MSI Z170A GAMING M7 Review

In the first of our Intel Z170 motherboard reviews we take a look at what MSI has to offer in the Z170A GAMING M7 — a high-end LGA 1151 board tailored to gamers, featuring DDR4 Boost and more!

Product on Review Z170A-Gaming M7 Motherboard
Manufacturer & Sponsor: MSI
Street Price: £170 GBP / $239 USD

Intel’s 6th Generation Core ‘Skylake’ product line is launched today, and complementing that release is a range of motherboards from top-line vendors eager to have their hardware inside your new PC. However, for the first time Intel’s release range is limited to only K-series desktop CPUs – namely the Core i7 6700K and i5 6600K, so naturally motherboard vendors are highlighting their overclocking range of Z170 designs at launch this time around. With the H- and B-class motherboards scheduled for later in the year today’s range of available models is perhaps the most streamlined it’s ever been.

Intel’s Z170 chipset, codenamed Sunrise Point, is the first in the mainstream to features DDR4 support and an LGA 1151 socket. As a result new systems will tend to have a higher upgrade cost than previous generations, which could at least inherit DDR3 DIMMs from older systems, or otherwise take advantage of a depressed memory market price. The higher than usual costs necessitate hard work from partners to make their own motherboard designs – based on the standard Intel chipset and their own secret sauce – even greater value to get over this upgrade hurdle. Given how strong Z97 was, they truly have their work cut out for them; thankfully new chipset features not available for Z97’s launch, such as USB 3.1 and NVMe RAID, will help.

Where other companies have diversified into other sectors MSI have been concentrating on developing their presence in the component sectors of graphics and motherboard hardware. In the main they’ve done this by emphasising MSI predominantly as a gaming brand to enthusiasts, whilst also including a range absolutely tailored to high-end overclockers and those with similar niche requirements such as 4-way GPU configurations. Additionally, in recent years their GAMING range has spanned both motherboards and graphics cards; linked branding has been a relatively new innovation for MSI. This is not to say that they don’t also have a considerable presence in the mainstream market, just that premium products tend to have more time in the limelight.

When approaching their Intel Z-series motherboards (i.e. those which support oberclocking and other premium features) MSI have recently split their branding into three key sub-brands: GAMING, with gaming features and livery; XPower/MPower for dedicated overclocking; and simply MSI branded for mainstream users or those eschewing garish aesthetics. Different gradations exist within each product line, as well as certain special editions such as the black and white ‘Krait’ motherboards, but that’s generally a good summation.

For Intel’s Skylake launch we have the pleasure of reviewing MSI’s Z170A GAMING M7, a very high end motherboard which is part of the relaunched GAMING M line. Somewhat ironically given that the branding was intended to set them apart, MSI have needed to rebrand very slightly (by adding the M) due to encroachment by competitors; obviously they must have been on to something. Not quite the flagship design – that honour belongs to the bestial GAMING M9 – it nonetheless comes with all mod cons and support for overclocking, to the extent that not doing so definitely sounds like a waste.

Unlike previous launches MSI appears to have made an effort to clearly distinguish the pros and cons of each member of the gaming line. Previously it did seem like there were only small differences between each member, whereas now it’s quite clear that there are significant steps up in feature-set as you ascend the range. That’s great for cutting down on customer confusion (which is always a problem with a major platform launch) but could backfire in a competitive market.

The GAMING M7 is, unsurprisingly, a motherboard for gamers. Even so, it performs more than lip-service to the idea of overclocking by adding more robust power circuitry and cooling to the basic design. It’s not quite as kitted out with heatspeaders and PCB shrouds as its bigger brother, but comparisons to the GAMING M5 certainly throw it into start relief thanks to some cool aesthetics and nifty automated overclocking tools. So, whilst you don’t see water cooling ports or ‘PCB armour’, you probably won’t feel hard done by if stretching the legs of your CPU is in your future.

About MSI

Micro-Star International Co., Ltd (MSI) was established in August 1986 by 5 founders, one of the world’s largest information technology manufacturers.

MSI started from the motherboard and graphics card industries and extended into consumer and commercial electronics including notebooks, All-in-One PCs, servers, workstations, industrial PCs, household appliances, car infotainment products, barebone systems, multimedia, communication devices, and others.

MSI holds itself responsible not only to its clients, employees and stockholders, but also to the society and environment as a whole to consistently fulfill its corporate commitment.
With innovation and style as its core value, customer satisfaction and premium service as its goal, MSI will definitely be the most brilliant star in the global brands!

Technical Specifications

CPU support
Supports 6th Gen Intel® Core™ / Pentium® / Celeron® Processors
CPU socket
LGA 1151
Chipset
Intel® Z170 Chipset
Graphics interface
3 * PCI-E 3.0 x16, Steel Armor PCI-E slots
2-Way NVIDIA® SLI®
3-Way AMD CrossFire™ support
Display Interface
1 * DisplayPort, 2 * HDMI –Requires Processor Graphics
Memory support
4 DIMMs, Dual Channel DDR4-3600+(OC)
Expansion slots
4 * PCI-E x1 slots
M.2 / SATA
2 * M.2 32 Gb/s, 6 * SATA 6 Gb/s (4 ports reserved for SATA Express)
SATA RAID
RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 –Available on SATA1 to SATA6
USB
1 * USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C, 1 * USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A, 6* USB 3.1 Gen1, 7 * USB 2.0
LAN
1 * Killer™ E2400 Gigabit LAN
Audio
8-channel Audio Boost 3 with Nahimic

Packaging & First Look

GAMING M7 arrives in a large and highly decorated double-reinforced box. Packaging is often an insignificant part of a product – seen once and usually discarded but we’re left in no doubt of MSI’s attention to detail. For packaging this is a step-above the rest. The front details a sneak preview of the motherboard and lists briefly some of the features, while on the reverse there is a further run-down of the fundamental inclusions.

Inside, the motherboard is contained within a tray and anti-static bag with the included accessories beneath it.

Accompanying the motherboard there are a selection of included items which consist of the accessories bundle. The following are included:

User’s manual
2 x Quick Connect Adapters
1 x Rear IO Shield
1 x Flexible SLI Bridge
4 x SATA 6Gb/s cable(s)
1 x MSI GAMING Badge
1 x Storage Stickers
1 x Driver DVD
1 x User Guide
1 x Door Hanger

The GAMING M7 motherboard itself is a stunning piece of kit. MSI’s last wave of GAMING oriented motherboards utilised superb aesthetics and really impressed but for this next-generation of motherboards they seem to have improved on their design even further – which is a great achievement in itself.

Throughout the board there is a matt black PCB with black slots, ports and lanes. The heatsink design and Rear IO shroud have been given a black/red theme which should complement most system configurations. Along with the standard Z170 chipset features, there are some additional features which we’ll be taking a look at over the subsequent pages.

GAMING M7 conforms to the standard ATX form factor.

Closer Look

GAMING M7 designed to work with Intel’s 6th Generation of processors – Skylake. We therefore have a new socket; LGA1151 but we also have cooling mounting holes for LGA115X so if you have a cooler that has been used on another socket such as LGA1150/55 then it will work fine here too. Around this socket there are dual CPU fan headers for cooling solutions which have twin cooling fans.

As can be expected, MSI are using an all-digital design for the power delivery with 8-phases for the CPU. Around the socket and indeed the motherboard in general MSI are using Military Class 5 components which include the new Titanium Chokes for even greater durability.

Next to the socket GAMING M7 has a total of four memory slots which require DDR4 memory. These slots are ready for dual-channel DDR4 and Intel XMP – supporting up to 3600MHz and 64GB.

Furthermore, MSI also include DDR4 Boost with GAMING M7 which isolates the signal between the CPU and memory slots for clean delivery and uninterrupted performance – similar to audio solutions.

Also in this region there is a hot key switch to allow users to apply advanced commands to the keyboard such as switching the PC on or entering BIOS. There is also an upwards facing USB 3.1 header next to the 24-pin ATX power.

Further along we have two SATA Express connection ports which also double-up to offer four SATA III (6GB/s) ports, meaning there are a total of six SATA ports. Next to these storage ports there is a second USB 3.1 port which is angled in the same orientation as the storage.

Behind the storage ports is a large heatsink which covers the Intel Z170 chip. This heatsink coordinates with the rest of the board very well and features the dragon insignia.

Along the bottom edge of GAMING M7 there are a series of ports and buttons which include:

– GAME BOOST (Overclock on-the-fly – 11 increments)
– Onboard power/reset buttons
– Slow switch – alleviates cold bug issue for extreme overclocks
– Flash BIOS – works with designated USB port, allowing flash of BIOS with just PSU

Moving over to the PCI Express slots there are:

– Four PCI Express 3.0 x1 slots
– Three PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots

The uppermost x16 operates at 16x while the middle slot runs at 8x and the lower port just 4x. Adding in more than one graphics card will mean that overall bandwidth will drop to the lowest speed. So, if you’re planning to use just a single graphics card its best to use the top slot.

MSI has equipped the two upper slots with metal covers to supply some additional protection to the board and also provide cooling. Discovering whether the latter is true is difficult to determine but we really like the inclusion of this feature as it certainly helps the board to be more robust.

GAMING M7 also has LED debug along the bottom to assist with problem solving on POST with a diagnostics panel and in between the x1 slots there are two M.2 storage ports. These ports use PCI Express 3.0 X1 for delivery and can support RAID 0 configurations – meaning you can add in two NVMe storage solutions and take advantage of up to 64GB/s!

Our motherboard comes with the third instalment of AUDIO BOOST which comes with EMI shielding, Nahimic Audio Enhancer, dual OPA1652 and Nippon chemicon CAPs. Not to mention, the audio connectors on the rear IO are also gold plated – meaning we’re getting a solid audio solution with this motherboard.

GMAING M7 has a considerable amount of features and ports which have been placed on the rear IO panel of the motherboard. These include:

1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port(s)
2 x USB 2.0 ports
1 x Clear CMOS button
1 x BIOS Flashback USB port
1 x DisplayPort (Up to 4K resolution @ 24Hz)
2 x HDMI port (Up to 4K resolution @ 24Hz)
1 x Gigabit LAN port (Killer E2400)
2 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 port
1 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 port
1x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type C port
8 Channel audio with Optical SPD/IF

Intel Z170 Features

Intel’s initial release schedule for Skylake was planned well in advance, long before Microsoft officially announced the launch date of Windows 10. Most of August was set aside for conferences and seminars including the Intel Developers Forum in San Francisco, all with the aim of taking the wraps off and going deep into the technology within this new CPU architecture. Unfortunately bringing forward the release date of ‘K-series’ SKUs has meant that they’re unable to furnish detailed technical info to reviewers and members of the press, and won’t be releasing this information until IDF. The following is information which has been released thus far.

Developed under the codename Sunrise Point, Intel’s 100-series chipset is designed to operate hand-in-hand with an Intel ‘Skylake’ 6th Generation core processor. It utilises an LGA 1151 socket, underscoring the fact that neither CPU nor motherboard are backwards compatible with any of the previous generation hardware. As a result Sunrise Point is free to add additional features not present in x90-series and earlier chipsets.

Memory and Overclocking

Most notably from a consumer perspective Sunrise Point is the first Intel mainstream computing platform to be compatible with DDR4, and most Z170 and H170 designs are indeed likely to feature this memory technology rather than continue with DDR3L (a memory spec which Skylake CPUs can also handle). Default support is at DDR4-2133, however speeds above this are possible if a Z170 motherboard and K-Series CPU are used in tandem. One year on from the release of Haswell-E DDR4 pricing is quickly becoming more bearable, and so whilst it’s an additional expense to swallow compared with Haswell/Z97 it may not be quite the price premium you expect.

With Skylake Intel are, for the first time in many generations of Core architectures, once again re-enabling fine grade overclocking of memory at the Base Clock (BCLK) level. The PCI subsystem clock is now independent of BCLK, allowing for robust overclocking support which dispenses with coarse ratios in favour of a MHz by MHz stepping to far higher levels. Pre-launch testing by board partners have ascertained that stable BCLK’s of up to 400MHz are possible (with a stepping down of CPU multiplier), a far cry from even last year’s Haswell Refresh.

It should be noted that overclocking support has also been improved through greater control over individual CPU voltage inputs. Haswell made use of a Fully Integrated Voltage Regulator on the CPU itself; in essence, the motherboard supplied one input voltage and the FIVR divided this into individual on-board component inputs. With Skylake/Z170 the motherboard chipset controls each of these voltages individually, allowing direct adjustment for greater stability where necessary. This could theoretically be a great boon to enthusiast overclockers eager to get every last smidgen of performance out of a system.

Chipset and PCH Features

As we noted in our review of the two launched Skylake CPUs, up to 16 PCI-Express 3.0 lanes exist as a direct low-latency connection between CPU and 3rd party hardware such as graphics cards. These can operate in a 1×16 lane, 2×8 lane or 1×8 lane and 2×4 lane setup for multi-GPU configurations depending on the hardware implementation chosen by the board partners, but aren’t sufficient alone to support additional hardware options such as PCI-Express storage. The Platform Controller Hub therefore provides additional PCI-Express lanes to peripheral controllers.

In contrast to Intel’s 9-series motherboards Sunrise Point can supply up to an additional 20 PCI-Express 3.0 lanes, potentially resulting in double the bandwidth compared with the 20 PCIe 2.0 lanes of the previous generation. These new lanes augment the chipset storage options, most notably in respect to PCIe storage with many designs now featuring multiple next-generation storage options rather than a singular M.2 or SATA-Express port. Whilst not the low-latency connection you require for effective graphics processing, they will be more than suitable for new high-speed storage options including RAID for PCI-Express thanks to an upgraded DMI connection between PCH and CPU.

Further augmenting the platform’s storage capabilities is the adoption of new Intel Rapid Storage Technology protocols allowing PCI-Express storage to be used as caching drives for slower media. Potentially still a niche technology, the stark benefits of next-generation SSDs over mechanical drives as well as future SSDs could be just the breakthrough Intel RST needs to capture mainstream adoption.

In an additional change from the 9-series motherboards support has been added for up to 10 native USB 3.0 ports and 14 USB 2.0 ports, with a maximum of 16 ports in some combination thereof. It should be noted that so far as we can tell USB 3.1 isn’t actually native to the Sunrise Point chipset. Implementation is up to motherboard vendors through 3rd party controllers, and it’s to their credit that many have adopted the new high-speed standard without any fuss. For some both USB 3.1 Type-A and Type-C connectors are available, with Type-C the most common otherwise.

Those who make use of on-board CPU graphics can now enjoy support for up to three digital display outputs, or make use of the Intel 530 Graphics capabilities in tandem with discrete graphics. Microsoft Windows 10 (via DirectX 12) includes new options which allow disparate graphics hardware to be used in tandem, making best use of processing power where possible. Even without this, the transcoding capabilities of Intel QuickSync make it a tempting proposition for fast and efficient h.265 encoding and decoding, even if your discrete graphics hardware is formidable.

With unchanged support for six conventional SATA III storage ports, Intel 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet, Intel Audio options and comprehensive UEFI BIOS options, Sunrise Point (and by extension all Z170 motherboards) are choc-full of features. That’s not to say that there aren’t some omissions – lack of native USB 3.1 support being the most obvious, whilst native U.2 connectors are a premium feature supplied by board partners – but as a whole the platform is a significant step forward overall.

MSI Z170A-GAMING M7 Video Tour

Below is a video tour showing the interface of the MSI Z170A-GAMING M7 BIOS and the options which are available. As you can see, movement is very smooth and the overall look is refined and professional. Advanced tweaking and customisation options are available:

Test Setup, Methodology & Overclocking

Test Setup

CPU Intel Core i7-6700K
Cooling Corsair H100i GTX
Motherboard MSI Z170A-GAMING M7
Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200MHz
Graphics XFX R7970 Black Edition
Storage OCZ Vector 180
PSU Corsair HX1050 80 Plus Gold Certified PSU

Benchmarks

Cinebench R15 – CPU/OpenGL Score
x264 HD 4.0 – 1st and 2nd pass encoding
SiSoftware SANDRA 2014 – CPU & Memory benchmarks
AIDA64 – CPU benchmarks
PCMark 8 – Home Suite
3DMark FireStrike – DX11 3D Benchmark
Games – Tomb Raider, THIEF

Other Software

Temperature Analysis: Real Temp
Stress Testing Software: AIDA64 Stability Test
CPU Specification Monitoring: CPU-Z

Overclocking

Overclocking with Skylake is now fully flexible since we can adjust many variables including BCLK and ratio/multiplier.

In order to establish the best overclock we experimented with different combinations of BCLK and ratio. The best result we could achieve required the BCLK to stay at 100MHz and the ratio to move up to 47 – resulting in 4.7GHz. This was accomplished by settling at a minimum voltage of 1.35v.

Benchmarks: Power Consumption

It’s interesting to note the power consumption across all motherboards. Although they are using the Z170 chipset, energy results can fluctuate between manufacturers due to the features and specifications that are integrated. First of all, for the idle tests the system is cold booted into Windows and no additional applications are executed – the watts are noted on the external energy monitor we use and then the system is loaded with 3DMark FireStrike – watts are again monitored for the duration of the test and the highest rated wattage result is then noted down. Below are the results of this energy test.

Benchmarks: X264 HD

Simply put, this test measures how fast your machine can encode a short, DVD quality MPEG-2 video clip into a high-quality x264 video clip. What’s x264, you ask? It’s more or less the next-generation Xvid/DivX codec. I think it’s ideal for a benchmark because the application (x264.exe) reports fairly accurate compression results (in frames per second) for each pass of the video encoding process, and it uses multi-core processors very efficiently.

Benchmarks: AIDA64

AIDA64 Product Page

This simple integer benchmark focuses on the branch prediction capabilities and the misprediction penalties of the CPU. It finds the solutions for the classic “Queens problem” on a 10 by 10 sized chessboard. At the same clock speed theoretically the processor with the shorter pipeline and smaller misprediction penalties will attain higher benchmark scores. For example — with HyperThreading disabled — the Intel Northwood core processors get higher scores than the Intel Prescott core based ones due to the 20-step vs 31-step long pipeline. CPU Queen test uses integer MMX, SSE2 and SSSE3 optimizations.

Benchmarks: Cinebench

CINEBENCH is a real-world cross platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON’s award-winning animation software CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Iron Man 3, Oblivion, Life of Pi or Prometheus and many more.

Benchmarks: SiSoftware SANDRA

SANDRA isn’t always a benchmark that is included in hardware reviews but I believe it shouldn’t be ignored. SANDRA provides a vigorous package that tests your system in a rather large array of benchmarks. There are many aspects of benchmark that can be executed. We will be considering – CPU and memory tests.

Benchmarks: 3DMark

3DMark FireStrike Product Page

Fire Strike is our new showcase DirectX 11 benchmark designed for high-performance gaming PCs. It is our most ambitious and technical benchmark ever, featuring real-time graphics rendered with detail and complexity far beyond what is found in other benchmarks and games today. Fire Strike will only be available in the Windows editions of 3DMark initially.

Benchmarks: PCMark 8

PCMark 8 combines performance benchmarking with battery life measurement and includes tests based on popular Adobe and Microsoft applications. Whether you are looking for long battery life, or maximum power, PCMark 8 will help you find the devices that offer the perfect combination of efficiency and performance for your needs. It’s the complete PC performance benchmark for home and business.

Benchmarks: Tomb Raider & THIEF

It’s important for us to perform a number of game benchmarks as well as the synthetic tests because gamers will want to know if there are any significant benefits. So here we have two popular and recent gaming titles which feature a dedicated benchmark tool within them to display results.

Conclusion

The Z170 GAMING M7 is the first motherboard to feature as part of our Intel Z170 coverage and we’ve been mightily impressed by what this product has to offer on many different levels.

MSI has long been an advocate of flair in the styling department and the Z170A GAMING M7 epitomises this very notion. If you thought last season’s motherboards were pretty stylish then you’re in for a surprise with the new wave of LGA 1151 motherboards. GAMING M7 oozes panache and has stunning aesthetics.

Moving on from the visual appearance, the actual board itself contains many innovative features including some extras which go beyond the basics of what the Intel Z170 chipset offers. DDR4 Boost, M.2 Twin Turbo and AUDIO BOOST 3 are three which stand out and will be useful to not only gamers but enthusiasts too.

Pitting the motherboard against an Intel Z97 and another rival Z170 motherboard reveals a strong candidate on this new platform. GAMING M7 is consistent in its performance and we liked it that much that we opted to use it for our Intel Skylake 6600K and 6700K coverage. The reason for choosing this board was quite simple, it’s equipped with Military Class 5 components and has class-leading features. Although it’s still early days we managed to achieve a 4.7Hz overclock with GAMING M7 and attaining this milestone was a breeze thanks to the easy to use BIOS and overclocking feature-set.

Z170A-GAMING M7 is priced at £170 GBP – somewhat more expensive than its predecessor and yet offering similar features. This motherboard does pack in a multitude of features but MSI need to be careful with their markup.

GAMING M7 brings stellar performance in a luxurious shell. This motherboard is jam-packed with features allowing gamers (and enthusiasts) to get the most out of their Skylake CPU.

VIDEO REVIEW – VORTEZ TV

Pros
+ Stunning aesthetics
+ Decent number of accessories included
+ Excellent performance
+ Advanced onboard features around board
+ Additional features like DDR4 Boost, M.2 Twin Turbo
+ Easy to use and attractive BIOS

Cons
– Bordering on pricey