Test Methodology
Comparison Motherboard Configurations |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Model | MSI X470 Gaming M7 AC Wifi |
Aorus X470 Gaming 7 Wifi |
Asus Maximus X Hero |
| Firmware Version | 1.10 |
T2b |
1101 |
| Chipset | X470 |
Z370 |
|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 2700X |
Intel Core i7-8700K |
|
| CPU Cores / Threads | 8 / 16 |
6 / 12 |
|
| CPU Base Clock / Turbo | 4.2GHz all-core |
3.7GHz / 4.3GHz |
4.0GHz / 4.7GHz |
| CPU TDP | 105W |
91W |
|
| Memory | Corsair 32GB (4x8GB) |
||
| Memory Speed | DDR4-3200 |
DDR4-2933 |
DDR4-2666 |
| Memory Timings | 16-18-18-38-1T |
||
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti |
||
| Graphics Driver | GeForce 391.25 |
||
| Storage Device(s) | SK hynix Canvas SC300 512GB
WD Black NVMe M.2 1TB |
||
| Power Supply | be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 (1,000W) |
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| Operating System | Windows 10 Home 1709 (64-bit) |
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CPU Benchmarks |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 1.0 | Free-to-use video encoder that stresses all CPU cores. | ||||||||||
Storage Benchmarks |
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| CrystalDiskMark | Popular free-to-use storage benchmark, used to gauge read and write performance via M.2 (1TB WD Black NVMe), SATA (512GB SK hynix Canvas SC300) and USB 3.1 (512GB SK hynix Canvas SC300). | ||||||||||
Memory Benchmarks |
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| AIDA64 v5.80 | Benchmark that analyses memory bandwidth and latency. | ||||||||||
Gaming Benchmarks |
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| 3DMark Time Spy | Graphics benchmark run using the Time Spy test. | ||||||||||
| F1 2017 | 1,920x1,080, ultra settings. | ||||||||||
| Middle-earth: Shadow of War | 1,920x1,080, ultra settings. | ||||||||||
Miscellaneous Benchmarks |
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| Power Consumption | Noted at idle, while running the HandBrake video-transcoding test and when playing Far Cry 5. | ||||||||||
Notes
At the time of testing, both platforms had up-to-date protection against Spectre and Meltdown threats.
There is little point in comparing the default performance of the MSI to the Aorus X470 board. Reason? They don't just produce similar results; they are identical - 1,813 in Cinebench and within 0.2s in the four-minute-long Blender examination.
This is why we have chosen to run the MSI at what we deem reasonable overclocked settings, comprising an all-core CPU speed of 4.2GHz using 1.45V and memory at DDR4-3,200 speeds. It's not a huge overclock, of course, because Ryzen has a lower ceiling than, say, Core i7-8700K.
