USB 3.0 and SATA 3

To see how well the SATA and USB 3.0 controllers performed I took the same SSD and benchmarked in when connected via USB 3.0 as well as SATA 3. To add a little spice to things I did a third benchmark using Asus’s USB 3.0 Boost to see if the performance using that feature is still as noticeable as with previous motherboards. As you can see below, when using SATA and USB 3.0 the Z97-A performed on par with the competition. But when you setup your USB 3.0 device using the included software and the USB 3.0 Boost you can see numbers that are nearly as fast as running over SATA3. Truthfully it is rare that I remember to set this up, but if you have a drive that is hooked up all of the time you could save yourself a lot of time with the additional speed it will get you.

SATA3

Read Speed

MSI Z97 Gaming 5

459.2

Asus Z97-A

460.6

USB 3

Read Speed

MSI Z97 Gaming 5

279.0

Asus Z97-A

277.4

Asus Z97-A w/USB3 Boost

427.6

 

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garfi3ld's Avatar
garfi3ld replied the topic: #34719 12 May 2014 19:41
We started off our Z97 coverage yesterday, today I take a look at a second motherboard. This time the Z97-A from Asus. Have a great day
Phreedom's Avatar
Phreedom replied the topic: #35722 28 Sep 2014 21:58
Hello...you stated, "I was a little disappointed in the network performance of the Intel NIC on the Z97-A...this is to be expected at a price point like the Z97-A’s though". I've been looking at getting the ASUS Z97 Deluxe which is almost twice as much as the -A version @ $275 and it uses the same Intel I218-V NIC. Even the $350 Z97 Deluxe NFC/WLC uses the same NIC as the Z97-A. Soooo...no matter what price point I'm at in this line of ASUS motherboards, I can't get very good network performance???
garfi3ld's Avatar
garfi3ld replied the topic: #35723 28 Sep 2014 22:08
Actually in later testing I found this to be a specific issue only with the model of switch that we do our testing on. You can find a little more information here

lanoc.org/review/motherboards/6927-asus-...uxe?showall=&start=8
Phreedom's Avatar
Phreedom replied the topic: #35724 28 Sep 2014 22:23
Awesome...thanks!
L0rdG1gabyt3's Avatar
L0rdG1gabyt3 replied the topic: #35725 29 Sep 2014 17:06
I built a CAD workstation on one of these boards last week, and the performance is very good.

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