ASUS Z170-A Motherboard Review

System Overview & Testing Procedures
The Z170-A was installed in our test bench, which we use to test all of our motherboards. All of the hardware besides the motherboard stays the same to keep things uniform.

ASUS Z170-A Motherboard

Test System Specs
Processor: Intel Core i7-6700K
Video Card: MSI GTX 770 Gaming
Motherboard: ASUS Z170-A
Memory: 16 GB Crucial DDR4
Storage: 120GB Kingston HyperX 3K
Power: Corsair AX860i
Cooling: Thermaltake Water 3.0 Extreme
Case: HighSpeed PC Top Deck Tech Station

For motherboard testing we have completely revamped everything for Skylake and Windows 10. First off we will running the processor and motherboard and the default optimized settings in the BIOS (as if you would restore the defaults on the board). We feel that this is how most users will have their systems configured. So everything will be on auto.

We will be comparing the following motherboards:

ASUS Z170-A
MSI Z170A Gaming M5

Since Skylake just launched we do not have a lot of Skylake motherboards here to test. As we acquire more these graphs will be updated.

Our testing procedures have been updated, I have organized them into the following sections below.

Overall System Testing
PCMark 8
– Home Benchmark
– Work Benchmark
– Creative Benchmark
PCMark 7
SiSoftware Sandra
– Overall System Benchmark

CPU Testing
SiSoftware Sandra
– Processor Arithmetic
– Processor Multi-Media
CINEBENCH R11.5 64-bit
x264 HD Benchmark 5.0

Graphics Testing
3DMark
– Fire Strike Extreme Benchmark
– Fire Strike Benchmark
– Sky Diver Benchmark
Heaven Benchmark 5.0

SATA, USB & Network Testing
CrystalDiskMark
SiSoftware Sandra
– Network (LAN) Benchmark

Now let’s get to testing!

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