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Review: Gigabyte X99M Gaming 5

by Tarinder Sandhu on 22 December 2014, 11:00

Tags: Gigabyte (TPE:2376), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qacmx5

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Testing methodology

Comparison Motherboard Configurations

 
Gigabyte X99M Gaming 5
Asus X99-Deluxe
MSI X99S Gaming 9 AC
Gigabyte GA-X99 Gaming 5
MSRP
£180
£290
£290
£200
BIOS
F2
5501
1.3B3
F5
Chipset Revision
Intel X99 (Intel 9.4.2.1019 driver)
CPU
Intel Core i7-5960X
Memory
Corsair Vengeance LPX 2800 16GB DDR4 (4 x 4GB)
Memory Timings
15-15-15-36-2T @ 2,133MHz
Discrete Graphics
EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (340.52 drivers)
System Drive
Crucial MX100 (512GB)
Chassis
Corsair Graphite 600T
Power Supply
Corsair AX760i
Operating System
Windows 8.1 (64-bit)

CPU and Memory Benchmarks

HEXUS PiFast Our number-crunching benchmark stresses a single core by calculating Pi to 10m places
Cinebench R15 Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses all cores
Handbrake 0.9.9.1 Free-to-use video encoder that stresses all CPU cores (64-bit)

Gaming Benchmarks

BioShock Infinite DX11, 1,920x1,080, ultra quality
Batman: Arkham Origins DX11, 1,920x1,080, enhanced quality
Total War: Rome II DX11, 1,920x1,080, ultra quality

Miscellaneous Benchmarks

Overclocking and Power Maximum CPU and memory frequencies, plus power consumption when gaming

Notes

We've historically had a large number of benchmarks detailing performance between chipsets. Due to the levels of integration in the processor practically all modern motherboards benchmark at the same levels, give or take a per cent or two, so 15 graphs showing near-identical performance isn't what you (or we) want to see.

We're running six benchmarks - three CPU, three gaming - to see if the boards perform at the expected levels. This is more of a sanity check than anything else. Of rather more importance is how well the boards are able to overclock the CPU and Corsair DDR4 memory.