Test setup
With motherboards, we don’t like to write about “gaming” hardware. They usually have virtually no effect on gaming performance. In this case, however, there is something to the marketing slogan, although not for free, and in some cases the higher performance is paid for by higher power draw in games. However, there are naturally more reasons to care about or, on the contrary, to avoid the Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Elite AX.
Test setup
![](https://www.hwcooling.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/intel-core-i9-13900k_03-1024x683.jpg)
![](https://www.hwcooling.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/motherboards-methodology-09-1024x683.jpg)
![](https://www.hwcooling.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/motherboards-methodology-10-ddr5-6000-1024x683.jpg)
![](https://www.hwcooling.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/motherboards-methodology-11-1024x683.jpg)
![](https://www.hwcooling.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/motherboards-methodology-12-1024x683.jpg)
![](https://www.hwcooling.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/processors-methodology_12-1024x600.jpg)
Note.: Graphics drivers used at the time of testing: Nvidia GeForce 466.77 and OS Windows 10 build 19045.
- Contents
- Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Elite AX in detail
- What it looks like in the BIOS
- Methodology: Performance tests
- Methodology: How we measure power draw
- Methodology: Temperature and frequency measurements
- Test setup
- 3DMark
- Borderlands 3
- F1 2020
- Metro Exodus
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider
- Total War Saga: Troy
- PCMark and Geekbench
- Web performance
- 3D rendering: Cinebench, Blender, ...
- Video 1/2: Adobe Premiere Pro
- Video 2/2: DaVinci Resolve Studio
- Graphics effects: Adobe After Effects
- Video encoding
- Audio encoding
- Photos: Adobe Photoshop, Affinity Photo, ...
- (De)compression
- (De)encryption
- Numerical computing
- Simulations
- Memory and cache tests
- M.2 (SSD) slots speed
- USB ports speed
- Ethernet speed
- Power draw without power limits
- Power draw with power limits by Intel
- Achieved CPU clock speed
- CPU temperature
- VRM temperature – thermal imaging of Vcore and SOC
- SSD temperature
- Chipset temperature (south bridge)
- Conclusion