Intel Z97 Motherboard Roundup with ASUS, Biostar, Gigabyte and MSI

By Dan Stoltz

RightMark Audio Analyzer Audio Testing

Rightmark Audio Analyzer Performance Testing

The RightMark Audio Analyzer suite is designed for testing quality of analog and digital paths of any audio devices, be it a sound card, an MP3 player, a consumer CD/DVD player or an acoustic set. The results are obtained by playing and recording test signals passed through the tested audio path by means of frequency analysis algorithms. The latest version of RightMark Audio Analyzer can be found here.

  • GIGABYTE Z97X-UD5H – Realtek ALC1150 High Definition Audio Codec
  • ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi ac – Realtek ALC1150 High Definition Audio Codec
  • MSI Z97 Gaming 7 – Realtek ALC1150 High Definition Audio Codec
  • BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Z97WE – Realtek ALC892 8-Channel Blu-ray Audio

Rightmark Audio Analyzer Performance Results

Benchmark Results: All four of the motherboards we tested today scored an overall rating of very good in RightMark Audio Analyzer. The BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Z97WE is the only one of our motherboards that doesn’t use the Realtek ALC1150 audio codec, instead it relies on the older Realtek ALC892. Despite using the older audio codec, it was able to maintain the same overall rating of Very Good in RMAA.