MSI Z170A Gaming M7 Motherboard

Worked on first post. Blisteringly fast. Take care with DIMM placement (you always need to look at that). Also take care of SATA placement as you may not be able to use port 1 and 2 if you use the m2 slot. There's a table showing config options in the manual. Didn't try auto OC. 6700k runs fast enough as is right now. Hassle free build and board- would recommend.vs rog hero- better connectivity, probably power regulation, no back armour (gimmick IMO). Loss of resale value. Supposed better components in Asus.Giga gaming- google 'z170 audio problems gigabyte'

I have always purchased MSI for motherboards, so when it came down to a new Skylake build, I went through their portfolio of Z170 products. I initially went for a Gaming Pro Carbon, with the flashy LEDs and about £60.00 cheaper. But I decided to look closer into the actual spec of the boards. Turns out after a bit more research that the Gaming M5 would do me perfect... So I went and spent a bit more still on a perhaps "overkill" Gaming M7. I have more than enough features on this Motherboard and it has great support for USB 3.0/3.1. Aesthetically the board looks stunning too, and feels really premium. The BIOS, as all MSI boards, is so straight forward and easy to use. Overclocking is a breeze. There are plenty of LEDs to help warn you if anything is wrong and the instructions were crystal clear. MSI comes with a handy Live Update software, so keeping your BIOs and drivers up to date is a blast too.I would definitely recommend this Motherboard, though if you are looking to save some money, the M5 really will offer equally awesome results.

Beautiful Motherboard with plenty of features.Pros - This motherboard will support anything you throw at it (What I've experienced so far) I've had no problems with it so far. It's also very stylish and fits a red themed computer perfectly!Cons - The I/O shield made it a little hard to line up the standoffs so I could screw the motherboard in place, but with a little jiggling, I got there in the end (No dirty thoughts please)Overall this motherboard is perfect for anyone looking to build a gaming computer that supports pretty much everything.

Purchased G.SKILL TridentZ Series F4-3000C15D-32GTZ 32GB set (2x16Gb) to go with this build and following the instructions fitting the Dimms into slot 2 and 4 the system will not boot and Error 00 4C 55 0D 19 displayed over and over. Even after flashing the Bios it didn't change a thing. Plugging one into slot 4 got the system running. Loading up Intel tuning software the Dimm as registered in DIMM 3 not 4. Swoping over to the other Dimm and the System reported error. Switched back to first dimm and Error again. So is the MOBO faulty or the DIMMs faulty or not compatible with the MSI Z170A Gaming M7........UPDATE 17 AUG 2016New RAM installed, Same ERROR. Flashed new Bios 1E, Same ERROR. MOBO and CPU RMA back to Amazon for replacement.UPDATE 25 Aug 2016. Still no replacement. Contacted Amazon and requested a refund on Motherboard. I cant recommend this MOBO to anybody the Bios is a terrible mess and MSI don't care at all. No Dual Channel support apart from all the other things wrong with it.

This looks fantastic!!!There are loads of great features and the bios menu is easy to use for overclocks etc..defeniatly worth the money

If you use the LED transition lighting effects in MSI gaming software you may experience data corruption so bad you need a clean instal, like I did. MSI forums are in no way helpful when it comes to issues like this, same with the two RX40 gaming Xs which actually have loose heatsinks which can't be tightened without voiding the warranty in most regions that move around and the thermals are terrible. I have had a very bad experience with MSI this upgrade and given they have positioned themselves as a premium brand, much like Asus. I am unlikely to use them again, for anything. The Mobo isn't the worst but it has been an utter ballache. I regret buying anything MSI for this upgrade

Had this board just over a year and have had problems.The "Killer" Ethernet driver memory leaks, downloading a lot and do anything RAM heavy results in a blue-screen. This kind of thing should not happen if the person writing the drivers is even half way competent.Recently it started to refuse to power on, has gotten worse and worse until now it finally won't turn on at all.Avoid. Get an ASUS or Gigabyte board, far more reliable in my experience.

fantastic motherboard with great features, the armoured walls on the PCI slots are a great addition to prevent damage from heavy GPU cards and components would definitely recommend this item