Next up we take a look at gaming performance. Is the P55 board able to produce great results with the i5 750 onboard? Let's take a look.

Initially i took a look at Futuremarks 3DMark Vantage benchmarking test.


3DMark Vantage performance.

The results show quite a considerable score increase for the Maximus III Gene. Hopefully this is because of extra raw performance rather than the i5 750 having an extra core to play with!

Next i looked at the first person shooter 'Blacksite', a good test of any system that scales well as resolution changes.


Blacksite performance.

The performance was good. Compared to the same test with the Phenom II 720 @ 3.4ghz (Min 44/Max 70/Avg 50fps) it provided better performance at stock and then increased that lead as the i5 750 was overclocked.

Finally i tested the Maximus III Gene with 'Race Driver GRID'.


Race Driver GRID performance.

At stock clocks the Maximus trailed the overclocked Phenom II's results (Min 42/Max 58/Avg 50fps) but once the Maximus III Gene overclocked the i5 750 to 3.2ghz and beyond the setup obliterated the AMD.

This has been a very impressive performance.

Sound

During testing i carefully considered the volume level of the set up.


Maximus III Gene.

The Maximus III Gene's PWM fan control was exemplary. It only ever throttled up during high load and even then did it in an unobtrusive and gradual manner. As you can see the board itself is a passive design too meaning the lack of fan noise really gives it extra brownie points!

Overall a quiet and effective approach to cooling - other motherboard manufacturers take note!