ASRock Z97 OC Formula Motherboard Review: Less Lamborghini, More Yellow
by Ian Cutress on October 2, 2014 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- ASRock
- Overclocking
- Z97
Gaming Benchmarks
F1 2013
First up is F1 2013 by Codemasters. I am a big Formula 1 fan in my spare time, and nothing makes me happier than carving up the field in a Caterham, waving to the Red Bulls as I drive by (because I play on easy and take shortcuts). F1 2013 uses the EGO Engine, and like other Codemasters games ends up being very playable on old hardware quite easily. In order to beef up the benchmark a bit, we devised the following scenario for the benchmark mode: one lap of Spa-Francorchamps in the heavy wet, the benchmark follows Jenson Button in the McLaren who starts on the grid in 22nd place, with the field made up of 11 Williams cars, 5 Marussia and 5 Caterham in that order. This puts emphasis on the CPU to handle the AI in the wet, and allows for a good amount of overtaking during the automated benchmark. We test at 1920x1080 on Ultra graphical settings.
Bioshock Infinite
Bioshock Infinite was Zero Punctuation’s Game of the Year for 2013, uses the Unreal Engine 3, and is designed to scale with both cores and graphical prowess. We test the benchmark using the Adrenaline benchmark tool and the Xtreme (1920x1080, Maximum) performance setting, noting down the average frame rates and the minimum frame rates.
Tomb Raider
The next benchmark in our test is Tomb Raider. Tomb Raider is an AMD optimized game, lauded for its use of TressFX creating dynamic hair to increase the immersion in game. Tomb Raider uses a modified version of the Crystal Engine, and enjoys raw horsepower. We test the benchmark using the Adrenaline benchmark tool and the Xtreme (1920x1080, Maximum) performance setting, noting down the average frame rates and the minimum frame rates.
Sleeping Dogs
Sleeping Dogs is a benchmarking wet dream – a highly complex benchmark that can bring the toughest setup and high resolutions down into single figures. Having an extreme SSAO setting can do that, but at the right settings Sleeping Dogs is highly playable and enjoyable. We run the basic benchmark program laid out in the Adrenaline benchmark tool, and the Xtreme (1920x1080, Maximum) performance setting, noting down the average frame rates and the minimum frame rates.
Battlefield 4
The EA/DICE series that has taken countless hours of my life away is back for another iteration, using the Frostbite 3 engine. AMD is also piling its resources into BF4 with the new Mantle API for developers, designed to cut the time required for the CPU to dispatch commands to the graphical sub-system. For our test we use the in-game benchmarking tools and record the frame time for the first ~70 seconds of the Tashgar single player mission, which is an on-rails generation of and rendering of objects and textures. We test at 1920x1080 at Ultra settings.
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poohbear - Friday, October 3, 2014 - link
Oh and if ure looking for auto overclocking, this mobo is as good as it gets! Very simple & straight forward with very little hassle & ure at 4.6ghz.zent - Friday, October 3, 2014 - link
You don't have to install that molex, I'm running MGPU just fine without it.The_Assimilator - Friday, October 3, 2014 - link
If Asrock had gone with standard Intel GbE instead of the crappy "Killer" ethernet, and ignored Thunderbolt (TB on an overclocking board, seriously?), they would've easily been able to get this board under the $200 mark. Maybe that would've also allowed them to use 4-pin fan headers for the whole board. All in all, a missed opportunity.gammaray - Friday, October 3, 2014 - link
Always wondered why they put 4 slots for video cards, i mean, how many people put 4 VCs in their rigs??The_Assimilator - Saturday, October 4, 2014 - link
I'm guessing the same people who buy "overclocking" boards.gammaray - Saturday, October 4, 2014 - link
hmm, no, i always buy OC boards, but only use 1 video card.Shiitaki - Saturday, October 4, 2014 - link
The comments are more interesting than the motherboard review. iGP display port connector, really? LoL 4 vs 3 ping fan headers? Not enough USB ports? And there is a difficult to get to molex if you have a small case? Complaining about the TB header?This board is an oddity because if I was going to run a lot of hardware, why would I use a 1150 cpu? And for the AMD fan boys, Intel crushes AMD, not sure why AMD is included in any of the benchmarks, since this is theoretically aimed at the performance market. Seems a socket 2011 would be better. I think the reason this board will be bought is because it looks good in a windowed case. It's geek jewelry.
My only complaint is PS/2 ports, really? Seriously? PS/2 ports? At least the printer and serial ports have finally been deprecated.
zent - Saturday, October 4, 2014 - link
Do you own a mechanical keyboard? My QPAD (bought in 2014, not 1999) is native PS/2.Kanuj5678 - Sunday, October 5, 2014 - link
i have been using the Z77 extreme 6 mother board it is a good board but have minor issues with USB ports and sound output at timesredwolfe98 - Tuesday, October 7, 2014 - link
i love the yellow and black color scheme..