CPU & GPU Performance
Cinebench
At stock values, the Z170I PRO GAMING surpassed its ATX counterpart and attained solid results in multi-threaded workloads.
Once overclocked, the motherboard performs superbly and is within touching distance of the top spot.
WPrime
In WPrime, the stock scores once again outperformed the Z170 PRO GAMING, but struggled to match a number of competitors.
The motherboard fared much better with a frequency boost and managed to remain in a mid-table position. Additionally, it’s only a minuscule amount off second place and illustrates how capable the motherboard is under extreme stress.
SiSoft Sandra
The Z170I PRO GAMING struggles to compete in this particular benchmark and posted fairly mediocre numbers.
However, overclocking the CPU has a dramatic effect and scores 238, the joint-highest we’ve recorded so far.
3DMark
Moving onto 3D testing, the motherboard attains astronomical stores and easily reigns supreme. Although, this large gap could be down to a graphics driver update.
Tomb Raider
The motherboard reported a huge boost at 2560×1440 compared to the rival offerings and managed an improvement in excess of 10 frames-per-second. Clearly, when the Z170I PRO GAMING is paired with a top-end card, the gaming results are phenomenal.
Bioshock Infinite
In Bioshock Infinite, the gap is less pronounced on higher resolutions but still manages to reach the top figure. However, the 1920×1080 benchmark contained a fairly disappointing run of 130.8 frames-per-second. This is the lowest result so far. Although, the 980 Ti’s performance at 1440P is more relevant given its price point and graphical horsepower.
The performance of Asus’ smaller Z170 boards (including mATX) is awful. All the fine electronics, and it’s below average. Especially a shame in mITX since the selection is so small, and this isn’t cheap either.