	101.33 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		90.70	101.19 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		90.65	101.14 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		90.61	101.10 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		90.71	101.20 %
MSI Z87 XPower		90.60	101.08 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		90.58	101.06 %
ASUS H97-Pro		90.57	101.05 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		90.55	101.03 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		90.48	100.95 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		90.47	100.94 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		90.41	100.87 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	90.39	100.86 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		90.43	100.89 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		90.40	100.86 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		90.36	100.81 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		90.36	100.81 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		90.32	100.76 %
ASUS Z97-K		90.28	100.73 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		90.30	100.75 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		90.30	100.75 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		90.29	100.74 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		90.20	100.64 %
ASUS Z87-A		90.10	100.52 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		90.09	100.51 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		90.08	100.50 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		90.01	100.42 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		90.00	100.41 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		90.00	100.41 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		90.00	100.41 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		90.00	100.41 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	90.00	100.41 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		90.00	100.41 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		90.00	100.41 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		89.91	100.31 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	89.63	100.00 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		89.62	99.99 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		89.32	99.65 %
		more is better

Multimedia

SiSoft Sandra - Multimedia - Integer	Review Rating	MPixels/sec	Percent
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		382.72	100.23 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		382.68	100.22 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		382.64	100.20 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		382.32	100.12 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	382.26	100.11 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		382.23	100.10 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		382.22	100.10 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		382.20	100.28 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		382.18	100.27 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		382.17	100.08 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		382.00	100.04 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		382.00	100.04 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		382.00	100.04 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		382.00	100.04 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		381.92	100.02 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		381.91	100.02 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	381.85	100.00 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		381.86	100.00%
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	381.85	100.00 %
ASUS Z97-K		381.78	99.98 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		381.69	99.96 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		381.69	99.96 %
MSI Z87 XPower		381.63	99.94 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		381.63	99.94 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		381.53	99.91 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		381.46	99.90 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		381.38	99.88 %
ASUS Z87-A		381.32	99.86 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		381.19	99.82 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		381.15	99.82 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		381.08	99.80 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		381.00	99.78 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		381.00	99.78 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		381.00	99.78 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		381.00	99.78 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		380.89	99.75 %
ASUS H97-Pro		380.78	99.74 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		380.51	99.65 %
		more is better

SiSoft Sandra - Multimedia - Floating Point	Review Rating	MPixels/sec	Percent
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		376.35	100.44 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		376.10	100.37 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		375.68	100.26 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	375.68	100.26 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		375.63	100.25 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		375.36	100.18 %
ASUS H97-Pro		375.35	100.17 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		375.30	100.16 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		375.28	100.15 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		375.23	100.16 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		375.22	100.15 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		375.20	100.15 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		375.21	100.14 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		375.16	100.12 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		375.00	100.08 %
ASUS Z97-K		375.00	100.08 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		375.00	100.08 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		374.92	100.06 %
MSI Z87 XPower		374.85	100.04 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	374.81	100.03 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		374.77	100.02 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		374.70	100.00 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	374.70	100.00 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		374.64	99.98 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		374.58	99.97 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		374.58	99.96 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		374.49	99.94 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		374.19	99.86 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		374.16	99.86 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		374.10	99.83 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		374.01	99.82 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		374.00	99.81 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		374.00	99.81 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		373.86	99.78 %
ASUS Z87-A		373.83	99.77 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		373.81	99.76 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		369.00	99.48 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		367.77	98.15 %
		more is better

Crytography

SiSoft Sandra - Crytography - AES 256	Review Rating	GB/sec	Percent
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		8.93	102.41 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		8.92	102.29 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		8.90	102.06 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		8.90	102.06 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		8.90	102.06 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		8.90	102.06 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		8.89	101.95 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		8.89	101.95 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		8.88	101.83 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		8.88	101.83 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	8.88	101.83 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		8.86	101.61 %
ASUS Z87-A		8.85	101.49 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		8.84	101.38 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		8.83	101.26 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		8.74	100.46%
MSI Z87 MPower Max		8.74	100.23 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		8.73	100.11 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		8.73	100.11 %
MSI Z87 XPower		8.73	100.11 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	8.72	100.00 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	8.71	99.89 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		8.71	99.89 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		8.70	99.77 %
ASUS Z97-K		8.70	99.77 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		8.68	99.54 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		8.68	99.54 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		8.67	99.43 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		8.65	99.20 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		8.64	99.08 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		8.49	97.36 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		8.46	97.01 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		8.45	96.90 %
ASUS H97-Pro		8.40	96.33 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		7.26	83.26 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		7.26	83.26 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		7.15	82.00 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		7.13	81.77 %
		more is better

SiSoft Sandra - Crytography - SHA 256	Review Rating	GB/sec	Percent
ASUS H97-Pro		1.24	109.73 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		1.24	109.73 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		1.24	109.73 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		1.24	109.73 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		1.24	109.73 %
ASUS Z97-K		1.24	109.73 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		1.24	109.73 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		1.24	109.73 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		1.24	109.73 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		1.24	109.73 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		1.13	100.00 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		1.13	100.00 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		1.13	100.00 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		1.13	100.00 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		1.13	100.00 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	1.13	100.00 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		1.13	100.00 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		1.13	100.00 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		1.13	100.00 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		1.13	100.00 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		1.13	100.00 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		1.13	100.00 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		1.13	100.00 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		1.13	100.00 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		1.13	100.00 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		1.13	100.00 %
ASUS Z87-A		1.13	100.00 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		1.13	100.00 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		1.13	100.00 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		1.13	100.00 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	1.13	100.00 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		1.13	100.00 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		1.13	100.00 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		1.13	100.00 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		1.13	100.00 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	1.13	100.00 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		1.13	100.00 %
MSI Z87 XPower		1.13	100.00 %
		more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

SiSoft Sandra 2

Memory bandwidth

SiSoft Sandra - Memory bandwidth - Integer	Review Rating	GB/sec	Percent
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		28.03	103.36 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		28.01	103.28 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		28.00	103.24 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		28.00	103.24 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		27.90	102.88 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		27.88	102.80 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		27.86	102.72 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		27.85	102.69 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		27.85	102.69 %
ASUS Z87-A		27.84	102.65 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		27.83	102.62 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		27.83	102.62 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		27.83	102.62 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	27.76	102.36 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		27.73	102.25 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		27.72	102.21 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		27.58	101.70 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		27.52	101.47 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		27.42	101.11 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		27.36	100.88 %
MSI Z87 XPower		27.44	101.17 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		27.35	100.85 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		27.31	100.70 %
ASUS Z97-K		27.24	100.44 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		27.20	100.29 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	27.12	100.00 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		26.92	99.26 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	26.84	98.97 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		26.83	98.93 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		26.61	98.12 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		26.35	97.16 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		26.33	97.09 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		23.49	86.61 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		23.00	84.81 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		22.90	84.44 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		22.40	82.60 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		22.37	82.49 %
ASUS H97-Pro		22.10	81.49 %
		more is better

SiSoft Sandra - Memory bandwidth - floating point	Review Rating	GB/sec	Percent
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		28.21	102.92 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		28.19	102.85 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		28.12	102.59 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		28.09	102.48 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		28.00	102.15 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		28.00	102.15 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		28.00	102.15 %
ASUS Z87-A		28.00	102.15 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		28.00	102.15 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	28.00	102.15 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		28.00	102.15 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		27.90	101.79 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		27.90	101.79 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		27.90	101.79 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		27.76	101.28 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		27.71	101.09 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		27.62	100.77 %
MSI Z87 XPower		27.48	100.25 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		27.46	100.18 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	27.41	100.00 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		27.40	99.96 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		27.36	99.82 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		27.00	98.50 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		27.00	99.48 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		26.87	98.02 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		26.72	97.48 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		26.70	97.41 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	26.69	97.37 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		26.37	97.16 %
ASUS Z97-K		26.00	96.15 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		24.46	89.24 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		23.46	85.59 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		23.42	85.44 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		23.00	83.91 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		23.00	83.91 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		22.46	81.94 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		22.32	81.43 %
ASUS H97-Pro		22.25	81.17 %
		more is better

Memory latency

SiSoft Sandra - Memory latency	Review Rating	ns	Percent
ASUS Z87I-Pro		21.2	119.81 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		21.3	119.25 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		21.3	119.25 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		21.3	119.25 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		21.3	119.25 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	21.3	119.25 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		21.3	119.25 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		21.3	119.25 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		21.3	119.25 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		21.3	119.25 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		21.3	119.25 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		21.3	119.25 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		21.3	119.25 %
ASUS Z97-K		21.3	119.25 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		21.3	119.25 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		21.3	119.25 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		21.3	119.25 %
ASUS Z87-A		21.3	119.25 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		21.3	119.25 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		21.3	119.25 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		21.3	119.25 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	21.3	119.25 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		21.3	119.25 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		21.3	119.25 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		21.3	119.25 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		21.3	119.25 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		21.3	119.25 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		21.3	119.25 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		21.3	119.25 %
MSI Z87 XPower		21.3	119.25 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		21.4	118.69 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		21.4	118.69 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		21.4	118.69 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		21.4	118.69 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		21.4	118.69 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		21.4	118.69 %
96.46		24.5	96.46 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	25.4	100.00 %
		less is better	more is better

Memory and cache access

SiSoft Sandra - Memory and cache access	Review Rating	GB/sec	Percent
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		169.28	106.49 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		169.26	106.46 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		169.24	106.46 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		169.24	106.46 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		169.18	106.42 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		169.17	106.42 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		169.14	106.40 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		169.02	106.32 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		169.00	106.31 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		169.00	106.31 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		168.90	106.25 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		168.79	106.18 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		168.74	106.15 %
ASUS Z87-A		168.71	106.13 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		168.62	106.07 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	168.36	105.91 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		168.37	105.91 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		168.34	105.89 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		168.34	105.89 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		168.33	105.89 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		168.22	105.82 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		168.15	105.77 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		168.08	105.73 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		168.07	105.72 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		167.95	105.65 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		167.86	105.59 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	167.00	105.05 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		166.60	104.80 %
ASUS Z97-K		166.57	104.78 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		165.42	104.06 %
MSI Z87 XPower		162.33	102.11 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		159.87	100.57 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	158.97	100.00 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		154.40	97.13 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		153.87	96.79 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		153.64	96.65 %
ASUS H97-Pro		156.41	98.39 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		152.51	95.64 %
		more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

UC Bench

UC Bench	Review Rating	PW/sec	Percent
MSI Z97 XPower AC		901.8	101.60 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		901.4	101.55 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		901.2	101.53 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		901.0	101.41 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		900.7	101.48 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		900.6	101.46 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		900.6	101.46 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		900.6	101.46 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		900.5	101.45 %
ASUS H97-Pro		900.4	101.44 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		899.7	101.36 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		898.8	101.26 %
ASUS Z97-K		898.7	101.25 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		889.8	100.27 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		889.7	100.24 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		889.7	100.24 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		889.5	100.21 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		889.4	100.20 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		889.1	100.17 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		889.1	100.17 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		889.1	100.17 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		889.1	100.17 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		889.1	100.17 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		889.1	100.17 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		889.1	100.17 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		889.1	100.17 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		889.1	100.17 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		889.1	100.17 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		889.0	100.16 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		889.0	100.16 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	888.9	100.15 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		888.9	100.15 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		888.8	100.14 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		888.7	100.12 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	888.7	100.12 %
ASUS Z87-A		888.3	100.08 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	887.6	100.00 %
MSI Z87 XPower		887.4	102.11 %
		more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

Super Pi 1M - 32M

Super Pi 1M

Super Pi 1.5 XS - 1M	Review Rating	sec	Percent
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		10.187	101.69 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		10.187	101.69 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	10.202	101.54 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		10.202	101.54 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		10.202	101.54 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		10.202	101.54 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		10.202	101.54 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		10.203	101.53 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		10.203	101.53 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		10.203	101.53 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		10.218	101.38 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		10.218	101.38 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		10.218	101.38 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		10.218	101.38 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	10.218	101.38 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		10.218	101.38 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		10.233	101.23 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		10.233	101.23 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		10.233	101.23 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		10.233	101.23 %
MSI Z87 XPower		10.233	101.23 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		10.234	101.22 %
ASUS Z87-A		10.234	101.22 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		10.249	101.07 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		10.235	101.21 %
ASUS Z97-K		10.235	101.21 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		10.249	101.07 %
ASUS H97-Pro		10.249	101.07 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		10.249	101.07 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		10.265	100.92 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		10.265	100.92 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		10.265	100.92 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		10.265	100.92 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		10.265	100.92 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		10.280	100.77 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		10.288	100.69 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		10.296	100.61 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	10.359	100.00 %
		less is better	more is better

Super Pi 32M

Super Pi 1.5 XS - 32M	Review Rating	sec	Percent
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		527.499	103.18 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		527.700	103.14 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		527.764	103.13 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		528.139	103.05 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	528.373	103.01 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		528.513	102.98 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		528.607	102.96 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		528.654	102.95 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		529.185	102.85 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		529.263	102.84 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		528.685	102.95 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	528.857	102.91 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		529.090	102.87 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		529.134	102.86 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		529.387	102.81 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		529.403	102.81 %
ASUS Z87-A		529.418	102.81 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		529.449	102.80 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		529.777	102.74 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		529.808	102.73 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		529.864	102.72 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		529.870	102.72 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		529.871	102.72 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		529.996	102.69 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		530.338	102.63 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		531.257	102.45 %
MSI Z87 XPower		531.337	102.43 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		531.856	102.33 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		532.148	102.28 %
ASUS Z97-K		532.149	102.28 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		532.304	102.25 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		533.766	101.40 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		534.519	101.23 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		534.625	101.80 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		535.172	101.70 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		536.203	101.50 %
ASUS H97-Pro		538.233	101.12 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	544.270	100.00 %
		less is better	more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

wPrime 1024M Multicore

wPrime - 1024M Multi Core	Review Rating	sec	Percent
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		206.545	100.14 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		206.576	100.13 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		206.577	100.12 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		206.591	100.12 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		206.655	100.09 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		206.657	100.09 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		206.660	100.08 %
ASUS Z87-A		206.622	100.11 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		206.668	100.08 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	206.669	100.08 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		206.672	100.08 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		206.682	100.08 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		206.699	100.07 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		206.700	100.07 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		206.700	100.07 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		206.700	100.07 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		206.726	100.06 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	206.732	100.05 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		206.732	100.05 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		206.744	100.05 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		206.762	100.04 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		206.772	100.03 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		206.772	100.03 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		206.775	100.03 %
ASUS Z97-K		206.800	100.01 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		206.807	100.02 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		206.809	100.02 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		206.827	100.01 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		206.827	100.01 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		206.830	100.00 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		206.830	100.00 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		206.835	100.00 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		206.835	100.00 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	206.841	100.00 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		206.919	99.96 %
ASUS H97-Pro		207.056	99.89 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		207.022	99.91 %
MSI Z87 XPower		207.123	99.86 %
		more is better	more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

Cinebench R11.5

Cinebench R11.5 - Multi Core

Cinebench R11.5 - Multi Core	Review Rating	pts	Percent
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		7.80	102.36 %
ASUS Z87-A		7.80	102.36 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		7.79	102.33 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		7.79	102.23 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		7.79	102.23 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		7.78	102.10 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		7.77	101.97 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		7.77	101.97 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		7.77	101.97 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		7.77	101.97 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		7.77	101.97 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	7.77	101.97 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		7.77	101.97 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		7.77	101.97 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		7.77	101.97 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		7.77	101.97 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		7.77	101.97 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		7.76	101.84 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		7.76	101.84 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		7.76	101.71 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		7.76	101.84 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		7.75	101.71 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	7.75	101.71 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		7.75	101.71 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		7.75	101.71 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		7.75	101.71 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		7.74	101.57 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		7.74	101.57 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		7.74	101.57 %
ASUS Z97-K		7.73	101.44 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		7.73	101.44 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		7.71	101.18 %
ASUS H97-Pro		7.70	101.05 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		7.70	101.05 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		7.68	100.78 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		7.67	100.66 %
MSI Z87 XPower		7.64	100.26 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	7.62	100.00 %
		less is better	more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

Bioshock: Infinite

Low resolution, low details

Bioshock: Infinite (low resolution, low details)	Review Rating	fps	Percent
ASUS Gryphon Z87		381.27	111.05 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	379.88	110.64 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		379.68	110.58 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		378.94	110.37 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		376.54	109.67 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		375.71	109.43 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		374.96	109.21 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		372.85	108.59 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		371.01	108.06 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		370.58	107.93 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		370.03	107.77 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		369.12	107.51 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	368.42	107.30 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		368.40	107.28 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		368.30	107.27 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		367.34	106.99 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		367.26	106.97 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		367.20	106.95 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		367.12	106.93 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		367.05	106.91 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		366.76	106.82 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		366.57	106.81 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		365.75	106.53 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		364.53	106.13 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		364.46	106.15 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		360.68	105.05 %
ASUS Z97-K		359.87	104.81 %
ASUS H97-Pro		359.50	104.71 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		356.76	103.91 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		356.12	103.72 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		355.98	103.68 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		354.00	103.10 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	343.34	100.00 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		339.67	98.93 %
MSI Z87 XPower		338.74	98.66 %
ASUS Z87-A		337.56	98.32 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		336.77	98.09 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		326.77	95.17 %
		more is better

High resolution, high details

Bioshock: Infinite (high resolution, high details)	Review Rating	fps	Percent
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	75.11	101.42 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		75.02	101.30 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		75.00	101.27 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		74.94	101.19 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		74.92	101.16 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		74.91	101.15 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		74.90	101.13 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		74.89	101.12 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		74.89	101.12 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		74.88	101.11 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		74.86	101.08 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		74.85	101.07 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		74.85	101.07 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		74.84	101.05 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		74.83	101.04 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		74.82	101.02 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		74.80	101.00 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		74.78	100.97 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		74.78	100.97 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		74.77	100.96 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		74.76	100.95 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		74.76	100.95 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		74.76	100.95 %
ASUS Z87-A		74.74	100.92 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		74.72	100.89 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		74.72	100.89 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		74.72	100.89 %
ASUS Z97-K		74.70	100.86 %
ASUS H97-Pro		74.64	100.78 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		74.50	100.59 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		74.48	100.57 %
MSI Z87 XPower		74.48	100.57 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		74.46	100.54 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		74.43	100.50 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		74.29	100.31 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	74.18	100.16 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	74.06	100.00 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		74.04	99.97 %
		more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

Metro Last Light

Low resolution, low details

Metro Last Light (low details, low resolution)	Review Rating	fps	Percent
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		150.23	109.08 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		149.92	106.68 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		149.88	108.83 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		149.41	108.49 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		149.66	106.67 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		149.18	108.32 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		148.94	108.15 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		148.84	108.07 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		148.77	108.02 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		148.53	107.84 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		148.74	108.00 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		148.73	107.99 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	148.48	107.81 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		148.47	107.81 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		148.00	107.46 %
ASUS Z87-A		147.74	108.00 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		147.57	107.15 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		147.32	106.97 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		147.32	106.97 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		147.02	106.75 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		146.91	106.67 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		146.88	106.65 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		146.78	106.58 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		146.47	106.35 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		145.99	106.00 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		145.76	105.84 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		145.15	105.40 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		144.81	105.15 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		144.40	104.85 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	143.99	104.55 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		142.28	103.31 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	137.72	100.00 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		134.91	97.96 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		131.40	95.41 %
ASUS Z97-K		131.70	95.63 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		131.75	95.87 %
ASUS H97-Pro		130.27	94.59 %
MSI Z87 XPower		126.98	92.20 %
		more is better

High resolution, high details

Metro Last Light (high details, high resolution)	Review Rating	fps	Percent
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		31.47	101.78 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		31.44	101.68 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		31.34	101.36 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		31.37	101.46 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		31.35	101.39 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		31.32	101.29 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		31.30	101.23 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		31.24	101.03 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		31.20	100.91 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		31.19	100.87 %
ASUS Z97-K		31.15	100.74 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		31.08	100.52 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		31.07	100.49 %
ASUS Z87-A		31.02	100.32 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		31.00	100.26 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		30.99	100.23 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		30.98	100.19 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		30.98	100.19 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		30.96	100.13 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		30.92	100.13 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	30.92	100.00 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		30.89	99.90 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		30.88	99.87 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		30.86	99.81 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		30.81	99.64 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	30.80	99.61 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		30.80	99.61 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		30.79	99.58 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		30.75	99.45 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		30.78	99.55 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		30.78	99.55 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	30.76	99.48 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		30.73	99.39 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		30.70	99.29 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		30.71	99.32 %
MSI Z87 XPower		30.04	97.15 %
		more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

Sleeping Dogs

Low resolution, low details

Sleeping Dog (low details, low resolution)	Review Rating	fps	Percent
ASUS Z87I-Pro		226.2	110.89 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		222.3	108.97 %
MSI Z87 XPower		218.6	107.15 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		218.2	106.96 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		215.0	105.39 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		209.3	102.60 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		209.2	102.55 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		208.4	102.16 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		208.4	102.16 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		207.6	101.76 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		207.5	101.72 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		207.4	101.67 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		206.1	101.03 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		206.0	100.98 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		205.8	100.88 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		204.9	100.44 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	204.0	100.00 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		201.2	98.62 %
ASUS Z97-K		200.1	98.09 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		199.2	97.65 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		198.8	97.45 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		196.6	96.37 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		192.7	94.46 %
ASUS Z87-A		191.7	93.97 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		185.1	90.73 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		190.3	93.28 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	190.2	93.24 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		185.2	90.78 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		183.4	89.90 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		180.7	88.58 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		178.2	87.35 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		177.5	87.01 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		177.3	86.91 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	176.8	86.67 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		175.2	85.90 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		174.8	85.69 %
		more is better

High resolution, high details

Sleeping Dogs (high details, high resolution)	Review Rating	fps	Percent
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		45.7	102.47 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		45.5	102.02 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		45.4	101.79 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		45.3	101.57 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		45.3	101.57 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		45.3	101.57 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		45.2	101.35 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		45.2	101.35 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	45.2	101.35 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		45.2	101.35 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		45.1	101.12 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		45.0	100.90 %
ASUS Z87-A		45.0	100.90 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		45.0	100.90 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		45.0	100.90 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		45.0	100.90 %
ASUS Z97-K		44.9	100.67 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		44.8	100.45 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		44.8	100.45 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		44.7	100.22 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		44.7	100.22 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	44.6	100.00 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		44.5	99.78 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		44.0	98.65 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		43.8	98.21 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	43.6	97.76 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		43.5	97.53 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		43.5	97.53 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		43.4	97.31 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		43.4	97.31 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		43.2	92.31 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		43.2	92.31 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		43.2	92.31 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		43.1	96.64 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		42.9	96.19 %
MSI Z87 XPower		40.0	89.68 %
		more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

Power Consumption

Idle

Idle	Review Rating	Watt	Percent
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		56	107.14 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		56	107.14 %
ASUS H97-Pro		56	107.14 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		56	107.14 %
ASUS Z87-A		57	105.26 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		57	105.26 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		57	105.26 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		58	103.45 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		58	103.44 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		59	101.69 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	59	101.69 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		59	101.69 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		59	101.69 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		59	101.69 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	59	101.69 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		59	101.69 %
ASUS Z97-K		59	101.69 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		60	100.00 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		60	100.00 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	60	100.00 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		60	100.00 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		60	100.00 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		61	98.36 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		61	98.36 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		61	98.36 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		61	98.36 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		61	98.36 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		61	98.36 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		61	98.36 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		63	95.24 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		64	93.75 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		64	93.75 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		64	93.75 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		65	92.31 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		65	92.31 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		69	86.96 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		72	83.33 %
MSI Z87 XPower		86	69.77 %
		less is better	more is better

Load

Load	Review Rating	Watt	Percent
ASUS Gryphon Z87		102	103.92 %
ASUS Z87-A		104	101.92 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		104	101.92 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		105	100.95 %
ASUS H97-Pro		105	100.95 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		105	100.95 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	105	100.95 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		105	100.95 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		105	100.95 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		105	100.95 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		105	100.95 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		106	100.00 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		106	100.00 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		106	100.00 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	106	100.00 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		107	99.06 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		108	98.15 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		108	98.15 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		109	97.25 %
ASUS Z97-K		111	95.50 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		111	95.50 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		112	94.64 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		112	92.64 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		112	94.64 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		112	94.67 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		112	94.64 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		112	94.64 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		112	94.64 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		112	94.64 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		113	93.81 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		113	93.81 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		114	92.98 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		114	91.38 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		116	91.38 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		117	90.60 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	119	89.08 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		124	85.48 %
MSI Z87 XPower		131	80.92 %
		less is better	more is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

Performance Rating

3D and Gaming Benchmarks	Review Rating	Percent
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		104.04 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		103.17 %
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		103.14 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		103.03 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		103.00 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		102.80 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		102.79 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		102.69 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		102.39 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		102.36 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		102.35 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	102.23 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		102.19 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		102.16 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		102.13 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		102.07 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		102.06 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		101.98 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		101.92 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		101.92 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		101.81 %
ASUS Z87-A		101.79 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		101.71 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		101.68 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		101.68 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		101.55 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		101.46 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	101.38 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		101.29 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		101.13 %
ASUS Z97-K		100.96 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		100.87 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		100.85 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		100.45 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	100.00 %
MSI Z87 XPower		99.52 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		99.08 %
ASUS H97-Pro		98.64 %
		more is better

2D Benchmarks	Review Rating	Percent
ASUS Maximus VII Gene		102.95 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		102.95 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		102.93 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		102.91 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		102.90 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		102.89 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		102.87 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		102.79 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		102.75 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		102.75 %
ASUS Z87-A		102.75 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		102.67 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		102.55 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		102.54 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		102.43 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		102.38 %
ASUS Gryphon Z87		102.38 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		102.35 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		102.28 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		102.25 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		102.22 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		102.20 %
ASUS Z97-K		102.00 %
MSI Z87 XPower		102.20 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	102.19 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	101.92 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		101.83 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		101.34 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		101.58 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		100.69 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		100.23 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		100.06 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	100.00 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		99.57 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		99.52 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		99.27 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		98.91 %
ASUS H97-Pro		98.32 %
		more is better

Performance per Watt	Review Rating	Percent
ASUS Gryphon Z87		96.80 %
ASRock Z87M Extreme4		96.81 %
MSI Z97M Gaming		97.40 %
ASUS Z87-A		98.73 %
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	No Review	100.00 %
ASUS H97-Pro		100.70 %
ASUS Z87-Plus	No Review	100.75 %
Gigabyte Z87X-OC		100.99 %
ASUS Z97I-Plus		101.00 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer		101.59 %
ASUS Maximus VI Hero		101.40 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z87		102.10 %
ASUS Z87I-Pro		102.15 %
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H		102.37 %
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional		102.40 %
ASRock Z87 OC Formula		102.70 %
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger		102.77 %
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC		102.80 %
ASUS Maximus VI Impact		102.90 %
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force		102.97 %
ASUS Z97-K		103.27 %
ASUS Z87-Expert		104.26 %
ASUS Maximus VI Gene		104.64 %
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi-ac		104.88 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1		105.82 %
ASUS Maximux VII Gene		105.87 %
ASRock Z87M OC Formula	No Review	106.71 %
ASUS Maximus VII Hero		107.62 %
ASUS Maximus VI Formula		107.34 %
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87		109.40 %
ASRock Z97 Extreme6		106.75 %
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme		107.77 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe		111.72 %
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual		111.72 %
MSI Z87 MPower Max		112.15 %
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2		113.98 %
MSI Z97 XPower AC		119.34 %
MSI Z87 XPower		133.87 %
		less is better

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

Price comparison

Model	Geizhals.eu
ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Professional
ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer
ASRock Z87 OC Formula
ASRock Z87M OC Formula
ASRock Z87M Extreme4
ASRock Z97 Extreme6
ASUS Gryphon Z87
ASUS H97-Pro
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme
ASUS Maximus VI Formula
ASUS Maximus VI Gene
ASUS Maximus VI Hero
ASUS Maximus VI Impact
ASUS Maximus VII Gene
ASUS Maximus VII Hero
ASUS Maximus VII Ranger
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1
ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2
ASUS Sabertooth Z87
ASUS Z87-A
ASUS Z97I-Plus
ASUS Z87-Deluxe
ASUS Z87-Deluxe Dual
ASUS Z87-Expert
ASUS Z87-Plus
ASUS Z87I-Pro
ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi ac
ASUS Z97-K
Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87
Gigabyte Z87X-OC
Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H
Intel DZ87KLT-75K	n/A
MSI Z87 MPower Max
MSI Z87 XPower
MSI Z97M Gaming
MSI Z97 MPower Max AC
MSI Z97 XPower AC

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

Conclusion

Allgemein	+	-
A closer look at the motherboard lineup from MSI reveals that the Z97M Gaming is the only micro-ATX form factor motherboard. It comes with some really neat features, like for example a Guard-Pro, OC Genie 4 and the new UEFI Click Bios 4. Despite its smaller size and micro-ATX form-factor, the MSI Z97M Gaming motherboard is powered by an 8-phase CPU VRM which is good enough for a small overclocked system. MSI also equipped this board with some neat features for gamers including a beefed-up audio solution as well as the newest Killer E2205 Ethernet chip. Apart from the features for gamers, the bundle is not that rich but there are enough cables and everything to install an easy gaming PC.	- Design - Features	- SATA Express Connector

Layout	+	-
Overall, the MSI Z97M Gaming's layout has been well thought. Once more practical are the angled SATA connectors that you can find on almost all motherboards nowadays. Other than that there is also a USB3 connector. There are also practical power- and reset-buttons along with the clr_CMOS which is located on the I/O panel. Furthermore there is even a debug display which is very useful in case you should have issues with a component in your system or the board itself. It also features two PCI Express Gen3 x16 slots, which have been very well positioned. Between the two main PCIe x16 you will find two slot space to provide good airflow for a dual graphics card setup. You have two PCIe Gen2 x1 connectors onboard, and one of them is between the two PCI Express x16, as well as the M.2 slot, while the rest of the ports and slots is pretty much standard (six USB3, six SATA3 ports and one internal USB3 connector for two USB3 ports.) As this is an MSI overclocking motherboard you also get the OC Genie button.	-Angled SATA and USB3 connectors - Power/Reset-Button onboard - Debug display / CLR_CMOS - 6x USB 3.0 - M.2 Support

Performance	+	-
Calculating the average of all 3D benchmarks we ran, we see that this board ranks fifth from bottom in our comparison tables, which include values from all Z87 motherboards we've tested too. When taking the average of all 2D results, this board is achieving a position in the bottom third. The performance of this board could really be a little bit better and we're hoping MSI BIOS team will have another look at the BIOS putting a focus on performance improvements. On another note, we had a look at power consumption and noticed that this is one of the most efficient motherboards we've had for testing so far when it comes to idle as well as load power consumption. In both cases this board scores a top position.	- SiSoft Sandra Arithmetik - Power Consumption Idle/Load	- 3DMark Vantage - Memory Latency - SuperPi 1M/32M - wPrime - Metro Last Light

BIOS	+	-
MSI has put a lot of time and effort into making their BIOS look nicer and more user friendly. Especially when we compare this version of MSI BIOS to the first UEFI BIOS from MSI there ever was, it simply cannot be compared, since the two are worlds apart. What's almost self-explanatory is that you get lot of tuning and tweaking options in order to optimize the system towards your needs. We also like the entry screen which displays a lot of useful information.	- Sheer amount of options - Design

Recommendation	+	-
These days you can get the MSI Z97M Gaming for 120 Euro and for that price you get a motherboard with an excellent feature mix. There is really everything you'd expect and the fact that there is no SATA-Express connector on a mATX motherboard is justifiable. On top you get a design which makes the board look great.	- Gaming - Modding

Rating
We give the MSI Z97M Gaming very good 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 14 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 15 - UC Bench
Page 3 - Features	Page 16 - Super Pi 1M / 32M
Page 4 - Layout	Page 17 - wPrime 1024M Multi Core
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 18 - Cinebench
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 19 - Bioshock: Infinite
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 20 - Metro Last Light
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 21 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 22 - Power Consumption
Page 10 - 3D Mark 11	Page 23 - Performance Rating
Page 11 - 3D Mark Vantage	Page 24 - Price Comparison
Page 12 - PC Mark 7	Page 25 - Conclusion
Page 13 - SiSoft Sandra 1

[pagebreak]

Author: m.buechel@ocaholic.ch

Specs and Delivery

Features

Military Class 4 Components

Super stable with Guard-Pro

Gaming Device Port

OC Genie 4 / Click Bios 4

Audio Boost 2

Killer Ethernet

M.2 Support

Layout

Connectors and I/O

BIOS

Test setup

Hardware

Preview / Gallery

ASRock Z87 OC Formula

ASRock Z87M Extreme4

3D Mark

Ice Storm

Ice Storm Physics

Fire Strike

Fire Strike Physics

3D Mark 11

CPU

3D Mark Vantage

PC Mark 07

Total

SiSoft Sandra 1

Arithmetic Benchmark

Multimedia

Crytography

SiSoft Sandra 2

Memory bandwidth

Memory latency

Memory and cache access

UC Bench

Super Pi 1M - 32M

Super Pi 1M

Super Pi 32M

wPrime 1024M Multicore

Cinebench R11.5

Cinebench R11.5 - Multi Core

Bioshock: Infinite

Low resolution, low details

High resolution, high details

Metro Last Light

Low resolution, low details

High resolution, high details

Sleeping Dogs

Low resolution, low details

High resolution, high details

Power Consumption

Idle

Load

Performance Rating

Price comparison

Conclusion