Drive and Audio Performance Results

Our drive- and audio testing differs a bit from the rest of our testing for several reasons. First of all, when it comes to drive-performance comparisons, nearly every platform on the market is very close to all the others because most provide external drive-controllers, making the numbers offered very platform agnostic. And finally, with audio, we do not list any numbers except for those reported by the product we are testing. This is to provide the most information possible, as each audio CODEC will behave quite differently. Many boards also employ a different CODEC. As such, there is no standard we can use other than the numbers themselves. You can always check our other motherboard reviews to make direct comparisons in audio performance.

We tested each drive interface separately in order to provide you with numbers that are as complete as possible. Employing HDTune Pro for all of the testing, we tested each drive outside of the OS environment through a separate OS on a separate drive. However, we do use drives with a fair amount of data on both the Corsair ForceGT and the Corsair F60 (60% full) to simulate performance in real-world situations. Also new is that all USB 3.0 testing is done via the provided front-panel ports rather than the ports on the rear of the board since front-panel ports are more likely to be used. I also no longer test SATA interfaces using a SATA 3 Gb/s drive since SATA 3 Gb/s functionality is now a legacy item.

HDTune Pro (SATA 6Gb/s)

HDTune Pro (USB3.0 Front Panel)

USB 3.0 performance was good. SATA 6 Gb/s results were really good, showing that there's perhaps more to Intel's Z87 platform than a first glance may expose!

RightMark Audio Analyzer

Audio testing results were pretty good for a product using the older Realtek ALC892 CODEC. Volume was a bit low, however, and I had to boost recording input volume to run RMAA. ASUS did provide me with a guide on how to test RMAA, and it might have given me better results, but I, to be honest, don't approve of how they test. I did ask another reviewer I speak with very often to test in a similar fashion to how I test, and he simply could not get the test to run with a few boards. I prefer my "more rigorous" testing routine that makes it harder for audio CODECs to excel. With that said, I, although the volume was a bit low, found the actual accuracy of the provided audio to be very good, which is what I expect out of the Realtek ALC892.