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

Intel Z97 & ADATA XPG DDR3 3100MHz Memory Testing

Many of the Intel Z97 motherboards are able to support some extreme memory speeds, a couple of the ones we are looking at today are capable of supporting speeds of 3200MHz and faster. In order to test this, we contacted ADATA and they were kind enough to send out an 8Gb kit of DDR3 3100MHz. This particular kit is retailing for $869.99 right now, so these kits are really for the die-hard enthusiasts with money burning a hole in their pocket. The ADATA XPG kit (Model AX3U3100W4G12-DMV) is capable of running at 3100MHz with 12-14-14-36-2t timings at 1.65 Volts.

ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi ac

The ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi ac motherboard is rated for memory speeds up to 3200MHz (O.C.). Firing up the XMP profile for the ADATA XPG memory kit, the first that that I noticed is that the Bclk was increased to 105.67MHz.

With the XMP profile in place the board was running the memory at an effective 3.1GHz !

BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Z97WE

The BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Z97WE Intel Z97 motherboard is only rated for 2800MHz memory. This means that there is a slim chance that I will be able to take full advantage of the ADATA XPG memory with this motherboard.

The best I was able to do with the BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Z97WE motherboard is 2814MHz on the memory. Which I can’t exactly fault BIOSTAR for this since this is exactly what the Hi-Fi Z97WE is rated for.

GIGABYTE Z97X-UD5H

It’s interesting that the GIGABYTE Z97X-UD5H handled the ADATA XPG XMP profile differently than the ASUS Z97-Pro Wi-Fi ac did above. The ASUS board increased the Bclk to ~105MHz while the GIGABYTE Z97X-UD5H increased it to 129MHz.

While the GIGABYTE Z97X-UD5H increased the Bclk to 129MHz, the end results for the memory looks to be the same. Once it’s all said and done the ADATA XPG DDR3 memory is running at 3.1GHz, right where it should be!

MSI Z97 Gaming 7

The MSI Z97 Gaming 7 went yet another route with the ADATA XPG memory and the Bclk. The Bclk on the MSI Z97 Gaming 7 increased to 110.75MHz, higher than the ASUS motherboard and lower than the GIGABYTE motherboard.

Though it seems to work as the ADATA XPG memory is running at 3100MHz without any issues!