MSI Performance Gaming Intel Z170A LGA 1151 DDR4 USB 3.1 ATX Motherboard (Z170A Gaming Pro)

Really good board for the money. User friendly BIOS. Didn't have any issues on first run, and has been running smooth ever since. Very clean looking design and theme for any black and white build. Whether this is your first build, or you're experienced, this is a great MOBO without breaking your budget. I'm currently using this board with an i7 6700k, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 Founder's Edition, and 16GB DDR4 Corsair Vengance at 3200 MHz.PROS- Very affordable, user friendly BIOS, durable, perfect for budget or higher end gaming builds, sleek minimalist black and white theme, no issues so far (one month of use).CONS- Not a lot of USB ports. (Buy a USB expansion hub/adapter if you need it)I'm currently using this board in a gaming/streaming rig. I also do audio recording, video recording via OBS and Shadowplay, and video rendering. Bottom line, if you want a clean affordable Z170 board perfect for gaming, the MSI Z170 Krait Gaming 3X is a great candidate.

Assembly:I first put in 4x 8GB  Kingston HyperX FURY 2666MHz DDR4 RAM  modules and a 512 GB  Samsung 950 Pro  m.2 SSD, followed by the  Intel I5-6600K  CPU and the  Noctua NH-D14  as the cooler. The cooler is so massive that I recommend sticking to that order, the RAM and m.2 slots are difficult to reach afterwards. I connected the two CPU fans via a Y-cable that came with the cooler, because the other CPU cooler port on the mainboard seemed a bit hard to reach. Then I put the mainboard into the  Silverstone Tek FT05B  case and hooked up the various cables from the case, all of which have at least one counterpart on the mainboard. Initially, the left front USB port of the case didn't work reliably, but after removing the internal connector and putting it back in, everything seems to be working fine. Next, I hooked up the  EVGA SuperNOVA 850 P2  power supply, followed by the  MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X 8G  graphics card.Installation:With the  Logitech Wireless Touch Keyboard K400  I was able to configure the BIOS (including mouse support). Due to USB 3 operating at 2.4 GHz, it's best to connect wireless USB receivers to USB 2 ports, ideally with a USB extension cable in between. I updated the BIOS using an  ADATA S102 Pro 32 GB USB 3.0  flash drive to which I had saved a newer firmware version using a different computer. I then installed  Windows 10  from a DVD in an  external Blu-Ray drive  - no need to install any special drivers upfront despite using an m.2 SSD. I'm getting the expected excellent speed out of the SSD (2,527 MB/s read, 1,525 MB/s write). The machine boots reasonably quickly (it takes several seconds for the monitor to show an image, at which point I'm already at the Windows 10 login page, so I'm not sure how fast). The built-in Ethernet port works well, I'm getting > 90 MB/s download speed out of my Comcast connection, slightly more than on any other computer I tried.Compatibility:The USB 3 ports on the mainboard are compatible with the HTC Vive, even with a  15' USB 3 extension cable  and a  powered USB 3 hub  in between. The  Leap Motion  cannot be hooked up to the same USB hub as the Vive, but works fine when connected directly to the mainboard. I have yet to find a device that doesn't work with this mainboard.The only problem I'm currently having is that the computer isn't always shutting down by pressing the power button on the case. I'm not sure yet what the problem is, or whether it has anything to do with the mainboard.I'm very happy with this mainboard!

This motherboard is great. Plain and simple. From it's sleek design, to its awesome performance, to the Mystic Lighting. The installation was incredibly easy, too! Aside from the negative reviews, I had zero issues installing and booting up from this motherboard. Everything worked like a charm the first try.Pros: Again, the sleek design and color scheme. This board is neutral enough that it will match any build, then you have the Mystic Lighting on top of that to enhance the appearance (the red "gaming LED" on the left side of the board CAN be disabled via MSI's gaming app). A definite plus is the steel support in the two PCIe slots! My two MSI 980 ti's fit nice and snug without any sagging whatsoever. Which leads me to another plus: the board supports 2-way SLI, which is the main I reason I looked into this board. It also came well packaged and had all necessary hard/software.Cons: Just a couple things that are very minimalistic: the SATA ports at the bottom of the board are in an awkward position when the board sits in my case. I really had to get clever with my SATA cables in order for things to remain neat without manipulating the cables too much to where they bend at a weird angle. Next, the RAM slots are kind of cheap. I can wiggle the ram sticks with a fingertip as they sit in the slots. No biggy, though; they work regardless. Just be careful when installing them.Other than the two very minor cons, I love this board. Operates flawlessly, looks incredible, and has a lot of possibilities customization wise. If anyone is on the fence about this board, look no further. Trust your instinct and get this board, then be amazed at how wonderfully this board functions.

This mother board works like a charm, I went for it over the 150B model because it has the ability to overclock (with the new intel skylake processors you can now overclock even locked processors as long as you have a 170M series motherboards and you download the latest drivers for it albeit at a lower overclock rate than the unlocked processors) and because it has 4 PCI express ports which allowed me to attach a very powerful wifi card to the back along with the R9 380 graphics card. The mother board is strong and sturdy, it has plenty of USB 3.0 ports on the front and back and it has some cool red LEDs as well. All in all I am happy with the purchase I think it is at the perfect price point for a micro ATX mother board that has so many capabilities that a gamer would want, the newest RAM (DDR4) works with it as well.Build was as follows:Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core ProcessorMSI Z170M Mortar Micro ATX LA1151 MBG.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 MemoryPowerColor Radeon R9 380 4GB Video CardXigmatek Aquila Micro ATX CaseEVGA 600B 600W 80+ Power SupplyTP-Link Archer 9E 802.11 PCI-Express WiFi Adapter

working good and price is good

Después de 5 años de uso intensivo par juego y trabajo de edición, esta ha sido una de las mejores placas que he tenido.

this board is awesome and super fast shipping!

Great Board, great instruction on how to install, lots of USB ports and SATA ports. There are many MSI software and drivers included in the CD, but some are not compatible with Windows 10. However you will be able to find updated version that supports Windows 10 through the MSI website.

I have no problem with it!