Overclocking and Conclusion
Overclocking
To give a feel for the Overclocking performance potential of the Z97 Gaming 7 board, we attempted to push it to known CPU-supported performance parameters with minimal tweaking. We were able to get the board running stable for over 4hrs at a 4.67GHz CPU speed, a 1780MHz memory speed, and a 4.0GHz ring bus speed with a 167MHz base clock. System stability was tested running the AIDA64 stability test in conjunction with EVGA's OC Scanner X graphical benchmark running at 1280×960 resolution and 8x MSAA in stress test mode.
Note that this is is meant only as a quick preview of the board's performance potential. With more time to tweak the settings to a greater extent, pushing to a higher base clock and ring bus speed may have been achievable, in addition to an overnight stability run without issue.
Performance
The MSI Z97 Gaming 7 motherboard performed within expectations for an Intel Z97-based board. There were no surprises performance-wise under either stock or overclocked settings, the board easily handled whatever we threw at it.
Pricing
As of May 12, the MSI Z97 Gaming 7 motherboard was available pre-order at Newegg.com for $189.99. The board was also available from Amazon.com for $189.99 with Prime shipping.
Conclusion
Before continuing with our final thoughts on the Z97 Gaming 7 motherboard, we would like to take this opportunity to give our friends at MSI a hearty “Thank You” for giving us the opportunity to review this motherboard. Like many other board manufacturer's, MSI used the Intel Z97 launch as an opportunity to update their board look and feel. This is most evident in the redesigned heat sinks on the Z97 Gaming 7 board stamped with their Gaming dragon on both ends of the VRM sinks and on the chipset sink. The VRM heat sinks also feature red crossbars, reminiscent of a dragon's claw and giving the board an even more menacing appearance. Even though black and red seem to be the in-thing currently, MSI pulled the color scheme off well with the Z97 Gaming 7. The board is well designed and has more than sufficient room around all components. Further, it maintained performance in-line with the other Intel Z97-based boards. Its UEFI BIOS was largely unchanged from the Z87 version with some added features and UI tweaks to make it more user friendly.
There were no real deficiencies in the board's design or layout, but I really didn't find much in terms of revolutionary innovation with this board either. Its audio subsystem had some nice additions that did not seem to change the auditory performance (though it may be because of the audio equipment used for testing). Its aesthetics were updated, but seemed to make no difference in the board's performance (which is a good thing though).
Strengths
- Stock performance
- Overclocking performance
- Board layout and design
- Board aesthetics
- UEFI BIOS design and usability
- Accessible PCI-Express x1 slot with all PCI-Express x16 slots populated
Weaknesses
- Lack of SATA Express-based device ports
- CMOS battery placement
- Lack of in-depth details for integrated devices in motherboard manual
Nice write up, Morry. I may
Nice write up, Morry. I may have missed it, but I have a question:
Can you enter and view the UEFI settings if you just plug an HDMI monitor into the motherboard? In the past, I’ve never gotten it to work so I don’t know if that’s possible now.
Thanks!
I did not try with this
I did not try with this motherboard, but have had varying success with other boards.
The trick I've found for HDMI output of the UEFI BIOS is that the HDMI cable must be the only cable plugged into the card. If any other cables are plugged in, I've never had success getting an HDMI signal. You could also try from the onboard graphics HDMI port, but you would have to remove the secondary video card for it to work…
Thanks for dedicating more
Thanks for dedicating more than half of an entire section to aftermarket CPU cooler fitting (with good pictures to boot!). I don’t often see that in motherboard reviews. +5 cool points for Morry!
Interesting that you oced
Interesting that you oced with the 166 strap. Any reason for using that strap over the 100 strap?
you get a slight performance
you get a slight performance bump using bc overclocking combined with ratio overclocking over pure ratio overclocking. And t also proves that the board is stable at the higher strap speed…
Hi Morry. I see this MSI
Hi Morry. I see this MSI board has an optical/spdif out for audio. However a number of other MSI Z97 boards do not provide this header.
Do you know, in cases like the above, how do I get optical out?
Do I get it by getting a splitter cable for the HDMI port that I can tap the optical audio from, or am I simply out of luck?
Thanks much.
Hi Morry,
I have just
Hi Morry,
I have just purchased this motherboard and built my machine with all the parts.
Unfortunately I’ve encountered a problem which I have narrowed down to the RAM slots.
With both 8GB RAM in slots 1 and 2 the machine will power itself on and off repeatedly, providing the LED Status code C0.
Once I remove the RAM from slot 2 and try again it will work perfectly. Similarly, if I switch the RAM sticks it will also work. The problem is only when both are applied.
I got the RAM as a packaged deal(Kingston 2x8GB 2400Hz) with the motherboard so I am sure it had been tested beforehand.
I am just wondering if you had encountered this error and can suggest a cause/solution or if not, please advise, could placing the RAM in slots 3 and 4 (leaving 1 and 2 blank) cause any damage or should it work?
Thanks and kind regards,
Andrew
Looking at the manual if you
Looking at the manual if you are using 2 sticks of ram they need to be in slots 2 and 4. Have you tried that? Mine works just fine with slots 2 and 4 filled.
hi,what memory do i need to
hi,what memory do i need to purchase for this MSI Z97 GAMING 7 ? I HAVE SOME G.SKILL RIPJAWS x ,F3 WILL THIS MEMORY WORK WITH THIS MOTHERBOARD and it is ddr 3 1600 cl 10-10-10-301.50v,and the memory i have is pc3-12800 8gx2 intel XMP AND AGAIN WILL IT WORK ON THIS BOARD i do hope to hear back from you soon,yours GABRIEL O CONNOR.PS this is my 1 build.
Yes, it will work fine. Get
Yes, it will work fine. Get that capslock key fixed.
Hey people, if you want to
Hey people, if you want to know what parts are compatible google PCpartpicker and then select this mother board it it will only show you parts that are compatible.
bios came right up on my
bios came right up on my 1080p tv via hdmi no problem
I have the same problem and i
I have the same problem and i dont now what to do, i have four slots filed whit corsair dominator platinium whit 16Gb at 1866Hz i already check, and they are camtible whit the MSI Gaming 7 Board, it only works whit 1 dimms in the Thirth slot or the Fourth slot, or works whit Thirth and fourth Slots, 1 and 2 not work, i reset by itself, and dont work even whit 4 slots full. I need help am about to burs this Motherboard.
u need to match the ram and
u need to match the ram and processor frequency. Also the voltage at which your ram and processor operate
To all those having ram
To all those having ram problems, I eventually found that on mine, the problem was bent CPU socket pins. Do check for those if all else fails.