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Since the introduction of the LGA 1155 Sandy Bridge processors, Intel has steadily been relocating many of a system's features onto the CPU itself, and away from the motherboard or chipset.
Haswell is just the latest 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 MSI Z97 Gaming 5 motherboard's performance with the Core i7 4770K CPU at its stock frequency (3.9GHz due to forced turbo). Overclocked performance will be outlined later in the review.
Performance of the MSI Z97 Gaming 5 motherboard will be compared to that of two other Z97 parts. All motherboards are partnered with identical hardware and software, so the results are directly comparable.
By default, the MSI Z97 Gaming 5 motherboard applies multi-core turbo (MCT) and forces the 4770K to a constant 3.9GHz when XMP is enabled. This will be displayed as the ‘stock’ setting in the charts.
MSI continues to deploy Intel power saving settings when MCT is enabled. This allows the processor voltage to drop as low as tens of millivolts under low-load operations. Load voltage at the stock MCT frequency is 1.224V.
We worked tirelessly with MSI to gain information regarding voltage reading disparities between different software tools. MSI and CPUID implemented a patch which allows CPU-Z to read MSI motherboards' correct real-time core voltage which can drop as low as tens of millivolts (as we proved with a physical multimeter reading). HWMonitor and AIDA, for example, do not read the correct voltages and can sometimes (incorrectly) display worryingly high levels.
We would strongly recommend using MSI's Command Center software for voltage readings. We certified all of its recorded levels with a multimeter connected to the board's voltage reading points and found the software tool's accuracy to be excellent.
Support for the PCIe-based M.2 storage interface is one of the key features for the Z97 chipset. We use Plextor's ultra-fast M6e 256GB M.2 SSD to test the speed of a motherboard's M.2 connector. We reviewed the 512GB Plextor M6e (and its PCIe x2 adapter card) HERE.
Z97 Motherboard Test System:
- Processor: Intel Core i7 4770K Retail (3.9GHz 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:
- Asus Sabertooth Z97 Mark 1.
- Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H-BK Black Edition.
Software:
- MSI Z97 Gaming 5 BIOS v1.1B1 (latest pre-launch BIOS).
- Catalyst 14.4 VGA drivers.
- Intel 10.0 chipset drivers.
Tests:
- 3DMark 1.1.0 – Fire Strike (System)
- SiSoft Sandra 2014 SP2 – Processor arithmetic, memory bandwidth (System)
- Cinebench R15 – All-core CPU benchmark (CPU)
- WinRAR 5.01 – 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)
GOod looking board but MSI do need to work on their bioses, my Z87 was very flaky on some settings too. I ended up getting rid of the board and going for an ASUS Sabretooth Z87 board – bios was much better laid out and some of the settings worked the way they should to.
I dont think this board is as nice looking as some of their Z87 boards. Some good information Luke on the bios and the heatsinks – always come here first for reviews on motherboards as you go into much more detail than other sites I visit.
Couple of questions, but first a type-o, 1156 was before Sandy Bridge.
Really good to know about the voltage accuracy with the control centre, and the discrepancy with the bios settings, this is an issue with my current MSI LGA1156 board. Good work on that!
It looks to me as if the overclocked Bioshock results are exactly the same as the stock speed results. Maybe it’s worth testing a game that would actually see the benefit?
I don’t suppose you had the chance to check whether the surround upmix mode in the creative settings would allow you to cleanly upmix a stereo source to all the channels or whether it has to apply a pseudo surround effect?
Deders,
Thanks for pointing out the mistake – I have updated it. And thanks for the feedback.
You’re right – the Bioshock results do not change when CPU frequency is scaled up. I used Metro: Last Light in our Z87 motherboard reviews, but that game did not scale with increased frequency either.
I am currently looking into a game which is more sensitive to CPU frequencies and which is consistent with its results. Many of the popular games are GPU-limited at 1920×1080 (above a certain CPU performance level). And I don’t want to drop the resolution to emphasise CPU performance because I think that 1920×1080 is FAR too popular to justify that. For now, it’s the performance differences (if any) between each motherboard that are important for the gaming results.
I did not have chance to test the surround upmix mode unfortunately. I do not currently have access to my surround sound speakers, either, but audio performance of the motherboards is something that I would like to look into in more depth in the future. It will take a large amount of planning first though.
Luke
Hi. First of all a very good review. It is very interesting for to read this article. Especially the part with the performance of Plextor M6e SSD. I’ve a similar system. It’s a MSI Z97 Gaming 7 and the Plextor M6e SSD m.2. I’ve never reached an performance like in your article. Have you installed the standard msahci driver (Windows 7) or the Intel iastor (RST) driver? I belive my m.2 connector is the problem. Have you special settings in BIOS. Perhaps you some ideas for me.
Thanks in advanced.
Marcel
Can i install my windows in M.2 drive will it boot from there, i found not post over internet but just one unsuccesssful one.
Guys might i add that the MSI additional power that is fed to the molex adapter IS for the rear audio ports and not the USB ports (which already get power ONLY thru the mobo and get a constant 5v). It might make a difference but who knows. Its made that way so it gets a constant clean power feed thru the psu directly instead of thru the 24pin mobo connector.