MSI’s motherboard, Z170A Gaming M7 is only one out of nine boards MSI is delivering that are Skylake-ready socket 1151 motherboards, and accommodates close to the upper end of MSI’s product stack. The combination of the 6700K and MSI Z170A Gaming M7 has proved to be a capable performer from the beginning of the testing. Over the past few years, MSI has been upping the ante on its hardware and software packages to make sure it offers a very competitive package for the end user.
Specs Of M7
- Socket: LGA1151
- Chipset: Intel Z170
- Memory Support: DDR4
- Form Factor: ATX
- USB: 3 x USB 2.0, 2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 3.1, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C
- Storage: 6 x SATA, 2 x M.2, 2 x SATA Express
Functioning
The Gaming M7 also knocked out some very nice numbers in our stock-clocked benchmarks across the entire rendering, video encoding and gaming gambit. The idea is you dial up the level of overclock you fancy, reboot, and, presto, easy idiot-proof overclocking up to 5GHz. It sounds cherry wondrous, but in practice, it does not truly deliver.
To cut a long story short, the highest overclock we achieved with our Core i7 6700K, using the Game Boost dial, was an unspectacular 4.2GHz. That’s the same as the 6700K Turbo mode pretty lame.
Designing
The Gaming M7 has two M.2 slots. That is handy, and also raises the prospect of M.2 RAID arrays. the M7 will be a winner well worth the extra wonga. It looks expensive. Part of that is the matte finish of the main PCB, which instantly separates it from the two Asus boards and their shiny cheapness.
It is utterly superficial, but subjectively, it is the difference between something that feels like an escapee from a south-east Asian sweatshop and a more premium product. Otherwise, you get the usual refinements, including properly isolated audio circuitry and military class five components, including titanium chokes and support for both Nvidia SLI and AMD Crossfire multi-GPU graphics setups.
Final Decision
This is a great looking M7 motherboard which really carries off that premium vibe, and it is very amazingly characterized as well.