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 comparison, differences between the P55 and P67 chipsets do leave the P55 platform with a distinct disadvantage, such that we have excluded those results from our reporting. And finally, with audio, we do not list any numbers except for those reported by the product we are testing in order to provide the most information possible, as each audio CODEC will behave quite differently, and each board does not employ the same CODEC. As such, there is no standard we can use other than the numbers themselves. You can always check our other motherboard reviews in order to make direct comparisons to audio performance.

We've tested each drive interface separately, in order to provide the most complete numbers possible. Employing HDTune Pro for all of the testing, we tested each drive outside of the OS environment, using a separate OS on a separate drive, although we do use drives with a fair amount of data on them to simulate performance in real-world situations. We also have not enabled the "Intel Smart Response" technology, which definitely gives the Z68 a distinct advantage, should users also buy supporting hardware.

HDTune Pro (SATA2)

We noticed a divergence from the rest of the numbers when testing drive performance, with our Biostar TZ68A+ board coming out near the top, and matching the second-best result here using our SATA 3.0 Gb/s test drive. A very good showing, which quite obviously highlights the strength of the Intel Z68 southbridge chipset.

HDTune Pro (SATA 6Gb/s)

SATA 6 Gb/s showed the same as SATA 3 Gb/s, with the second highest spot again claimed by the TZ68A+.

HDTune Pro (USB3.0)

USB 3.0 drive performance proved to put the TZ68A+ on top, most likely due to it employing the Asmedia USB 3.0 controllers, much different from the NEC/Renesas and Etron products on the other boards. As this chip is relatively new on the market, we were not too sure what to expect, as previous tests using this controller have had quite varied results. Biostar came through here though, offering the best USB 3.0 performance, bar none.

RightMark Audio Analyzer

Biostar uses the same ALC892 CODEC as we saw in our last few reviews, employed by ASUS on the P8P67 PRO, the ASUS M5A97 EVO, and by ECS on the P67H2-A2. While the audio performance was fairly decent to our ears, Rightmark Audio Analyzer did show audio quality similar to the other ALC892 results, albeit a bit lower, a product of the circuit design and other components used in the board's audio loop. These results are very good, and we expect no less from Biostar.