The Haswell micro-architecture in Devil's Canyon processors is just the latest Intel CPU architecture to see many of the critical system operations handled by the processor. As such, benchmarking a motherboard becomes more of a test to certify that the part operates correctly and meets the anticipated performance levels.
We will be outlining the Maximus VII Ranger and Hero motherboards' performance with the Core i7 4790K CPU at its stock frequency (4.4GHz due to forced turbo). Overclocked performance will be outlined later in the review.
All motherboards are partnered with identical hardware and software, so the results are directly comparable.
By default, the Maximus VII motherboards apply multi-core turbo (MCT) and force the 4790K to a constant 4.4GHz when XMP is enabled. This will be displayed as the ‘stock’ setting (and outlined in the charts’ brackets after the non-turbo stock speed is displayed).
Z97 Motherboard Test System:
- Processor: Intel Core i7 4790K ES (4.4GHz forced turbo).
- Memory: 16GB (2x 8GB) Corsair Vengeance Pro 2400MHz CL10.
- Graphics Card: Asus R9 280X Matrix Platinum 3GB.
- System Drive: 240GB SanDisk Extreme II SSD.
- CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i.
- Case: NZXT Phantom 630.
- Power Supply: Seasonic Platinum 1000W.
- Operating System: Windows 7 Professional with SP1 64-bit.
Compared Z97 Motherboards:
Software:
- Catalyst 14.4 VGA drivers.
- Intel 10.0 chipset drivers.
Tests:
- 3DMark 1.3.708 – Fire Strike (System)
- SiSoft Sandra 2014 SP2 – Processor arithmetic, memory bandwidth (System)
- Cinebench R15 – All-core CPU benchmark (CPU)
- WinRAR 5.10 – Built-in benchmark (CPU)
- HandBrake 0.9.9 – Convert 4.36GB 720P MKV to MP4 (CPU)
- ATTO – SATA 6Gbps, USB 3.0, M.2 transfer rates (Motherboard)
- RightMark Audio Analyzer – General audio performance test (Motherboard)
- Bioshock Infinite – 1920 x 1080, ultra quality (Gaming)
- Metro: Last Light – 1920 x 1080, high quality (Gaming)
- Tomb Raider – 1920 x 1080, ultimate quality (Gaming)
Asus VII Hero owner here with a 4690K running at 4.7Ghz with 1.25vlts or 4.8Ghz stable with 1.3vlts, maybe I could have got the same with a £30 cheaper Ranger board..maybe not but more than happy with my purchase and those LED lights do look cool..:)
Strong overclocking capacity for those who can make use of it, Well said and this is coming from a guy that lives for machine’s, guest I can thank you for those settings. I just order the ASUS Maximus VII Hero last night along with Corsair Vengeance Pro, Air Flow Pro, the Core i7 4790K and a few other gadgets for testing.
I would also like to point out that I found this website all because of HardOCP and started digging around the site and became a liker, although the layout can get a bit confusing at first, it got bookmark with the other 1000+ that’s in there.
Nevertheless nice, good and simple review keep up the good work Luke Hill.
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does ASUS Maximus VII RANGER support 4k and hdmi?
yes support 4K HDMI