At first we would like to thank BIOSTAR for offering their B150GT5 LGA1151 Motherboard for testing and reviewing.

 

 

 

About BIOSTAR:

 

“In 1980, the IT industry was growing at a phenomenal rate. With wide experience in buying and selling electronic parts as well as researching on future demands for mainboards and add-on cards , the founder of BIOSTAR GROUP, established BIOSTAR MICROTECH INTERNATIONAL CORP in 1986.

 

In the early years, BIOSTAR concentrated on the manufacture of mainboards built for XT form factor. To maintain steady business growth, BIOSTAR managed to keep a large portion of its capital and manpower invested on the design and development of new products, which at the same time has enabled it to stay competitive in the rapid evolution of the computer industry.

 

BIOSTAR has enriched its competence in the design and manufacture of products such as add-on cards, multi-media and system products to develop the market and meet the demands of customers for more integrated solutions. In order to expand its capacity to meet customer demand globally, BIOSTAR was the first to establish a manufacturing facility in China in 1990. In 1998, its sales revenues exceeded US$130 million and it ranked 227th among the top 1000 enterprises in Taiwan. Furthermore, BIOSTAR obtained an ISO 9001 certification in 1999 and became a publicly listed company in the same year. BIOSTAR’s future has limitless possibilities.”

 

Hi-Fi

A combination of exclusive hardware & software design including "ground-isolation circuit design”, “an independent audio power", and "a built=on-board amplifier", with all these hardware features gives you the best audio quality and performance. As for software, we offer you a free bundle utility "Multi-Channel Calibration" which normally you'll find in high level sound systems; this feature allows you to auto detect your location; with a user friendly interface, you can easily adjust the volume of every speaker to make a well balanced surround sound. And of course, the built-on-board amplifier always gives you a super powerful sound comparing to other motherboards.

Blu-ray Audio

Upgrading your Audio performance in the easiest way is choosing BIOSTAR ultimate Motherboard. It does support Blu-ray audio DRM (compatible driver/software) and provide the higher audio output of 24 bit/ 192KHz than the 16 bit/ 48KHz from the normal MB. You will experience the high quality sound effect with pure Blu-Ray Audio.

Hi-Fi Power

Audio power is an important factor in audio quality. Most AV equipment isolates the power supply for each analog and digital signal to gather high-quality sound reproduction. Equipped with BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Power technology, it will utilize audio components with independent power design for a significant reduction in electronic noise and superb sound quality.

Hi-Fi Ground

BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Ground (Golden Line) is noise-blocking multi-layer PCB design to isolates analog audio signals from digital sources. Unique PCB layout is ideal for exceptional clarity and high fidelity sound.

Hi-Fi Sound

BIOSTAR Hi-Fi series motherboards have a sampling rate of 192kHz/24-bit which delivers a high quality audio through an analog connection to your home theater system, multi-channel speakers and high-end headphone. You can enjoy real Blu-ray grade high-definition sound that you’ve never experienced before.

Hi-Fi AMP

The built-in amplifier can drive major high-end headphones with over 100dB loads and offer wide band-width, low noise, high slew rate and low distortion audio source from front panel I/O. Gaming enthusiasts can enjoy a fuller range of dynamic sound with crisper details and less distortion.

Smart Ear

Smart EAR is a windows-based audio utility which allows you to easily adjust system volume. With its user-friendly GUI, you can also increase or decrease impedance setting (Low/High Gain) to optimize your headphone performance. You can easily enjoy high-quality and awesome sound.

Hi-Fi Resistor

Metal-oxide film resistors are made of metal oxides such as tin oxide. The electric characteristics are greater stability and reliability than regular metal film resistors when operating in an extremely broad working temperature range. This special component is used in applications with high endurance audio demands.

Hi-Fi Cap

BIOSTAR Hi-Fi series motherboards come with high quality ‘Non-Polarized Electrolysis Electric audio capacitors’ for each audio channel circuit. The customized audio capacitors deliver low noise, low distortion, and wide bandwidth to achieve the highest sound resolution and sound expansion. The critical component will ensure the most realistic sound effects to gaming enthusiasts.

Hi-Fi 110dB+

Embrace exceptional sound quality for the win with 110dB SNR and stylish and efficient EMI shield blocks electromagnetic interference to help provide cleaner audio. It has achieved a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 110dB, yielding almost loss-less audio form rear audio connectors.

 

Video+

 

HDMI 4K2K

The new 4K2K resolution enables high-definition image display with four times the resolution of full HD ,4K2K display is faithfully express bright, highly detailed content that fills the entire screen with lifelike images. Connectivity with PCs via a single HDMI cable for displaying 4K2K data.

DVI

DVI is better than VGA for LCD displays since it is digital while VGA is analog. For LCD displays, the picture is digitized pixel per pixel. Through DVI, the panel gets data for each pixel, so the picture generated in the Graphics device matches the pixels on the panel itself.

DX12

DirectX 12 introduces the next version of Direct3D, the graphics API at the heart of DirectX. Direct3D is one of the most critical pieces of a game or game engine, and we've redesigned it to be faster and more efficient than ever before. Direct3D 12 enables richer scenes, more objects, and full utilization of modern GPU hardware.

 

Speed+

 

Charger Booster

Charger booster is the best and efficient charger solution for apple devices such as iPad, iPhone. Basically, Charger booster Technology is able to boost the charging time to be more efficiency and faster once any apple goods connecting to our Motherboard. With charger booster technology, you are able to charge your apple devices up to 42 % faster.

SATA Express 16Gb/s

New generation SATA Express standard with speed up to 16Gb/s and meets SATA specifications.

PCI-E Gen 3.0

PCI-E 3.0 is the next evolution of the ubiquitous and general-purpose PCI Express I/O standard. At 8GT/s bit rate, the interconnect performance bandwidth is doubled over PCI-E 2.0, while preserving compatibility with software and mechanical interfaces.

USB 3.0

Experience Fastest data transfers at 5 Gbps with USB 3.0--the new latest connectivity standard. Built to connect easily with next-generation components and peripherals, USB 3.0 transfers data 10X faster and backward compatible with previous USB 2.0 components.

Dual DDR4

The primary advantages of DDR4 over DDR3, include higher module density, lower voltage requirements, coupled with higher data transfer rate.

 

Durable+

 

Super Durable Solid Caps

The best quality solid state capacitors with ultra-low ESR design, the Super Durable Solid Caps doubles the lifespan.

Moisture-proof PCB

The popularity of PC usage and working environment is getting deteriorating and moist (rural, coastal, etc.). The PCB will be oxidizing easily by damp or absorbed moisture, and ionic migration or CAF (Conductive Anodic Filament) will be generated. Moisture-proof PCB meets high density and high reliability requirements for moisture proof.

Low RdsOn P-Pak MOS

Low resistance design can significantly reduce the current out of energy loss.

Low temperature, small size, excellent thermal conductivity.

100% Solid Caps

With armor-plated Biostar Technology, all capacitors are placed with 100% solid capacitors that have a lasting life cycle, durability and stability for crucial components.

 

Protection+

Dual BIOS

Dual BIOS technology offers a backup BIOS chip to take over the failed main BIOS and recover the system automatically without factory repair.

Super Anti-Surge Protection

BIOSTAR exclusive Anti-Surge design provides the best protection of board and extends the product life. Having the latest model of "Transient Voltage Suppressor" on- board can effectively protect the board circuit, reducing the shocks caused by ESD as well as other damages arising from overvoltage transients to enhance system durability.

Super LAN Surge Protection

Super LAN Surge Protection, providing LAN port with more advanced antistatic protection capabilities by adding an integrated chip to strengthen electrical stability and prevent damage from lightning strikes and electrical surges. SLSP (Super LAN Surge Protection) series motherboard upgrades the existing system protection standards with maximum 4X protection comparing to other board makers.

ESD Protection

ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) is the major factor to destroy PC by electrical overstress(EOS) condition, ESD occurred by PC users when touch any devices connect to PC, which may result in damage to motherboard or parts. ESD protection is designed to protect the motherboard and equipment from damage by EOS

USB Polyswitch

On board dedicated power fuse to help prevent USB port failure. It prevents USB Port overcurrent and safeguard your system and device lifespan.

BIOS Virus Protection

When enabled, the BIOS will protect the boot sector and partition table by halting the system and flashing a warning message whether there's an attempt to write to these areas.

OC / OV / OH Protection

All BIOSTAR special circuit design detects overvoltage conditions and prevents voltage surges from spreading in real time. It also actively cuts off the overvoltage supply to protect your system. Over current protection, avoid motherboard from damage when doing overclock or an unusual current import. Over heat protection, avoid motherboard & CPU from burning when exceeding the temperature limitation.

 

DIY+

 

Vivid LED DJ

Racing Series exclusively features on-board LED design. Via the creative Vivid LED DJ application, you can control and modify the colors of LED on MOS heatsink and on the edge of board. When you play music, it can perform LED light show, following melody. Moreover, Vivid LED DJ features options for designing LED visual effect, including Normal, Eco, and Sports mode on your own. Racing Series with Vivid LED DJ make your PC a coolest gaming base ever.

5050 LED FUN

BIOSTAR Racing motherboard comes with the exclusive 5050 LED FUN feature for DIY lovers. You can connect LED strip with on-board 5050 header directly and control it via Vivid LED DJ.

GT TOUCH

GT Touch features exclusive Sport and ECO Mode. Under Sport mode, the system boosts the performance automatically. Under ECO mode, the system optimizes energy consumption. Besides, users could define onboard LED configuration for ECO and Sport Mode respectively via Vivid LED DJ.

RACING UEFI BIOS

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is a brand new framework that provides a revolutionary interface. It is a modern clear and easy-to-use graphical user interface. The UEFI comes with a colorful easy-understand icons leads users into the setup layer directly.

Header Zone

Users can easily assemble their own computer, a simple-swap data discs and other accessories.

BIO-Remote 2

BIO-Remote2 Technology is featuring users a better Home Theater environment. Users who own either Android mobile or Apple goods are able to access and control your PC remotely; At this moment, you’re smart device became an intelligent and functional remote controller; more than that, BIO-Remote2 also includes both function of mouse pad and power point presentation mode. more...

Super Durable Box Header

Super Durable Box Header provides solid, secure and durable connections between motherboard and peripheral cables.

 

CPU-Chipset Features

 

Intel B150 chipset

 

The Intel® B150 chipset is a single-chipset design to support socket 1151 Intel® 6th generation Intel® Core™ processor-based platform. Provides excellent performance and increased bandwidth and stability. Intel® B150 chipset can also enable iGPU function, letting users enjoy the latest Intel® integrated graphic performance. The PC platform features improved adaptive performance that adds speed when you need it. When combined with advanced system responsiveness, the platform delivers the ultimate PC experience.

 

After the launch of the Z170X Gaming motherboard which did have most of the design picked up from the previous generation, BIOSTAR did not stay still and went ahead with a brand new “Racing” design and motherboards to cover most price ranges. In this review we will take it down a notch and talk about their B150GT5 which would be mainly purchased by people which have locked Skylake processors and also allows usage of legacy hardware thanks to the 3x PCI interfaces. The packaging does also have an updated box art, featuring the Racing logo along with the mobo code name:

 

 

 

Some of the product highlights are shown in the lower right corner:

 

 

 

More details can be found on the back side and we will learn about Dual BIOS feature, GT Touch, 5050 LED Fun and Vivid LED DJ. Further down, BIOSTAR does explain the main board components, including the I/O region:

 

 

 

After lifting the top cover, we will get to see the B150GT5 wrapped inside an anti-static bag:

 

 

 

The lower layer does contain the board bundle:

 

 

 

Besides an anti-static bubble bag (will check it later), we will also receive a standard I/O shield, but also four SATA cables:

 

 

 

The previously mentioned bag does actually contain a free gift which is composed of a LED strip; this product actually connects to a dedicated header on the B150GT5 in order to extend the lighting system which already resides on the PCB:

 

 

 

 

 

Moving on, we will find the manual which is available for both B150GT5 and Z170GT5 boards, a leaflet which explains the Vivid LED DJ feature and also a disk with drivers:

 

 

 

 

The manual does explain the installation procedure step-by-step:

 

 

 

The new Racing series does have a black PCB with a checkered flag in the middle which produces a nice effect. The CPU does have a 7-phase VRM and both VRM, chipset areas are cooled by themed passive heatsinks:

 

 

 

 

By taking a closer look, we will get to see the PTN3360DBS high-speed level shifter:

 

 

 

The Realtek RTD2168 component is providing the board with the VGA interface, since Intel has discontinued this type of video output from the chipset:

 

 

 

One Intersil ISL95824 takes care of the PWM:

 

 

 

The Intel Gigabit LAN controller presents itself with the WGI219V component:

 

 

 

We will also get to see a daughterboard pre-soldered on the PCB which takes care of surge protection:

 

 

 

This board features the Realtek ALC892 8-channel audio CODEC, which is housed under a metallic “Racing” shroud; the filtering stages can be also spotted nearby:

 

 

 

In the close vicinity we will spot the ITE IT8625E sensor chip:

 

 

 

As mentioned before, we do have multicolored LEDs soldered on the PCB and this can be found in the lower left side of the mobo:

 

 

 

Also, the board does support legacy devices and in order to provide three PCI slots, BIOSTAR had to include the x1 PCI-Express to 32-bit PCI Bridge:

 

 

 

As expansion slots, besides the previously mentioned PCIs, we do also have 2x PCI-E x16 3.0 slots and also one PCI-E x1 3.0 slot:

 

 

 

On the lower area of the board, we do have the F_AUDIO header, one COM header, a JSPDIFOUT header, the Vivid LED DJ strip header, one SYS_FAN header, two USB 2.0 headers, one USB 3.0 header, the CMOS Reset header but also the F_PANEL header:

 

 

 

This board is equipped with dual BIOS chips and switching from one to another can be done in a snap by just working with the switch:

 

 

 

For attaching storage devices, we do have a combination of SATA Express and regular SATA3 connectors:

 

 

 

Two separate SATA ports are located near the ATX 24-pin power connector:

 

 

 

The medium-sized Racing-branded B150 chipset heatsink is located nearby:

 

 

 

In the top right corner of the board we will get touch-sensitive buttons for switching between power profiles, but also here we will spot one Reset and one Power button. A LN2_SW1 switch is also present here which runs the CPU at its lowest frequency to avoid unexpected system shutdown:

 

 

 

The ELAN eKTF5832 is an 8-bit microprocessor and supports 24 touch sensor pin:

 

 

 

The DDR4 memory slots are all-black in order to fit in with the rest of the board color scheme:

 

 

 

On the top board area, we will find two PWM fan headers along with an used PWM LED header:

 

 

 

The LED header will help light up the heatsink and it is one last component of the Vivid LED DJ feature:

 

 

 

Right nearby we will find the 8-pin power connector:

 

 

 

On the I/O, the manufacturer has included one PS/2 keyboard port along with two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, DVI and VGA outputs, four USB 3.0 ports, one LAN port but also six audio jacks:

 

 

 

Here is also a quick look on the back side of the PCB:

 

 

 

With the coming of the Racing series, BIOSTAR has reskinned the UEFI interface and now it does look much cooler; some of the health-reporting widgets have been re-arranged while the main menus have remained in the same location as before. The Main section does tell us some info regarding the current BIOS build, the currently installed RAM quantity and running speed, but here we will be also able to select the interface language and adjust the system date/time:

 

 

The Advanced section does arrive with the following sub-menus:

 

ACPI Settings

Smart Fan Control

IT8625 Super IO Configuration

Hardware Monitor

CPU Configuration

SATA Configuration

Network Stack Configuration

NVMe Configuration

Offboard PCIe SATA Controller

USB Configuration

 

 

The ACPI settings menu comes with the usual power-management options:

 

 

Smart Fan Control area will permit us define custom profiles for each fan header or leave it in Auto mode:

 

 

IT865 Super IO menu will allow us to work with the COM port:

 

 

PC Health Status does display the current temperatures, fan speeds and voltages; here we will be able to set a shutdown temperature:

 

 

The CPU Configuration menu we will be able to see some of the installed CPU features, but also enable/disable some options like how many CPU cores should be available, Intel Virtualization, CPU AES and so on:

 

 

The SATA controller menu is next for configuration and here we will be also able to see the connected devices:

 

 

Network Stack menu comes with only one option:

 

 

Detected NVMe drives will be listed in the next menu:

 

 

Same goes for the PCIe SATA Controllers:

 

 

We can configure USB miscellaneous options from the USB Configuration menu and also set the behavior of the currently connected drives during boot-up:

 

 

The Chipset menu does also have some sub-menus of its own:

 

PCH-IO Configuration

System Agent (SA) Configuration

Onboard Device

 

 

From the PCI-IO Configuration menu we will be able to work with the PCI-Express Configuration options, enable/disable HD Audio interface or work with EuP Control:

 

 

System Agent Configuration menu will allow us to enable/disable the onboard graphics, set the primary display during boot-up but also the max link speed:

 

 

Onboard Device menu will display the option to enable/disable LAN interface:

 

 

The Boot main menu comes with the usual options including Boot Option Filter and priorities:

 

 

From the Security menu we will be able to adjust the Administrator Password/ User Password and also work with the Secure Boot menu:

 

 

O.N.E. is the area where we should go in order to fine-tune the system performances. CPU core OC ratios can be adjusted but only down; memory timings can be also adjusted but the maximum speed set is 2133MHz:

 

 

CPU Core, DRAM voltage modification are also possible, but since the components will mostly run at stock speeds, people will be tempted to leave them as-is:

 

 

Some other options are available like disabling C-States, mostly found on overclocking boards:

 

 

DIMM profiles can be also checked out from the next menu but even if a higher-performance memory is installed, the detected XMP will still show a maximum speed of 2133MHz:

 

 

Lastly, we do have the Save & Exit menu from where we can save/discard or load factory defaults:

 

 

Test Setup

 

CPU: Intel I5 6600K Retail

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14

Motherboard: BIOSTAR B150GT5

RAM: Patriot Viper 2x4GB DDR4 2400MHz @ 2133MHz

Video: HIS 380X

Power Supply: Cooler Master 850W

SSD: OCZ Vector 150

Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840

 

In a small comparison with the GAMING Z170X motherboard, we have observed that the BCLK default value is not the usual 100MHz or 100.46MHz but 99.73MHz which does mean some MHz in minus:

 

 

 

We fired up AIDA64 utility, for revealing even more information regarding the motherboard, the CPU IMC and the B150 chipset:

 

Motherboard

 

 

 

Skylake IMC

 

 

B150 Chipset

 

 

Some extra BIOSTAR applications are available for us to use with different functions. The first one we will remind you of is BIOS Update, which facilitates the upgrade process. We can choose to perform an online update, update the BIOS via a specific file or backup the BIOS to a file:

 

 

 

eHot-Line application will allow us to send reports to the teach team so the issue we are encountering will be solved easier:

 

 

 

BIOSTAR does also supply the user with an application for changing the current splash screen during BIOS initialization:

 

 

 

With the new series of motherboards, BIOSTAR has for us a dedicated application, Racing GT, which allows a bit more customization. With both launch BIOS and the first update, after we have executed the application, we were welcomed by the following error:

 

 

 

Surprisingly, after clicking on OK, the application did launch. Its interface is quite intuitive and from its first tab we can check out the System Information:

 

 

 

Smart Ear application is now integrated and it allows easily to adjust the system volume. We can increase or decrease the impedance setting to optimize the headphone performance:

 

 

 

Vivid LED DJ is the newly introduced feature which makes use of the included multicolored LEDs; we have seen some issues in this department meaning that the LED lights do not turn on until we enable the Auto mode on the first application start-up and the LED light effects seem to mix one with the other unless we turn the LEDs off and on each time we do perform a modification. Also, the application does not seem to remember the previous LED settings so we have to perform the settings all over again. With these issues we cannot say for sure that people will be too keen on working with Vivid LED DJ for a long time:

 

 

 

H/W Monitor area will inform us on the sensor readings but will also allow fan calibration:

 

 

 

Synthetic Benchmarks

 

AIDA64

 

Memory

 

CPU Queen

 

CPU PhotoWorxx

 

CPU Zlib

 

CPU AES

 

CPU Hash

 

FPU VP8

 

FPU Julia

 

FPU Mandel

 

FPU SinJulia

 

Cinebench R11.5

 

Cinebench R15

 

Crystalmark

 

PCMark Vantage

 

PCMark 7

 

PCMark 8

 

SuperPI XS

 

Wprime

 

X264 Benchmark 5.01

 

3DMark 2006

3DMark Vantage

3DMark 11

3DMark 2013

Games

 

Crysis 2

F1 2012

Metro Last Light

 

By using a KingFast E-Drive 2.5'' SATAIII SLC 120GB SSD, we have performed ATTO runs in order to find the performance differences between the motherboards:

 

BIOSTAR GAMING Z97X

BIOSTAR GAMING Z170X

BIOSTAR RACING B150GT5

In our RMAA test, the board scores as expected for an on-board CODEC; sports the same Realtek ALC898 8-channel as the previously-tested GAMING Z170X board, but falls a bit behind it in terms of fidelity.

 

BIOSTAR GAMING Z97X 16/44

BIOSTAR GAMING Z170X 16/44

BIOSTAR RACING B150GT5 16/44

 

 

BIOSTAR GAMING Z97X 24/96

BIOSTAR GAMING Z170X 24/96

BIOSTAR RACING B150GT5 24/96

 

The RACING B150GT5 was built from the start as a mainstream board, for budget-conscious people which usually also go for locked processors and are not interested to overclock their machine. We did really enjoy the fresh new look of the RACING series, with the checkered flag on the PCB surface but also the addition of the LEDs on both PCB & PWM heatsink. For added value BIOSTAR does also include an extra LED strip which must be connected to the dedicated header. BIOSTAR has also thought of people which want to keep some of their older expansion cards so no less than three PCI slots are also available.

 

Regarding board performance, we could spot a change in default BCLK (this time under 100MHz, while GAMING Z170X had values over 100MHz), which does mean that the default CPU frequency will be a bit lower than stock, but in the end the performance difference should be negligible.

 

Besides a new board look, we could see a re-skin of the UEFI interface, and RACING B150GT5 does also come with a RACING GT software, which allows us to perform more adjustments, including work with the LED setup (Vivid LED DJ). So far we have seen that the LED setup from RACING GT application is a bit problematic because it does not work as it should (mixing between modes, does not save settings, throwing an error at startup) and also it is 100% dependent on the applications, meaning that if you do not use the application, you won’t be able to turn on the LEDs. We have suggested some solutions like the inclusion of the LED setup inside UEFI, but we were told that with the current hardware setup it is not possible. We do expect an updated RACING GT application which will solve the “invalid pointer” error and will make saving of profiles inside the app possible.

 

The RACING B150GT5 board can be picked up online for about 108 Euros.

 BIOSTAR RACING B150GT5 LGA1151 Motherboard is Recommended For:

 

 

We would like to thank again to BIOSTAR for making this review possible!