Performance
As a whole we are changing the way we look at our motherboard testing slightly. The truth is a lot of the standard benchmarks you see in our reviews as well as others aren’t really needed. These tests actually test components like the CPU and video card more than anything else. Because of that we have trimmed down our testing slightly to make it easier for you to take in. We still do some testing though to make sure none of the boards that we test have any glaring issues but overall you should only see a slight variation in numbers. That variation isn’t a big deal; it is only the big variances that we are looking for. Having cleared that up, I would also like to point out that testing like our Audio and storage testing still are important as they are sub systems that the motherboard manufactures have control over, be sure to check out those sections as well.
PCMark 7 |
Overall Score |
|
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming |
6107 |
|
Asus Z87 Pro |
6287 |
|
Asus Z87 Plus |
6332 |
|
MSI Z87 MPower |
6465 |
|
Asus Z87 Gryphon |
6304 |
|
3DMark |
Fire Strike |
Fire Strike Extreme |
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming |
4340 |
1955 |
Asus Z87 Pro |
4353 |
2086 |
Asus Z87 Plus |
4346 |
2018 |
MSI Z87 MPower |
4344 |
1961 |
Asus Z87 Gryphon |
4345 |
2071 |
Worldbench (low score is better) |
Photoshop |
Office |
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming |
222 |
302 |
Asus Z87 Pro |
222 |
291 |
Asus Z87 Plus |
210 |
290 |
MSI Z87 MPower |
206 |
289 |
Asus Z87 Gryphon |
213 |
293 |
wPrime (low score is better) |
32M |
1024M |
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming |
10.658 |
325.787 |
Asus Z87 Pro |
10.437 |
325.981 |
Asus Z87 Plus |
10.584 |
328.48 |
MSI Z87 MPower |
10.657 |
331.992 |
Asus Z87 Gryphon |
10.562 |
324.228 |
Passmark |
CPU Mark |
|
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming |
10295 |
|
Asus Z87 Pro |
10437 |
|
Asus Z87 Plus |
10425 |
|
MSI Z87 MPower |
10297 |
|
Asus Z87 Gryphon |
10470 |
|
X264 |
Pass 1 |
Pass 2 |
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming |
166.9525 |
43.83 |
Asus Z87 Pro |
168.2825 |
45.9675 |
Asus Z87 Plus |
171.8175 |
45.8775 |
MSI Z87 MPower |
170.1025 |
45.9075 |
Asus Z87 Gryphon |
169.2225 |
45.7725 |
Cinebench |
CPU Score |
|
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming |
7.73 |
|
Asus Z87 Pro |
8.02 |
|
Asus Z87 Plus |
7.94 |
|
MSI Z87 MPower |
8.1 |
|
Asus Z87 Gryphon |
8.18 |
|
Unreal Heaven Benchmark 4.0 |
Average FPS |
|
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming |
35.5 |
|
Asus Z87 Pro |
34.7 |
|
Asus Z87 Plus |
34.7 |
|
MSI Z87 MPower |
34.5 |
|
Asus Z87 Gryphon |
34.7 |
|
Bioshock Infinite |
Average FPS |
|
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming |
50.08 |
|
Asus Z87 Pro |
48.76 |
|
Asus Z87 Plus |
48.76 |
|
MSI Z87 MPower |
48.94 |
|
Asus Z87 Gryphon |
47.56 |
|
Tomb Raider |
Average FPS |
|
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming |
30.7 |
|
Asus Z87 Pro |
30.6 |
|
Asus Z87 Plus |
30.6 |
|
MSI Z87 MPower |
30.5 |
|
Asus Z87 Gryphon |
30.3 |
|
Hitman Absolution |
Average FPS |
|
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming |
29.4 |
|
Asus Z87 Pro |
30 |
|
Asus Z87 Plus |
30 |
|
MSI Z87 MPower |
30 |
|
Asus Z87 Gryphon |
30 |
|
Sleeping Dogs |
Average FPS |
|
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming |
31.8 |
|
Asus Z87 Pro |
31.5 |
|
Asus Z87 Plus |
31.2 |
|
MSI Z87 MPower |
31.4 |
|
Asus Z87 Gryphon |
31.5 |
Let’s be honest, I don’t think you could ask for more consistent results other than the slightly slower Bioshock Infinite results. This shows us that there aren’t any specific issues that we need to look into farther or BIOS issues slowing the system down at all. CPU and GPU performance are both spot on, especially when you compare the numbers next to the other Asus boards. I am always amazed at how close Asus results are across their whole product line; very consistent results mean consistent board quality.