SATA and M.2 Performance

Website: CrystalDiskMark


We tested the SATA and performance with a Samsung 850 Pro, as this is one of the fastest SSDs we've ever tested, and it can saturate the bandwidth of SATA 6Gbps ports.

For M.2 port testing, we used a 256GB Samsung 950 Pro. This is rated at 2200MB/s read and 900MB/s write speeds - not quite saturating the M.2 interface but enough to give it a good workout. We use CystalDiskMark's 32Queue depth sequential test.

Rightmark Audio Analyzer

Publisher: Rightmark

We've recently started testing motherboards using RightMark Audio Analyzer. We use the Playback/Recording test, first adjusting levels so they're within the benchmark parameters and then using 24-bit 192KHz tracks, we connect the line-in to the speaker/line-out jack using a standard 3.5mm audio cable. Following feedback we felt it important to include some results given that on-board audio is a hotly fought-over area with motherboards at the moment.