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MSI Z97A Gaming 6 LGA 1150 Motherboard Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The MSi Z97A Gaming 6 is currently available in the UK from OverclockersUK for £134.99 and available in the US from Newegg for $159.99. This motherboard will have the protection of a 3-year warranty, although the length of the warranty period in your region may differ.

Summary

Ever since I started ripping apart my own personal computer, MSi was one of the brands I wanted but never bought for some reason or another. Yet time and time again, they prove that they are among the best in the business with continually outstanding products. The MSi Z97A Gaming 6 is another one of those examples. Poised at 75% price range of most current mainstream motherboard purchases, this can really shine compared to the competition.

Aesthetically speaking, the motherboard is very plain with two MOSFET coolers and an MSi Gaming branded chipset heatsink really being the only stand out points of the motherboard. Yet it doesn’t feel cheap, the clean lettering on the PCB and well thought out layout really gives this motherboard the upper hand over the competition. The M.2 port is placed almost perfectly, when a graphics card is installed, you can still access the slot; unlike some other motherboards where the M.2 is placed below the first PCIe x16 lane.

MSi really bundles in the software with this motherboard, maybe a little too much, but you can choose what you want to install; which is a good thing. I would personally install Live Update 6 and Command Centre as they are programs that will not only help you monitor your system, but they will help keep it running at optimal performance for as long as possible.

Performance wise, this motherboard proved that there is still life in the Z97 chipset and the i7-4770k CPU; outperforming the competition massively. From there, it performed well in the GPU tests, allowing the GPU to really offer all of the performance it has; however, it faltered in the memory tests. From there, it performed very well in the storage transfer tests and networking tests.

One thing that gets me about this motherboard is the lack of onboard power and reset button. You have the DEBUG LED, so why not include the buttons also? Also, one fan header next to the SATA bank would prove extremely hard to use if you have a longer graphics card. Unless you plug the fan in first and bend the cables to near breaking point; you won’t be able to use this header with a graphics card fitted.

Despite Z170 being just around the corner, Z97 is still a perfect base for even the most demanding gaming computer and this motherboard really is worth the investment.

Pros