MSI X99A Gaming 7 Motherboard Review

Test Results

We will start with PCMark 08 Professional, with the Asus Rampage V Extreme Motherboard as a comparison. The Rampage V Extreme is an EATX motherboard whereas the MSI is an ATX. The Asus has more room to play with and should be able to take more direct or shorter paths  helping out with bandwidth a little.

Firstly, the MSI X99A performance in the application tests was replicated, or at least the delta was. We do not think this is a genuine performance difference, just a glitch with the current driver perhaps. Secondly, there is an average trend towards the MSI X99, however slight, it’s still ahead.

We utilised the latest BIOSes and drivers for both motherboards and as they are the same Chipset, we are looking at the average performance differences between the two motherboards.

The same can be said for 3DMark Professional, with all but the last test showing a slight performance advantage over the Asus Rampage V Extreme Motherboard.

The same can be siad for CrystalDiskMark at least in the Read results. These tests are run using the Crucial BX100 500Gb SSD in a single disc set up in IDE mode.

We are still some way off the manufactures advertised specification, 535 Sequential Read  and 450 Sequential Write for both motherboards, though it’s a decent enough speed for a single disc and operating system.

When it comes to the CrystalDiskMark Write results, the Asus Rampage V Extreme Motherboard wins every time. Though under 10 Mb/s difference each time, it’s enough for an application to piggy back onto during gaming for example, with FRAPS or Action making less of an impact, only slightly however.