MSI Z270 GAMING M7 Review

Taken from MSI’s Enthusiast Gaming series, Z270 GAMING M7 presents us with triple M.2 slots, front panel USB 3.1 and top tier Z270 features!

Product on Review: Z270 GAMING M7
Manufacturer & Sponsor: MSI
Street Price: £240 GBP / $240 USD

The first quarter of this year has been one of the most eventful periods of time for the computer hardware market. Industry giants, Intel, AMD and NVIDIA have all presented new technology which has satisfied and fascinated enthusiasts around the globe. AMD may be stealing the spotlight at the moment with their new AM4/Ryzen platform but Intel’s Kaby Lake continues to remain a popular choice for many system builders and today we have our eyes set on one of MSI’s top tier Intel Z270 motherboards.

The Z270 GAMING M7 is MSI’s flagship Z270 motherboard which sits within the ‘enthusiast gaming’ series. As such, M7 leaves no stone unturned by offering up just about every conceivable feature you could require – including triple M.2 slots. It doesn’t end there either, M7 also offers U.2 and SATA storage as well as being one of few boards to include a front panel USB 3.1 header.

MSI in their own words

As a world leading gaming brand, MSI is the most trusted name in gaming and eSports. We’ve dedicated countless hours and committed numerous resources to the eSports community to support the world’s most aspiring and best gamers and use their knowledge and expertise in our products in return. MSI integrated all gamers’ aspirational functions in its gaming rigs, eliminating the tedious trial and error by themselves and pushing the performance beyond limits. The determination to surpass past achievements has made MSI a ‘True Gaming’ brand with gaming spirit throughout the industry!

Technical Specifications

Below are the technical specifications concerning the Z270 GAMING M7:

CPU
• Supports 7th/6th Gen Intel® Core™ i3/i5/i7 processors, and Intel® Pentium® and Celeron® processors for Socket LGA1151
* This function will be supported depend on the CPU.

Chipset
• Intel® Z270 Chipset

Main Memory
• 4 x DDR4 memory slots, support up to 64GB
– 7th Gen processors support DDR4 4133(OC)/4000(OC)/ 3800(OC)/ 3600(OC)/ 3200(OC)/ 3000(OC)/ 2800(OC)/ 2600(OC)/ 2400/ 2133 MHz*
– 6th Gen processors support DDR4 3600(OC)/ 3200(OC)/ 3000(OC)/ 2800(OC)/ 2600(OC)/ 2400(OC)/ 2133 MHz*
• Dual channel memory architecture
• Supports Intel®; Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)

Slots
• 3 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (support x16/x0/x0, x8/x8/x0, x8/x4/x4 modes)
• 3 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots

Multi-GPU
• Supports 2-Way NVIDIA® SLI™ Technology
• Supports 3-Way AMD® CrossFire™ Technology

Onboard Graphics
• 1 x HDMI™ port, supports a maximum resolution of 4096×2160@30Hz(7th Gen CPU), 4096×2160@24Hz(6th Gen CPU), 2560×1600@60Hz
• 1 x DisplayPort, supports a maximum resolution of 4096×2304@24Hz, 2560×1600@60Hz, 3840×2160@60Hz, 1920×1200@60Hz

Storage
• Intel® Z270 Chipset
• 6x SATA 6Gb/s ports*/ **
• 1x U.2 port **
– Supports up to PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe U.2 SSD
• 3x M.2 slots (Key M)*
– M2_1 slot supports up to PCIe 3.0×4 and SATA 6Gb/s standards, 2242/ 2260 /2280/ 22110 storage devices
– M2_2 slot supports up to PCIe 3.0×4 standard, 2242/ 2260 /2280 storage devices
– M2_3 slot supports up to PCIe 3.0×4 and SATA 6Gb/s ** standards, 2242/ 2260 /2280 storage devices
– Intel® Optane™ Memory Ready for all M.2 slots***
• Supports Intel® Smart Response Technology for Intel Core™ processors

RAID
• Intel® Z270 Chipset
• Supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10 for SATA storage devices
• Supports RAID mode for M.2 PCIe storage devices*
* M.2 PCIe RAID volume can be created with M.2 GENIE.

USB
• ASMedia® ASM2142 Chipset
– 2 x USB 3.1 Gen2 (SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps) Type-C ports (1 port on the back panel, 1 port available through the internal USB connector)
ƒ- 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 (SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps) Type-A port on the back panel

• Intel® Z270 Chipset
– 6 x USB 3.1 Gen1 (SuperSpeed USB) ports (2 Type-A ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB connectors)
– 7 x USB 2.0 (High-speed USB) ports (3 Type-A ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB connectors)

Audio
• Dual Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
– 7.1-Channel High Definition Audio

LAN
• 1 x Killer™ E2500 Gigabit LAN controller

Internal I/O Connectors
– 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
– 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
– 1 x 4-pin ATX 12V power connector
– 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
– 1 x U.2 port
– 3 x M.2 slots
– 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C connector
– 2 x USB 3.1 Gen1 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 3.1 Gen1 ports)
– 2 x USB 2.0 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 2.0 ports)
– 1 x 4-pin CPU fan connector
– 1 x 4-pin water pump fan connector
– 4 x 4-pin system fan connectors
– 1 x Front panel audio connector
– 2 x Front panel connectors
– 1 x RGB LED connector
– 1 x Chassis Intrusion connector
– 1 x Clear CMOS jumper
– 1 x Low Temperature Booting Jumper
– 1 x 2-pin Slow mode jumper
– 1 x 2-pin OC retry jumper
– 1 x 2-pin OC Force enter BIOS jumper
– 1 x 2-pin Discharge jumper
– 1 x 2-Digit Debug Code LED

Back Panel I/O Ports
– 1 x PS/2 mouse & keyboard combo port
– 3 x USB 2.0 Type-A ports
– 1 x Clear CMOS button
– 1 x DisplayPort
– 1 x HDMI™ port
– 1 x LAN (RJ45) port
– 2 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports
– 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A port
– 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C port
– 1 x Optical S/PDIF OUT connector
– 5 x OFC audio jacks

Dimension
• 12.0 in. x 9.6 in. (30.5 cm x 24.4 cm)
• ATX Form Factor

Mounting
• 9 mounting holes

Packaging, Bundle & First Look

GAMING M7 arrives in a bright red box which is professionally design to feature a preview of the board on the front while on the reverse there is a full run down of all the significant features. A listing of the technical specifications can also be found.

Inside, the motherboard is covered in an anti-static bag and protected inside a cardboard tray.

Inside the box there are an extensive list of bundled accessories since we are dealing with the flagship AORUS model here. So, included we have the following:

• User’s manual
• Quick install guide w/ registration card
• 4 x SATA 6Gb/s cable(s)
• 1 x M.2 Screw Package
• 1 x Driver CD
• 1 x Flexible SLI bridge
• 1 x RGB LED cables
• 1 x Quick connect adapters
• 1 x Dragon badge

After removing M7 from its packaging we can now reveal the overall layout of this motherboard which takes on an impressive design.

The PCB adopts a matt black colour while the ports, lanes and slots are silver and gun metal in appearance and finish. The M7’s theme will allow system builders to pair up other hardware easily due to its neutral scheme.

M7 conforms to the ATX form factor and measures: 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm.

Closer Look

M7 is an Intel 200-series motherboard and as such carries support for the latest Intel 7th Generation of Core Processors codenamed Kaby Lake. The socket on our motherboard is therefore LGA 1151 – for those with a Skylake processor, the Intel Core i7-6700K is also compatible.

Along with a strong presence of Military Class 5 components, the M7 employs a 8+2+1 phase power design.

Covering the VRM system we have two dedicated heatsinks which use the consistent gunmetal design seen throughout the board. These heatsinks are not connected in any way but operate independently.

Along the top-edge MSI has given M7 an 8+4-pin CPU power socket which should help with sustaining bigger overclocks. Further along there are also two fan headers – one which is specifically for closed loop pumps and the other for the CPU fan – fan headers on M7 can use DC or PWM mode.

Casting an eye over the memory region, there are four slots for dual channel DDR4 and there is support for up to 64GB and 4133MHz kits. There aren’t many boards which support such high frequency DDR4, so this comes as a speciality.

Just like other board partners, MSI has engineered M7 to use steel reinforced memory slots which is intended to provide some longevity. Furthermore, MSI also includes 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.

We also have some additional features in the memory area which should come in handy:

• LEZ Debug panel – for diagnostics on POST
• Diagnostic LEDs – quick diagnosis of malfunction of CPU, DRAM, VGA and Boot
• MemOK! – ensures enhanced compatibility for troublesome memory
• Voltage check-points – for use with a multimeter

Immediately next to the 24-pin ATX there is a single USB 3.0 header which is angled and a USB 3.1 header with flash BIOS button. Again, there aren’t many boards which will support USB 3.1 front headers at this stage so this comes as a welcome inclusion and futureproofs the configuration.

Moving along, we arrive at the storage which consists of a number of different standards. We have:

• 6x SATA 3 (6GB/s) ports
• 1x U.2 port
• 3x M.2 (PCIe 3.0 x4 with Intel Optane Memory support)

By including three M.2 slots, MSI diversify from other brands and make it possible to construct a system which is entirely made up of NVMe storage. All three slots are found in the PCI express region and one even features MSI’s M.2 Shield which is designed to protect the M.2 and claims to reduce temperatures.

Something to be aware of is that the U.2, third M.2 and SATA 5-6 all share the same bandwidth.

Behind all the storage ports we have a substantial heatsink sitting on top of the Intel Z270 chip. This heatsink has a lovely gunmetal finish and contains customisable LEDs (Via Mystic Light) for those interested in brightening the system up.

Running along the bottom of the board there is another USB 3.0 header, some onboard power/reset buttons and the OC switch/dial for incremental on-the-fly overclocking.

Moving over the PCI Express department, we have the following available:

• 3x PCI Express 3.0 X16
• 3x PCI Express 3.0 X1

The modes for each of the PCI Express X16s are: x16, x8, x8. So, if you are intending to use just one graphics card the top slot is the best one to go with. All three of the PCI Express used for graphics card usage are steel reinforced to give better durability – which is useful since some of the high-end graphics cards nowadays are quite large and heavy.

MSI has included a plastic fascia for each PCI slot which also utilise RGB LEDs – the lighting can be modified and syncs with the rest of the LEDs on the board.

M7 arrives with MSI’s fourth rendition of their audio solution – Audio Boost 4 PRO. At the heart of Audio Boost are twin Realtek ALC1220 codecs, we also get separated left and right channels and de-pop protection. All of the components are isolated along an LED border to prevent interference.

Last of all, we come to the Rear IO section which hosts quite a large selection of ports. Included here we have:

– 1 x PS/2 mouse & keyboard combo port
– 3 x USB 2.0 Type-A ports
– 1 x Clear CMOS button
– 1 x DisplayPort
– 1 x HDMI™ port
– 1 x LAN (RJ45) port
– 2 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports
– 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A port
– 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C port
– 1 x Optical S/PDIF OUT connector
– 5 x OFC audio jacks

It’s great to see USB 3.1 Gen2 support on the back panel but once the keyboard and mouse are connected up, there are very few USB ports available. We’d have liked to see more USB at the back of the board – this is really the only limiting factor.

Test Setup & Methodology

Test Setup

CPU Intel Core i7-7700K
Cooling Corsair H100i GTX
Motherboard MSI Z270 GAMING M7
Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000MHz
Graphics GIGABYTE GTX 1080 G1 Gaming
Storage Corsair Force LX 512GB
PSU Corsair HX1050 80 Plus Gold Certified PSU
Monitor AOC U2879VF
Capture Device Epiphan AV.iO 4K

Benchmarks

Cinebench R15 – CPU/OpenGL Score
x264 HD 4.0 – 1st and 2nd pass encoding
SiSoftware SANDRA – CPU & Memory benchmarks
POV-RAY – CPU benchmarks
TrueCrypt – CPU benchmarks
AIDA64 – CPU benchmarks & Memory
PCMark 8 – Home Suite & Photoshop
3DMark FireStrike – 3D Benchmark
Games – Civilization IV & Total War: WARHAMMER

Other Software

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

Overclocking

Like previous generations, the Intel Core i7-7700K (Kabylake) is unlocked and also has flexible attributes in terms of the BCLK and ratio/multiplier. This makes the job of overclocking much easier.

Our current milestone is 4.9GHz with the Intel Core i7-7700K – With M7 we were able to reach the 4.9GHz milestone and we did so by applying just 1.33v to the vcore. So, this highlights that our MSI board is able to push the limits of Kaby Lake and by overclocking, we can obviously then enjoy even better performance in a range of scenarios.

Benchmarks: Power Consumption

It’s interesting to note the power consumption across all motherboards. Although they are using the Z270 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: Cinebench R15

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: 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: SiSoftware SANDRA

SANDRA isn’t always a benchmark that is included in hardware reviews but we 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: POV-RAY

Persistence of Vision Raytracer’s PovRay is a free and open source 3D animator application with versions for computers with different operating systems.

This product allows users to build their custom 3D worlds with excellent quality despite their computer’s hardware. It has adjustable options for levels of radiance, refraction, and reflection. Calculation time may vary depending on the computer model, but PovRay can adapt to many computer builds, and is supported by the open source community.

Benchmarks: TrueCrypt

TrueCrypt is a discontinued source-available freeware utility used for on-the-fly encryption (OTFE). It can create a virtual encrypted disk within a file or encrypt a partition or (under Microsoft Windows except Windows 8 with GPT) the entire storage device (pre-boot authentication).

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: 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: PCMark 8 Photoshop

The PCMark 8 Applications benchmark measures system performance using popular applications from the Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office. You can choose which tests to run based on the applications installed on your system. Each test automatically steps through a series of actions such as opening, editing and saving a file. The results are used to calculate the PCMark 8 Applications scores for the system.

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: Civilization IV & Total War: WARHAMMER

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 recent gaming titles which are heavily CPU-based. For this test we remove the graphics card and rely on the integrated graphics from the Core i7-7700K.

Conclusion

While the dust from the Intel Kaby Lake and 200 series motherboard release may have settled, today has proven how MSI’s Z270 GAMING M7 is still an excellent motherboard to choose for those wanting a taste of Z270.

Where bright and distinguishing colours were once all the rage, subtle and understated designs are now much more prevalent in the motherboard sector. The GAMING M7 delivers up a monochrome scheme which is likely to appeal to a broader selection of system builders – a neutral design allows the blending together of a variety of hardware and will coordinate much easier than a coloured design which locks the user into a specific theme. The overall layout and styling on GAMING M7 is eye-catching and certainly one which is up there as one of the more favourable designs.

GAMING M7 includes a surprising number of features – some of which will mark this motherboard out as a top-pick in the Z270 arena. MSI has included a USB 3.1 front panel header on the board, which is rare among even some of top tier offerings from rival brands. Although most cases lack USB 3.1 on the front panel, it won’t be long before this feature begins to filter into computer chassis design – so this will undoubtedly future proof the system. Another welcome addition is the multiple storage options which come in the form of U.2, M.2 and SATA. The M.2 more specifically arrives with three slots which could well move some users to phasing out SATA-based SSDs altogether.

On the performance front, as we expected from MSI, the GAMING M7 is a strong performer which delivers consistently good results throughout a range of scenarios. Overclocking is one particular area which this board is optimised for and it had no problems getting to the 4.9GHz milestone that we currently have assigned to our Intel Core i7-7700K. The BIOS is also laden with features which will satisfy both novice and seasoned enthusiasts – it’s also easy to navigate to the options required.

There are however a few areas which should be criticised. While USB 3.1 is included on the rear IO panel, overall, there is a distinct lack of USB functionality in general. Once two ports are occupied with the customary keyboard and mouse there aren’t many ports left for users to make use of. Another minor point is that MSI has chosen to use HDMI 1.4 rather than the newer standard of HDMI 2.0 which offers better refresh rates.

Current pricing indicates the GAMING M7 is £240 in the UK and $240 in the US. At this price point we are dealing with the top-end Z270 motherboards and there is some tough competition. However, M7 actually has a few options which others lack – such as the triple M.2s, and this could sway users in the market to extend their storage needs.

MSI’s Z270 GAMING M7 is a stunning motherboard which does not shy away from serving up a whole host of exciting features including a trio of M.2 slots for the hardcore storage junkie!

Pros
+ Desirable neutral theme
+ Excellent performance
+ Excellent for overclocking
+ Arrives with USB 3.1 front header
+ Uses strengthened PCI Express slots
+ Extra advanced/overclocking buttons
+ Features Triple-M.2 slots
+ Features U.2 slot
+ Capable audio solution

Cons
– Short on USB ports on the back panel
– HDMI 1.2 rather than HDMI 2.0 port

Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.