We manually enable power-saving settings on each board before starting the benchmarks. Although the performance numbers came in very close, we tend to look for the power results to match.
In fact, the power consumption differences appear much larger than the benchmark result deltas.

We expect the most miserly motherboards to also have the lowest temperatures, but this isn't true either. ASRock’s Z87 Extreme4 demonstrates the lowest power consumption and the highest temperatures.

Again, performance differences are minor. MSI’s barely-noticeable losses in a handful of benchmarks nudge its benchmark score to just 1% under average. ASRock’s miniscule overclock likely helps it go 1% over average. Meanwhile, Biostar’s similar 1%-over-average result takes us by surprise.

The reason we show performance on an efficiency page is that it’s an easy way to compare work to energy. In this case, the comparison is work over time, so factoring out the time gives the best-performing boards a slightly larger lead. With a difference in computing time of less than 1% over average for each board, the easiest calculations are probably sufficient.

This chart shows that ASRock’s actual performance lead is roughly equal to its overclock. Still, an average power consumption nearly 11% below the average of all five boards allows its Z87 Extreme4 to take top efficiency honors.
- Affordable Z87 Express Motherboards: Not Quite "Back To Basics"
- ASRock Z87 Extreme4
- Z87 Extreme4 Firmware
- Z87 Extreme4 Software
- Asus Z87-Plus
- Z87-Plus Firmware
- Z87-Plus Software
- Biostar Hi-Fi Z87X 3D
- Hi-Fi Z87X 3D Firmware
- Hi-Fi Z87X 3D Software
- Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H
- Z87X-UD3H Firmware
- Z87X-UD3H Software
- MSI Z87-G45 Gaming
- Z87-G45 Gaming Firmware
- Z87-G45 Gaming Software
- Test Settings And Benchmarks
- Results: 3DMark And PCMark
- Results: SiSoftware Sandra
- Results: Audio And Video Encoding
- Results: Adobe Creative Suite
- Results: Productivity
- Results: File Compression
- Power, Heat, And Efficiency
- Overclocking
- When Picking A Winner Is Almost Impossible
Despite of 6 connectors i had trouble to connect only 4 3-pin case fans because only 2 connectors can control fan speed. 3rd connector has 4 constant levels. Another 2 are PWM connectors and there is no option in UEFI to make them control 3-pin fans. Last connector can supply 12V only.
So i used Y cable to control 2 identical fans, and set constant speed on hdd cage.