How we test gaming motherboards
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CPU: Kaby Lake – Intel i7-7700K – Socket 1151
Cooler: Corsair H115i
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB
M.2 SSD: Samsung 950 Pro NVMe 512GB
GPU: Nvidia GTX 1080 FE
RAM: G.Skill TridentZ DDR4-3600 CL16
Power Supplies:
Corsair HX1200i
Cases:
Full tower - Corsair 780T
Mid tower - Corsair Crystal Series 570X RGB
ITX – Realan E-MINI series I5
The motherboards recommended in this guide all received various forms of hands-on evaluation including enclosure installation (full tower, mid-tower, and ITX where applicable), performance benchmarking, stability testing, and a follow-up period of real-world break-in usage that focuses on gaming, entertainment, and media software.
When possible, all tests are performed with the same components installed to remove any variables except the motherboard itself. We also researched the entire field of Z270 motherboards and narrowed the list down to the best, most competitive boards before choosing these to test.
Benchmarks include AIDA 64 Extreme, PCMark 8, Cinebench 15, CrystalDiskMark, 3DMark FireStrike, PCMark 8, DPC Latency Checker, and others. The real-world break-in period encompasses office and creative work, media streaming, and gaming with a variety of demanding titles such as GTAV, Total War: Warhammer, DiRT Rally, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Far Cry Primal, Hitman, and others.
Gaming tests are run at 1080p at medium to high settings to remove any bottlenecks caused by graphics card performance. When possible, both single- and dual-graphics card configurations are tested to insure motherboard stability in SLI and Crossfire situations.
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