Testing Methodology
Comparison Motherboard Configurations |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | MSI X399 Gaming Pro Carbon AC |
Asus Xenith Xtreme
|
MSI X299 PLUS
|
||
| Reviewed Price | £325 |
£480 |
£260 |
||
| Firmware Version | 7B09v15 |
0503 |
E7A93IMS.12Z |
||
| Chipset | AMD X399 |
Intel X299 |
|||
| CPU | AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X |
Intel Core i9-7900X |
|||
| CPU Cores / Threads | 16 / 32 |
10 / 20 |
|||
| CPU Base Clock | 3.4GHz |
3.3GHz |
|||
| CPU Turbo Boost Clock | 4.0GHz |
4.3GHz |
|||
| CPU L3 Cache | 32MB |
13.75MB |
|||
| CPU TDP | 180W |
1404W |
|||
| Memory | G.Skill Trident Z RGB |
Corsair Dominator 32GB |
|||
| Memory Configuration | 4x8GB |
4x8GB |
|||
| Memory Speed | DDR4-3200 |
DDR4-2666 |
|||
| Memory Timings | 15-15-15-36 |
14-16-16-36-2T |
|||
| CPU Cooler | Thermaltake Riing 360 |
Noctua NH-D15S |
|||
| Graphics | EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW (382.53) |
||||
| Storage Device | SK hynix Canvas SC300 512GB |
||||
| Power Supply | be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 (750W) |
||||
| Operating System | Windows 10 Home (64-bit) |
||||
CPU and Memory Benchmarks |
||
|---|---|---|
| HEXUS PiFast | Our number-crunching benchmark stresses a single core by calculating Pi to 10m places | |
| Cinebench | Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses all cores | |
| Handbrake | Free-to-use video encoder that stresses multiple CPU cores | |
| AIDA64 | Benchmark that analyses memory bandwidth and latency | |
Storage Benchmarks |
||
| CrystalDiskMark | Popular free-to-use storage benchmark, used to gauge read and write performance via SATA (512GB SK hynix Canvas SC300), M.2 (512GB Samsung 950 Pro), and USB 3.1 (256GB Adata SC660H) | |
Gaming Benchmarks |
||
| 3DMark | Run using Time Spy DX12 test | |
| Deus Ex: Mankind Divided | 2,560x1,440, ultra settings | |
| Hitman | 2,560x1,440, ultra settings | |
Miscellaneous Benchmarks |
||
| Power Consumption | Noted at idle, while running the HandBrake video-transcoding test and when playing Deus Ex: Mankind Divided | |
Notes
We're comparing performance against the crazy-spec Asus Xenith Xtreme, costing 50 per cent more. And looking over to Intel as a platform alternative, especially as the Core i9-7900X costs about the same as the Threadripper 1950X we're using, we've also included numbers from MSI's own X299 SLI PLUS. This will let you know which platform is best for your kind of workloads.
