When running the SuperPI 32MB benchmark, we are calculating Pi to 32 million digits and timing the process. For a thorough comparison of the Core i7-6700K versus a number of different CPUs have a look at our "The Intel i7-6700K Review Skylake Arrives" article. At the very least, this should illustrate whether there are any performance differences between a mainstream motherboard and a flagship model. Since this motherboard features no overclocking options and a memory frequency locked at DDR4-2133, we decided to compare its performance to an equally clocked ASUS Maximus VIII Extreme. In the System and Gaming Benchmarks sections, we reveal the results from a number of benchmarks run on the ASUS B150 PRO GAMING/AURA and an Intel Core i7-6700K at default clocks. The baseline test was with all the motherboard's LED disabled, and thus obviously no lighting effects either. As a result, we decided to test whether these LEDs had any effect on the audio output, and whether the different switching modes had any effects either. Some people have expressed concern over the addition of PWM-drived LEDs on a motherboard because the LEDs themselves are electrically noisy and the PWM switching can cause problematic harmonics. As usual, we aren't experts in this area, but we suspect that most owners will likewise be very happy with this motherboard's onboard audio capabilities. When it comes to subjective sound quality, using our usual mix of mix of Grado SR225i and Koss PortaPro headphones, Westone UM1 IEMs, and Logitech Z-5500 5.1 speakers, the playback was clean, we could crank the volume up on our Grado's to past well enjoyable sound levels, and we couldn't pinpoint any flaws in the sound output. The noise level - while still better than average - is the one area that didn't fare so well when compared to the previous motherboards that we have reviewed, and we will be examining this a little more down below. Obviously we disabled all software enhancements since they interfere with the pure technical performance that we are trying to benchmark.Ĭlick on image to enlarge and reveal additional motherboardsĪlthough it is not quite as good as the SupremeFX 2015 and SupremeFX Impact III implementations found on the RoG Maximus models, the 'regular' SupremeFX onboard audio proved to be very good indeed. Basically, what this test does is pipe the audio signal from the front-channel output to the line-in input via a 3.5mm male to 3.5mm male mini-plug cable, and then RightMark Audio Analyzer (RMAA) does the audio analysis. Since all the three motherboards support very high quality 24-bit, 192kHz audio playback we selected that as the sample mode option. To do this we have turned to the RightMark Audio Analyzer, basically the standard application for this type of testing. We are going to do this using both quantitative and qualitative analysis, since sound quality isn't really something that can be adequately explained with only numbers. The GIGABYTE X99-Gaming G1 WIFI and EVGA are both based on the same Creative Core3D CA0132 quad-core audio processor, but feature vastly different hardware implementations. The GIGABYTE Z170-HD3 motherboard is based on the Realtek ALC887, a lower-end 7.1 channel HD audio codec, whereas most of the other models in this comparison feature onboard audio solutions that are built around the higher-end Realtek ALC1150 codec, but feature different op-amps, headphone amplifiers, filtering capacitors, secondary components and layouts. Since isolated results don't really mean much, but we have also included some numbers from the ASUS Maximus VIII Extreme, ASUS Maximus VIII Impact, GIGABYTE Z170-HD3 DDR3, ASUS X99-A, ASUS X99-PRO, ASUS Rampage V Extreme, GIGABYTE X99-Gaming G1 WIFI, MSI X99S Gaming 7, EVGA X99 Classified, and ASUS X99 Deluxe motherboards that we have previously reviewed. We figured that it was worthwhile to take a closer look at just how good the analog signal quality is coming out of the onboard SupremeFX audio subsystem that is implemented on the B150 PRO GAMING/AURA. Since fewer and fewer consumers seem to be buying discrete sound cards, the quality of a motherboard's onboard audio is now more important than ever.
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