Gaming Performance 2015

As we have not tested our mid-2015 suite on many products yet, we have relatively few results and these are included here for completeness. I've included a few CPU based results as well, to see perspective.

Alien: Isolation

If first person survival mixed with horror is your sort of thing, then Alien: Isolation, based off of the Alien franchise, should be an interesting title. Developed by The Creative Assembly and released in October 2014, Alien: Isolation has won numerous awards from Game Of The Year to several top 10s/25s and Best Horror titles, ratcheting up over a million sales by February 2015. Alien: Isolation uses a custom built engine which includes dynamic sound effects and should be fully multi-core enabled.

For low end graphics, we test at 720p with Ultra settings, whereas for mid and high range graphics we bump this up to 1080p, taking the average frame rate as our marker with a scripted version of the built-in benchmark.

Alien Isolation on ASUS R7 240 DDR3 2GB ($70)

Alien Isolation on MSI GTX 770 Lightning 2GB ($245)

Alien Isolation on ASUS GTX 980 Strix 4GB ($560)

Total War: Attila

The Total War franchise moves on to Attila, another The Creative Assembly development, and is a stand-alone strategy title set in 395AD where the main story line lets the gamer take control of the leader of the Huns in order to conquer parts of the world. Graphically the game can render hundreds/thousands of units on screen at once, all with their individual actions and can put some of the big cards to task.

For low end graphics, we test at 720p with performance settings, recording the average frame rate. With mid and high range graphics, we test at 1080p with the quality setting. In both circumstances, unlimited video memory is enabled and the in-game scripted benchmark is used.

Total War: Attila on ASUS R7 240 DDR3 2GB ($70)

Total War: Attila on MSI GTX 770 Lightning 2GB ($245)

Total War: Attila on ASUS GTX 980 Strix 4GB ($560)

GRID: Autosport

No graphics tests are complete without some input from Codemasters and the EGO engine, which means for this round of testing we point towards GRID: Autosport, the next iteration in the GRID and racing genre. As with our previous racing testing, each update to the engine aims to add in effects, reflections, detail and realism, with Codemasters making ‘authenticity’ a main focal point for this version.

GRID’s benchmark mode is very flexible, and as a result we created a test race using a shortened version of the Red Bull Ring with twelve cars doing two laps. The car is focus starts last and is quite fast, but usually finishes second or third. For low end graphics we test at 1080p medium settings, whereas mid and high end graphics get the full 1080p maximum. Both the average and minimum frame rates are recorded.

GRID: Autosport on ASUS R7 240 DDR3 2GB ($70)

GRID: Autosport on ASUS R7 240 DDR3 2GB ($70) [Minimum FPS]

GRID: Autosport on ASUS GTX 980 Strix 4GB ($560)

GRID: Autosport on ASUS GTX 980 Strix 4GB ($560) [Minimum FPS]

Middle-Earth: Shadows of Mordor

The final title in our testing is another battle of system performance with the open world action-adventure title, Shadows of Mordor. Produced by Monolith using the LithTech Jupiter EX engine and numerous detail add-ons, SoM goes for detail and complexity to a large extent, despite having to be cut down from the original plans. The main story itself was written by the same writer as Red Dead Redemption, and it received Zero Punctuation’s Game of The Year in 2014.

For testing purposes, SoM gives a dynamic screen resolution setting, allowing us to render at high resolutions that are then scaled down to the monitor. As a result, we get several tests using the in-game benchmark. For low end graphics we examine at 720p with low settings, whereas mid and high end graphics get 1080p Ultra. The top graphics test is also redone at 3840x2160, also with Ultra settings, and we also test two cards at 4K where possible.

Shadows of Mordor on ASUS R7 240 DDR3 2GB ($70)

Shadows of Mordor on ASUS R7 240 DDR3 2GB ($70) [Minimum FPS]

Shadows of Mordor on ASUS GTX 980 Strix 4GB ($560)

Shadows of Mordor on ASUS GTX 980 Strix 4GB ($560) [Minimum FPS]

Gaming Performance 2014 ASUS Rampage V Extreme Conclusion
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  • DanNeely - Monday, June 22, 2015 - link

    Even testaments to insanity like this board have limits; although I'd guess they ran out of space to run traces in the PCB itself or space to put PCIe switches/PLXes on to allow every combination of stuff all at once. You should be able to do what you want, red PCI slots 1/3 at 1 lanes and the m.2 slot with 4 lanes of PCIe 3.0. You could also run a 4x 2.0 SSD in the black slot with 2 GPUs at 16x.

    Unfortunately, one of the casualties of not being able to route every possible combination of uses is 16/16/8 operation or 16/16/4 + 4 (m.2). I suspect we'll be seeing lane shortage angst until Skylake E comes out and bumps the PCH to 20 3.0 lanes. Unfortunately SkyLake E is still a year out.
  • aron9621 - Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - link

    They pulled it off (16/16/8 and 16/16/4/4) on the smaller deluxe, it makes me sad the Rampage V can't do it as well. The older Rampage IV can run in 16/16/8 mode too.
  • gammaray - Monday, June 22, 2015 - link

    How many of AnandTech readers need a board like that, or a x99 board review?

    I wish most articles were dedicated to mainstream motherboards.
  • DCide - Monday, June 22, 2015 - link

    An X99 is the most advanced you can go in the mainstream consumer arena, so I'd say that's a lot of readers!
  • freeskier93 - Monday, June 22, 2015 - link

    I like reading about these high end boards but I agree, I'd like to see full reviews of the cheaper mainstream boards. I just bought an Asus Z97-E and I had a hard time finding any reviews/information about it. I did figure out it is basically a Z97-A with a couple less features but there weren't even a lot of reviews for the Z97-A.
  • kael13 - Wednesday, June 24, 2015 - link

    Well, I have one, so it can't be that far-fetched. Tis a lovely board, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't buy it mainly for the colour scheme. Oh and the 8 PWM fan headers. They rock and match up perfectly to my fan layout.
  • der - Monday, June 22, 2015 - link

    Under 20!
  • JlHADJOE - Monday, June 22, 2015 - link

    8-8-8 for 28 lane tri-gpu is great! Too many other boards have retarted lane distribution.
  • sabrewings - Monday, June 22, 2015 - link

    I lol'd when I saw it still has a PS2 port. Really? In 2015? I thought this was done away with on high end enthusiast boards?

    All dem SATA and USB ports though...
  • kael13 - Wednesday, June 24, 2015 - link

    Gamers like them for N-key rollover on keyboards.

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