TEMPERATURE & POWER CONSUMPTION
We check to see how motherboard makers tune their default BIOS settings and see how it impacts temperatures and power consumption. The system is left to idle for 30 minutes before readings are taken and load data is taken 30 minutes while Prime95 blend test is running. Power readings are taken for the entire system from the socket.
[singlepic id=14865 w=506 h=650 float=center] [singlepic id=14866 w=506 h=650 float=center]Idle temps look great on the MSI Z87-GD65 GAMING but load temps rank in 2nd hottest we’ve had for a Z87 board. Though nothing to be alarmed about, we do wish MSI would’ve opted for larger VRM heatsinks. Looking at power draw, we see the board draw quite a bit when in idle but ranks in average during load scenarios. Nothing fantastic but we’ve seen MSI boards handle good undervolting in the past.