Biostar Racing Z170 GT7 Motherboard Review

Cinebench R15

Cinebench is an application which renders a photorealistic 3D scene to benchmark a computer's rendering performance, on one CPU core, all CPU cores or using the GPU. We run the test using the all core CPU mode.

Handbrake

Handbrake is a free and open-source video transcoding tool that can be used to convert video files between different codecs, formats and resolutions. We use Handbrake to convert a short 720p into the Android preset built into the application.

SiSoft Sandra

SiSoft Sandra 2016 is a multi-function utility program that supports remote analysis, benchmarking and diagnostic features for PCs, servers, mobile devices and networks. We run the application's processor arithmetic test to gauge the CPU performance on each tested motherboard.

CPU performance was largely what we expected given the fact the CPU is consistent across all motherboards on test. However, on Handbrake the Biostar motherboard seemed to throttle the i7 6700K periodically as a result of the default Power Limit 1 and Power Limit 2 parameters.

This happens because Handbrake is a longer benchmark test, around 6 minutes, and due to the aggressive Auto voltage for the 4.2GHz frequency (1.3~1.4 volts) the CPU regularly exceeds the normal operating TDP range set by Biostar. This accounts for why the Biostar motherboard scores lower, we didn't see such throttling on any other motherboards suggesting their regulation of behaviour outside the default thermal envelope is more relaxed and performance focused.

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