MSI Z97 MPOWER MAX AC (LGA 1150) Motherboard Review

BIOS

MSI’s Click BIOS 4 is fairly similar to what we saw on their Z87 motherboards and their Z97 Gaming Series motherboards. As far as I can tell this BIOS is identical but with a few minor tweaks and optimisations as well as a unique skin reflecting the series of motherboard it belongs two: red for Gaming, yellow for OC and blue for channel. Since Z97 the fan control system has become visually more attractive and slightly more advanced in terms of its functionality. Other than that I’m struggling to see many differences to the last generation of motherboards. However, that isn’t a bad thing because this is still a great BIOS, my only quibble last time around was the “low resolution” of 1024 x 768 compared to the full HD of other vendor BIOSes and nothing has changed in that regard. Although if you consider how little time is spent in the BIOS this is hardly a significant issue. MSI’s Click BIOS 4 is a fairly strong UEFI implementation although in my opinion I would like the layout to be a bit more intuitive: having most of the screen taken up by the OC Series branding emblem is a waste of productive space that could be better used to guide users around the BIOS.