Motherboard Reviews
MSI B85M Gaming Motherboard Review
« UEFI Overview | System Benchmarks (CPU, Memory, Compression, Multimedia) »
Test System and Testing Procedures
| Processor | Intel Core i7-4770K (Retail) |
| CPU Cooler |
Noctua NH-U12S with Noctua NT-H1 thermal compound |
| Power Supply |
Enermax Platimax 1000W 80 Plus Platinum PSU |
| Memory | Patriot Viper 3 “Black Mamba” 2x8GB DDR3 2100 MHz CL11 @ 1600MHz CL9 |
| Storage | OCZ Agility 4 256GB SSD (OS), OCZ Vertex 4 256GB SSD (test drive), Vantec NexStar (USB 3.0 enclosure). |
| Graphics | Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 WindForce OC |
| Drivers | V10.0B6 BIOS, Intel Chipset Driver 10.0.3, NVIDIA 335.23 WHQL drivers. |
| Motherboard(s) | MSI B85M Gaming (v10.0b6), ASUS Z97-A (0702), MSI Z97 MPower MAX AC (1.22beta), ASUS Z87 Maximus VI Gene (1102) |
| Router | Cisco E3200 stock firmware with 2x 6ft Cat5E cables for network testing |
| Operating System | Windows 7 x64 Ultimate SP-1 with latest patches and updates |
Latest working BIOS, updates and drivers were used at the time of the review. Each test was conducted at least three times for accuracy.
System Benchmarks
- wPrime 32M
- Aida64 Engineer 4.30.2900
- CineBench R15
- PCMark 8 v2.0.228
- WinRAR 5.01
- Handbrake 0.9.9
- x264 FHD 1.0.1
Subsystem Testing
- CrystalDisk Mark for SATA and USB tests
- DPC Latency
- Rightmark Audio Analyzer 6.4.0
- Passmark Performance Test 8.0 – Network Speed Graph
- JPerf 2.0.2
- LAN Speed Test 3.4
Gaming Benchmarks
- 3DMark11 v1.0.132 – Performance Preset
- 3DMark (Firestrike test) v1.2.362 – Default Preset
- Tomb Raider – Built-in Benchmark, Low preset on 800×600, Ultimate preset on 1920×1080
- Bioshock Infinite – Built-in Benchmark, Low Preset on 640×480, Ultra preset on 1920×1080
- Sleeping Dogs – Built-in Benchmark, Low Preset on 640×480, Ultra preset on 1920×1080
