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MSI Z170A Gaming M7 Motherboard Review - PAGE 1
Wassim Oueslati - Tuesday, September 29th, 2015 Like Share (1)A few weeks ago I took a look at the Intel Core i7-6700K Skylake, the new fully unlocked K-series flagship CPU geared towards gamers and mainstream enthusiasts. Just like any new architecture, Skylake CPUs require a new socket and chipset. For that review, I paired the Core i7-6700K with the MSI Z170A Gaming M7 which was one of first motherboards on the market equipped with the LGA 1151 socket and the new Z170 chipset. As the name suggests, the board is part of the MSI Gaming products lineup, which also includes notebooks, all-in-one PCs, and graphics cards.
I used quite a few MSI products over the years to build systems for myself, family and friends, and of course for the purpose of conducting reviews. In doing so I had the chance to experience the evolution of the MSI Gaming brand since its introduction. MSI is working hard to provide gamers with great performing, high-quality products that come in attractive packaging with a decent hardware and software bundle, all while keeping the cost competitive.
Today I will be taking a closer look at the MSI Z170A Gaming M7 motherboard itself. The M7 board looks terrific and comes packed with an impressive feature set including: DDR4 Boost, USB 3.1 Gen2, Twin Turbo M.2, Audio Boost 3, Game Boost, Military Class 5, Steel Armor PCI-E slots, Click BIOS 5, and much more. The board is built around the LGA Socket 1151 and Intel Z170 PCH. This combination brings some pretty cool features to the mainstream segment such as DDR4 RAM and USB 3.1 support. Next we go through the eye candy part of the review before firing up the board.
Packaging & Accessories:
MSI implemented some major changes to the packaging for the new lineup. The Z170A Gaming M7 motherboard box has a bright red color scheme, with the box art being a zoomed-in snapshot of the actual product. The tribal dragon that was a prominent feature of the MSI Gaming series is still present, although its presence is now more subtle and can be seen on the chipset heatsink. The back of the box offers substantially more details about the board's features and bundled software. The clever layout allows a potential buyer to get a good idea about the board with a quick glance, especially the specifications list and I/O overview located on the top right corner. The top lid opens upwards revealing the motherboard nested in a cardboard tray, just above a second tray containing the paper materials and hardware bundle.
MSI includes everything that a regular user needs to get the motherboard up and running in a new build or as an upgrade. In terms of paper materials, we find a nicely illustrated installation guide, SATA cable labels, user guide, a thank you note, and a door tag to keep your family or roommates away. Next we have the drivers and utilities disc. The hardware bundle is utilitarian and includes four SATA cables, a case badge, one SLI bridge, and a couple of front panel header adapters. It was nice to see MSI opting for a padded I/O shield with aluminium interference shielding, since it makes them easier to work with when you don't have to worry about the little folded tabs that never seem to be in the right position while installing the motherboard in the case.
Specifications:
|
CPU |
Supports 6th Gen Intel Core i3/i5/i7 processors, and Intel Pentium and Celeron processors for Socket LGA1151 |
|
Chipset |
Intel Z170 Chipset |
|
Main Memory |
4 x DDR4 memory slots, support up to 64GB - Supports DDR4 3600(OC)/ 3200(OC)/ 3000(OC)/ 2800(OC)/ 2600(OC)/ 2400/ 2133 MHz Dual channel memory architecture Supports ECC, un-buffered memory Supports Intel Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) |
|
Slots |
3 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (support x16, x8/x8, x8/x8/x4 or x8/ x8/x2 modes) 4 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots |
|
Onboard Graphics |
2 x HDMI ports, support a maximum resolution of 4096x2160@24Hz, 2560x1600@60Hz 1 x DisplayPort, support a maximum resolution of 4096x2304@24Hz, 2560x1600@60Hz, 3840x2160@60Hz, 1920x1200@60Hz |
|
Multi-GPU |
Supports 3-Way AMD CrossFire Technology Supports 2-Way NVIDIA SLI Technology |
|
Storage |
Intel Z170 Express Chipset 6 x SATA 6Gb/s ports* (4 ports reserved for SATAe) 2 x M.2 slot* - Supports PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA 6Gb/s standards,4.2cm/ 6cm/ 8cm length M.2 SSD cards - Supports PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe Mini-SAS SSD with Turbo U.2 Host Card** 2 x SATAe port (PCIe 3.0 x2) *** Supports Intel Smart Response Technology for Intel Core processors * M.2, SATA and SATAe ports maximum support 1x M.2_PCIe + 6x SATAs or 1x M.2_SATA + 1x M.2_PCIe + 4x SATAs. Please refer to page 35 for M.2 slots with examples of various combination possibilities. ** The Turbo U.2 Host Card is not included, please purchase separately. *** SATAe port is backward compatible with SATA. |
|
RAID |
Intel Z170 Chipset Supports RAID 0, RAID1, RAID 5 and RAID 10 for SATA storage devices Supports RAID 0 and RAID1 for M.2 PCIe storage devices* M.2 PCIe RAID volume can be created with UEFI BIOS |
|
USB |
ASMedia ASM1142 Chipset - 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 (SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps) port on the back panel - 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C port on the back panel Intel Z170 Express Chipset - 6 x USB 3.1 Gen1 (SuperSpeed USB) ports (2 ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB connector) - 7 x USB 2.0 (High-speed USB) ports (3 ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB connectors) |
|
Audio |
Realtek ALC1150 Codec - 7.1-Channel High Definition Audio - Supports S/PDIF output |
|
LAN |
1 x Killer E2400 Gigabit LAN controller |
|
Internal I/O Connectors |
1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector - 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector - 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors - 2 x SATAe connectors - 2 x USB 2.0 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 2.0 ports) - 2 x USB 3.1 Gen1 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 3.1 Gen1 ports) - 2 x 4-pin CPU fan connectors - 3 x 4-pin system fan connectors - 1 x Front panel audio connector - 2 x Front panel connectors - 1 x TPM module connector - 1 x Chassis Intrusion connector - 1 x GAME BOOST button - 1 x Power button - 1 x Reset button - 1 x BIOS FLASHBACK+ button - 1 x HOTKEY switch - 1 x Slow mode switch - 1 x Clear CMOS jumper - 1 x 2-Digit Debug Code LED |
|
Back Panel I/O Ports |
- 1 x PS/2 keyboard/ mouse port - 3 x USB 2.0 ports * 1 x HOTKEY port * 1 x BIOS FLASHBACK+ port - 1 x Clear CMOS button - 2 x HDMI™ ports - 1 x DisplayPort - 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 port - 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C port - 2 x USB 3.1 Gen1 ports - 1 x LAN (RJ45) port - 1 x Optical S/PDIF OUT connector - 5 x OFC audio jacks |
|
BIOS |
The motherboard BIOS provides "Plug & Play" BIOS which detects the peripheral devices and expansion cards of the board automatically. The motherboard provides a Desktop Management Interface(DMI) function which records your motherboard specifications. |
|
Dimension |
12 in. x 9.6 in. (30.5 cm x 24.4 cm) ATX Form Factor |
Information courtesy of MSI @ http://gaming.msi.com/products/motherboard/z170a-gaming-series
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