The Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H-BK Black Edition is tested in Gigabyte facilities for stability and reliability. We will not run any ‘altcoin’ (litecoin) cryptocurrency mining software as Gigabyte does when it tests its motherboards prior to shipment. Each motherboard has to pass a seven-day test at Gigabyte.

We will stick to more common tests. The Intel Core i7 4770K processor used in the review worked at a constant clock of 3.9GHz due to forced Turbo. When XMP is enabled, BIOS applies multi-core turbo and forces the CPU to a constant frequency of 3.9GHz. The results related to the PCIe based M.2 storage interface will be added later (we are waiting for the new drive to come).

Test System:

   Processor: Intel Core i7 4770K (3.9GHz).

   Memory: 16GB (4x 4GB) Patriot PC3-12800H (1600 CL9 Series)

   Graphics Card: Sapphire R9 280X Toxic 3GB.

   System Drive: 240GB Corsair Neutron.

   Case: CoolerMaster Cosmos S.

   Power Supply: CoolerMaster 1000W.

   Operating System: Windows 8.1 64-bit.

Tests:

   3DMark 1.1.0 – Fire Strike (System)

   Aida64 – memory benchmark (System)

   SiSoft Sandra 2015 – Processor arithmetic, memory bandwidth (System)

   HandBrake 0.9.9 – Convert 819MB 720P MKV to MP4 (CPU)

   Cinebench R15 – (CPU)

   WinRAR 5.01 – Built-in benchmark (CPU)

   ATTO – SATA 6Gbps, USB 3.0, (Motherboard)

   Bioshock Infinite – 1920 x 1080, ultra quality (Gaming – discrete GPU)

   Thief – 1920 x 1080, high quality (Gaming – discrete GPU)

   Tomb Raider - 1920 x 1080, ultimate quality (Gaming – discrete GPU)

   Bioshock Infinite – 1680x1050, very low (Gaming – CPU)

   Thief – 1680x1050, very low (Gaming – CPU)

   Tomb Raider - 1680x1050, low (Gaming – CPU)