Asus Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1 Motherboard Review

1. Introduction2. Asus Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1: Packaging and Bundle3. Asus Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1: Board Layout and Features4. Asus Z170 UEFI & Software5. Testing Methodology6. Tests: System-related7. Tests: Gaming-related8. Tests: Motherboard-related9. Overclocking: Frequencies10. Overclocking: Performance11. Technical: Power Consumption12. Technical: Thermal Imaging13. Closing Thoughts14. View All Pages

Intel's Skylake processors are 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 Asus Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1 motherboard's performance with the Core i7-6700K CPU at its stock frequency (4.2GHz due to forced turbo). Overclocked performance will be outlined later in the review.

The Asus Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1 motherboard allows users to apply multi-core turbo (MCT) and force the 6700K to a constant 4.2GHz when XMP is enabled. This will be displayed as the ‘stock’ setting.

Z170 Motherboard Test System:

• Processor: Intel Core i7-6700K (4.2GHz forced turbo).
• Memory: 16GB (4x4GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200MHz 16-18-18-36 DDR4 @ 1.35V.
• Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX 980 Ti.
• System Drive: 250GB Crucial BX100 SSD.
• CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14.
• Case: NZXT Phantom 630.
• Power Supply: Seasonic Platinum 1000W.
• Operating System: Windows 7 Professional with SP1 64-bit.

Compared Z170 Motherboards:

• ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K6+.
• Asus Maximus VIII Hero.
• Gigabyte Z170XP-SLI.
• Gigabyte Z170X-Gaming 7.
• MSI Z170A XPower Gaming Titanium Edition.

Software:

• Asus Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1 BIOS v1203.
• GeForce 353.30 VGA drivers.

Tests:

• Cinebench R15 – All-core CPU benchmark (System)
• HandBrake 0.10.2 – Convert 1.23GB 1080P game recording using the High Profile setting and MP4 container (System)
• 7-Zip 15.05 beta – Manual video archival (System)
• 3DMark 1.5.915 – Fire Strike Ultra (Gaming)
• Grand Theft Auto V – 1920 x 1080, near-maximum quality (Gaming)
• Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor – 1920 x 1080, ultra quality (Gaming)
• ATTO – SATA 6Gbps and USB 3.0 transfer rates (Motherboard)
• RightMark Audio Analyzer – General audio performance test (Motherboard)

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