MSI Z170A Gaming M5 Motherboard Review

[Crashman]

MSI was among the first to participate in our Z170 review series. Will the now-mature firmware give its $180 Z170A Gaming M5 a lead in the upper-midrange LGA 1151 enthusiast segment?

MSI Z170A Gaming M5 Motherboard Review : Read more

 

[Nuckles_56]

That is a very ice looking board, I really like the red traces coming out from the CPU. I'm a bit disappointed at how it didn't do very well in the CPU overclocking.

 

[Crashman]

[quotemsg=17008801,0,1670073]That is a very ice looking board, I really like the red traces coming out from the CPU. I'm a bit disappointed at how it didn't do very well in the CPU overclocking.[/quotemsg]
That's a little bit harsh, it came up what one-setting short of the record at this voltage?

 

[Nuckles_56]

To that I reply with the fact that you said that it was a second tier overclocker in your conclusion

 

[AdviserKulikov]

Could I suggest that Tom's Hardware adds another category for motherboard testing?

Power isolation: see how much noise makes it through the audio out ports, and how much noise makes it through the USB ports if USB audio is used.

 

[lbrown]

Maybe this is sour grapes but lately all I see are I7 CPUs in the builds/reviews. How about some I5 CPU builds/reviews? Not all of us get free CPUs to test instead we pay hard earned dollars.

 

[urishima]

Maybe this is sour grapes but lately all I see are I7 CPUs in the builds/reviews. How about some I5 CPU builds/reviews? Not all of us get free CPUs to test instead we pay hard earned dollars.

I second that notion. I plan to save up quite a bit for my next Rig, but it wont have a i7 CPU. Not unless I get a substantial raise next year

 

[bpbarrette]

This board is $150 after a rebate at Newegg and $164 with Prime shipping at Amazon. Heck of a deal if you ask me (which you didn't).

 

[bpbarrette]

This board is $150 after a rebate at Newegg and $164 with Prime shipping at Amazon. Heck of a deal if you ask me (which you didn't).

I should point out that it's an MSI rebate, and I have had bad luck with them in the past.

 

[Onus]

Hmmm, this is a nice-looking board. It overclocks well enough for me (I often run stock anyway), and other features do look good. I prefer smaller systems though, so I'd like to see what they offer in mATX; I'm unlikely to ever run multiple graphics cards.

 

[Wrought]

Now if only it was micro-ATX...

 

[littleleo]

[quotemsg=17008801,0,1670073]That is a very ice looking board, I really like the red traces coming out from the CPU. I'm a bit disappointed at how it didn't do very well in the CPU overclocking.[/quotemsg]
That's a little bit harsh, it came up what one-setting short of the record at this voltage?

Cons: Second-tier overclocking

That was whats Tom's said in their eval, now who wrote that eval...

 

[Stevemeister]

Could you do a review of the Asus ROG boards . . . would be interested to see how much better (if at all) these are for the money.

 

[Crashman]

[quotemsg=17009250,0,1670073]To that I reply with the fact that you said that it was a second tier overclocker in your conclusion[/quotemsg]The space between first and second tier is fairly tight

 

[ErikVinoya]

the one controller it has, the Killer e2400, is an upscale part favored by some gamers

I had to pause a bit to go to the comments with this one. I thought gamers hated the Killer NICs and that Intel's provide better gaming performance? I must be missing something here...

 

[Crashman]

[quotemsg=17014105,0,1659151]

the one controller it has, the Killer e2400, is an upscale part favored by some gamers

I had to pause a bit to go to the comments with this one. I thought gamers hated the Killer NICs and that Intel's provide better gaming performance? I must be missing something here...[/quotemsg]I guess it depends on what else you're doing. Killer has some evidence that its packet prioritization is better than third-party solutions used on Intel platforms. This advantage only occurs under certain types of multitasking, hence "some" gamers.

 

[firefoxx04]

Intel nics are fine. I can saturate my modems connection and still maintain the same ping in most games.

What you need is a good router.

 

[ah]

Talking of feedback promoting the removal of USB 2.0 ports, I believe these feedback serve no purpose. Currently, I'm running out USB 2 ports, the only time I've ever used a USB 3 port is when I back up my files to an external drive or when I plug in a USB 3 flash drive. As it is, most devices on the market at the moment only support USB 2 ports.

 

[Onus]

USB3.0 ports are backwards compatible with USB2.0 devices.

 

[Crashman]

[quotemsg=17051136,0,47340]USB3.0 ports are backwards compatible with USB2.0 devices.[/quotemsg]Right, the only reason to use USB 2.0 instead of USB 3.0 is to save USB 3.0 for another device. It's a good reason, which is why I recommend boards continue to have at least two USB 2.0 ports on the rear panel.

 

[ah]

They are not compatible with my Epson 800V scanner and Bose companion 5.

 

[ErikVinoya]

[quotemsg=17051188,0,1799812]They are not compatible with my Epson 800V scanner and Bose companion 5.[/quotemsg]

I'm willing to bet that's the fault of the hardware manufacturer not properly adhering to the USB spec

 

[Crashman]

[quotemsg=17051364,0,1659151][quotemsg=17051188,0,1799812]They are not compatible with my Epson 800V scanner and Bose companion 5.[/quotemsg]

I'm willing to bet that's the fault of the hardware manufacturer not properly adhering to the USB spec[/quotemsg]This conversation can get complicated since USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 are separate data standards and use separate data pathways. A third-party USB 3.0 controller actually has two controllers (USB 2.0 and USB 3.0) built in. These aren't always friendly with legacy devices. While the Intel controller usually is legacy-friendly, a third-party hub between it and the ports can cause similar issues. You'll find that some boards have only 2 USB 3.0 ports out of 6 or 8 that are legacy-friendly, and they're usually not labeled in a way to make that determination easy.

 

[ErikVinoya]

Oh, TIL...
I have always thought that USB 3.0 controllers are just single controllers with some sort of "legacy mode". Didn't know they have to contain separate 2.0 and 3.0 controllers.

 

[Crashman]

[quotemsg=17051726,0,1659151]Oh, TIL...
I have always thought that USB 3.0 controllers are just single controllers with some sort of "legacy mode". Didn't know they have to contain separate 2.0 and 3.0 controllers.[/quotemsg]I don't know how much these controller designers were able to simplify and combine, I just know that they're separate signals on separate wires (hence a two-in-one controller chip).