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Our test system uses an updated W10 64-bit OS (1909 as of 4/20/2020) with all threat mitigations applied. The motherboard BIOS used is the latest non-beta available to the public unless otherwise noted. The hardware used is as follows:
Test System Components
CPU | Intel i9-10900K | Row 0 - Cell 2 |
Memory | G.Skill Trident Z Neo 2x8GB DDR4 3600 (F4-3600C16D-16GTZNC) | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
Memory 2 | G.Skill Trident Z Royale 4x8GB DDR4 4000 (F4-4000C18Q-32GTRS) | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
GPU | Asus ROG Strix RTX 2070 | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
CPU Cooler | Corsair H150i | Row 4 - Cell 2 |
PSU | Corsair AX1200i | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
Software | Windows 10 64-bit 1909 | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
Graphics Driver | Nvidia Driver 445.75 | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
Sound | Integrated HD audio | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
Network | Integrated Networking (GbE or 2.5 GbE) | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
Graphics Driver | GeForce 445.74 | Row 10 - Cell 2 |
For this review, we’ll be comparing the Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Master ($389.99) to the ASRock Z490 Taichi ($369.99), Asus ROG Maximus XII Hero ($399.99), and the MSI MEG Z490 Ace ($399.99) as these are all quite close in price in the upper mid-range segment.
GSkill provided both RAM kits for this review platform.
Benchmark Settings
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings | Header Cell - Column 1 |
---|---|
PCMark 10 | Version 2.1.2177 64 |
Row 1 - Cell 0 | Essentials, Productivity, Digital Content Creation, MS Office |
3DMark | Version 2.11.6866 64 |
Row 3 - Cell 0 | Firestrike Extreme and Time Spy Default Presets |
Cinebench R20 | Version RBBENCHMARK271150 |
Row 5 - Cell 0 | Open GL Benchmark - Single and Multi-threaded |
Application Tests and Settings | Row 6 - Cell 1 |
LAME MP3 | Version SSE2_2019 |
Row 8 - Cell 0 | Mixed 271MB WAV to mp3: Command: -b 160 --nores (160Kb/s) |
HandBrake CLI | Version: 1.2.2 |
Row 10 - Cell 0 | Sintel Open Movie Project: 4.19GB 4K mkv to x264 (light AVX) and x265 (heavy AVX) |
Corona 1.4 | Version 1.4 |
Row 12 - Cell 0 | Custom benchmark |
7-Zip | Version 19.00 |
Row 14 - Cell 0 | Integrated benchmark |
Game Tests and Settings | Row 15 - Cell 1 |
The Division 2 | Ultra Preset - 1920 x 1080 |
Forza Horizon 4 | Ultra Preset - 1920 x 1080 |
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Prev Page Software and Firmware Next Page Benchmark Results and Final AnalysisJoe Shields is a Freelance writer for Tom’s Hardware US. He reviews motherboards.