MSI Intel Z97 LGA 1150 DDR3 USB 3.1 ATX Motherboard (Z97 PC Mate)

Due to outgrowing my HP desktop, I decided that I wanted to build a new system but stick a budget while using some components from my older system such as my RAM, power supply, SSD, HDD's, and video. I already had a case, so all I needed was to choose the processor and motherboard.I read a ton of reviews on Amazon, Newegg, and everywhere else online. A lot of people really like the Asus boards. Don't get me wrong, Asus makes some great products, but sometimes I get the impression that you are paying more for the name (like the ROG series) than for the motherboard.I've already been using MSI products before, starting with my GTX 750 ti TF OC. Since I was happy with that, I went with this motherboard. I am really happy with it.It has a ton of USB 3.0 connectors and headers for your front panels on your case. OC Genie is cool too, although I can't comment as I haven't yet decided to overclock my system since I'm happy with the i7 4790k's stock speed of 4Ghz.The UEFI bios is pretty straight forward and it was easy to install Windows 7 from a USB flash drive by pressing F11 to get into boot options and selecting my flash drive. Updating the bios was easy did that the conventional way using a usb flash drive.As for drivers, MSI does a pretty good job of making it easier to install and update drivers. I prefer to download the latest drivers than to use what came on the DVD, so I did that. I also decided that I didn't want the Killer Network App and decided to install the stand alone Killer Network driver instead.I put this motherboard into a Cooler Master HAF 922 case with two Cooler Master MegaFlow 200 fans, + 3 Corsair Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition fans connected to my NZXT Sentry Mesh Fan Controller to keep everything cool and quiet.I've had my system built for the last two weeks and everything runs really well. I'm very satisifed with this MSI motherboard and I can see using this system for the 4+ years without any problems. I'll update as needed should anything change. Otherwise at this time I would like to say that I highly recommend this motherboard.

Purchased this board for a new gaming build. I am nothing less than happy with this awesome board. It overclocks whatever I need it to and keeps everything very stable. Even with overvolting! I've got this board paired with a GTX 970 OC'd to just under 1400 and an i5 4690k OC'd to 4.0. I could easily push these clocks further but I am comfortable with where they sit now. OC genie works like a charm, the fast boot is pretty neat too. I have not tried the killer2200 yet but I'm sure it works wonders just like everything else has! There's not much difference between the 3,5, and 7 really. If you want future sli, 5 is a must, and 5 has everything 7 has minus a couple sata ports and there is a physical OC Genie button on the board. I have the 5 and can do the exact same thing by click of a button in th bios. I did have to RMA the 1st board as it was DOA but Amazon sent me a new one (2 day shipping) no questions asked. If it were not for the great customer support I would have docked a star. Only thing I learned was if it ships with bios version less than v1.2 then you will have to update it somehow or with another chip if you get the Devils canyon cpu with this. I lucked out and got 1.5 (1.7 is current) I don't have plans to upgrade bios as I have heard plenty about MSI's flaky bios update tools. V1.5 has had no issues.

Let me start this off by saying when it first arrived it had this little screw thing in one of the stands. If I did not have the tool to take it off I literally would not have been able to use it without making a trick to home depot or something. This doesn't effect my opinion of the board but it is something to look out for if you're looking to purchase. Not sure it happens in ever board but just to be safe keep some plyers near you.Alright so on to the board. I needed an overclockable motherboard to pair with my unlocked 4690k cpu and it also had to support crossfire. The problem was I only had somewhere under 100$ for the mobo. When I bought this it was 83.99 (totaled to about 90$). I was pleasantly surprised with how easily overclocking was with this motherboard. Pair that with the easy to use bios and you get exactly what you paid for plus a little more. It has support for 4 case fans and one cpu fan, so it went well with my case since I had exactly 4.The only downside about the case I could find for the price is the color. Literally you get what you pay for here, a sweet easy to use mobo.

Back in the days before it was more or less mandatory to spend $150+ on a good modern motherboard, you only spent $150+ for a boutique board. Abit and Asus come to mind.That's what makes the MSI Z97 Gaming 5 so great: it's priced like a boutique board, and it feels like one, too. The color scheme is fantastic. The red dragon medalion type thing covering the.... northbridge? Southbridge? Covering some obscure chip, now that northbridges don't exist anymore - that red dragon is fantastic. If you don't usually go with a red color scheme, this motherboard will cause you to change your preference to red, because it's that fantastic.The board is a solid overclocker. My 4690k Core i5 Devil's Canyon CPU runs happily at 4.4Ghz on this board, but for the sake of longevity I decided to scale back to a more sane 4Ghz.Pros:Looks fantasticGreat bang for the buckCons:Doesn't come in a blue color scheme