MSI Z97 MPower MAX AC Motherboard Review

Subsystem Testing and Gaming Benchmarks

Six SATA3 connections on the MSI Z97 MPower MAX AC are provided by the Intel chipset while an ASMedia ASM1061 provides two more.

Aside from the native USB 3.0 ports from the on-board headers, MSI provides extra ASMedia controlled USB 3.0 ports in the rear I/O:

The extra ASMedia USB 3.0 ports showing great numbers close to the native Intel USB 3.0 performance. I can see why MSI chose to use ASM1074 for six of the USB 3.0 ports since it is faster than using ASM1042.

On-board Audio

Before proceeding with audio benchmarks, Deferred Procedure Call latency must be first checked to make sure that the system is capable of producing useable results when the Rightmark Audio Analyzer benchmark was run. DPC is a Windows function that involves prioritizing tasks within the OS and high DPC latencies can be caused by several things including hardware device conflict. The DPC checker graphically displays the latency level of the system in real time so as long as the bars are in the green, the system should be able to handle audio and video streaming without drop outs or stutters.

Absolute maximum peaked at 165 while the system for the most part stayed well below that, so now we can run RightMark Audio Analyzer tests:

Excellent showing here and the subjective audio listening was without a hitch as well, despite the lack of extras such as DTS support.

Network Connectivity

Network testing was conducted with a 4-port Cisco E3200 Gigabit Dual-Band Wireless N router and a pair of 10-ft long Cat5E cables connecting the server PC and the test motherboard. The server system is running an Intel Core i7-3960X processor on an ASUS P9X79 WS motherboard with an Intel 82574L Gigabit LAN Controller. Interrupt Moderation was disabled.

Wireless tests were conducted with the router placed 10-feet away from the test system with one wall separating the two. 2.4GHz and 5GHz set of tests were used.  The Cisco E3200 router is not the fastest router in the market but it is a typical Wireless N router so performance results would be comparable to most real-world mainstream wireless use.  The test was also conducted in a crowded suburban neighborhood with a very busy wireless traffic.

I218-V Gigabit LAN:

Extremely good results with the Intel Gigabit LAN. The biggest advantage of using Intel Gigabit ethernet is that CPU utilization is very low, peaking at 1% CPU load unlike Realtek implementations which can use up to 12% in some instances. Both jPerf and Performance Test Network Speed Graph display a smooth transfer rate with no dips and starting at a high rate already from the get go.

Intel Wireless AC 2670 2.4GHz:

Intel Wireless AC 2670 5GHz:

The limitations of using an 802.11n router notwithstanding, the Intel AC 2670 adapter performed very well. Obviously the 2.4GHz traffic affects wireless performance greatly hence the wild jitters. Performance on the 5Ghz band on the other hand is a lot smoother and despite being a WiFi connection, the graph results were quite consistent and reasonably stable.

Gaming Tests

Futuremark’s 3DMark is a semi-synthetic gaming benchmark that calculates both graphics and CPU-bound physics in a controlled series of tests and provides scores that can be compared with other gaming platforms. Since this is a motherboard benchmark, the CPU score is what is the most relevant with Physics scores advancing forward per MHz added to the CPU frequency. 3DMark Firestrike, 3DMark 11 Performance preset and Extreme preset were used.

A gaming test at the lowest resolution was performed instead of a “real-world” test. CPU performance difference can be gauged due to the reduced reliance on the discrete GPU at those low levels.