BIOS Features
MSI includes the latest revision of their UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) BIOS with the the X99S Gaming 9 AC motherboard. The UEFI BIOS offers full keyboard and mouse support while using the BIOS pages with enhanced mouse navigation supported by right clicking the mouse – goes back to previous view if inside a settings pop-up or on a sub-menu page. MSI also includes a screen capture utility, which generates a 1024×768 BMP image saved to an attached USB drive upon clicking the F12 function key.
MSI UEFI BIOS is largely unchanged from its previous revisions (as seen on the Z87 and Z97 motherboards). The BIOS remains very responsive to both keyboard and mouse input with settings logically grouped by function under named sections. The biggest omission remains support for some type of enhanced visual mode for 1080P displays (dubbed HD Mode by many of the other manufacturers).
BIOS Notable Features
MSI's enhancements to the latest revision of their UEFI BIOS are subtle, acting to refine the BIOS to better meet the user's needs. The biggest change was to the Hardware Monitor section, converting the interface to a UI-driven template rather than the simple text-based template that was there before. MSI's Board Explorer interface continues to give a visual representation of the board and attached devices. Additionally, MSI included real-time change logs for the OC Profiles section and for the Save Changes window. MSI also added a Favorites menu to the BIOS interface, allowing for quick access to up to five pages of customized Favorites pages.
BIOS Home page
The Home page had some slight changes to make accessing features easier for the end user. OC Genie and XMP buttons display in the upper left of the page so that a user can quickly enable the OC Genie overclocking engine or enact XMP memory settings without having to go into the OC section of the BIOS. Additionally, MSI added a task bar to the upper right of the page containing quick links to the screen shot capture function, the My Favorites page, and the Language settings page.
Hardware Monitor interface
The Hardware Monitor interface displays information about monitored hardware speeds, temperatures, and voltages, as well as allowing for configuration of system fans based on temperature thresholds. The graphical interface provided is very intuitive and easy to use.
Board Explorer interface
The Board Explorer interface gives the user a graphical representation of the motherboard with zones showing in use ports and attached devices. The zones can be clicked on for an expanded view of integrated ports and devices with informational messaging provided where appropriate. This gives a bird's eye view of the board subsystems without having to crack the case.
Load Overclocking Profile page, OC Profile change log
When a profile is selected to load from the Load Overclocking Profile page after pressing the F8 key, a change log containing a list of options and settings tied to that profile displays in the upper section of the BIOS page The settings shown include the current and stored values for the option. Additionally, the profile creation time and date as well as the BIOS version used to create the profile are shown.
My Favorites page
My Favorites page, Favorite 1 details page
Clicking the F3 key within the BIOS or clicking on the Heart icon in the top menu bar spawns the My Favorites page. There are a total of five Favorites pages in which the user can store BIOS settings from any page, giving the ability to access frequently used settings from a single page.
My Favorites page, Favorites setting page
My Favorites page, Favorites setting page, Default Homepage popup
The Favorite setting page contains an option for configuring the Default Home Page for the BIOS. Notice that you can set the BIOS default home page to a multitude of sections including one of the pages in the My Favorites section. The home page is the page that displays when the BIOS initializes. Setting this value to None causes the BIOS to load to the default home screen.
Favorites Assistant popup
Favorites Assistant popup
Clicking the F2 key within the BIOS spawns the Favorites Assistant window. From this popup, the user can add new settings and sub-menus to one of the five Favorites pages. Note that if the F2 key is pressed from within a Favorite details page, the selected setting will be removed from the Favorite details page.
Save configuration verification popup
Change Settings Info popup
MSI added the ability to track changes made during a BIOS session to the Save popup. This change log is a text-based interface detailing all proposed changes to be made if the BIOS is saved with both the original values and new values displayed.
BIOS Walkthrough
Overclocking Settings (OC) page
Overclocking Settings (OC) page, Memory Try It popup
Overclocking Settings (OC) page, Memory Try It, details page
Overclocking Settings page, Voltage settings
Overclocking Settings page, Other settings
Overclocking Settings page, Advanced DRAM Configuration page
Overclocking Settings page, Advanced DRAM Configuration page, Advanced Timing Configuration settings
Overclocking Settings page, Advanced DRAM Configuration page, Latency Timing Configuration settings
Overclocking Settings page, Advanced DRAM Configuration page, Misc and On-Die Termination Configuration settings
Overclocking Settings page, Advanced DRAM Configuration page, On-Die Termination Configuration settings
Overclocking Settings page, DigitALL Power page
Overclocking Settings page, CPU Specifications page
Overclocking Settings page, CPU Specifications page, CPU Technology Support page
Overclocking Settings page, MEMORY-Z page
Overclocking Settings page, MEMORY-Z page, DIMM Memory SPD page
Overclocking Settings page, MEMORY-Z page, DIMM Memory SPD page, X.M.P. Support Information page
Overclocking Settings page, CPU Features page
Overclocking Settings page, CPU Features page continued
OC Profile page
OC Profile page, Profile details page
M-Flash page
M-Flash page, Update BIOS page
guess MSI doesn’t listen to
guess MSI doesn’t listen to Morry either about CMOS batter placement, one day they will wake up and listen
Funny one 🙂
Funny one 🙂
its a great looking board.
its a great looking board. strong contender for when i upgrade out of this z97 asus maximus vii formula
I’m sure this is a great
I’m sure this is a great board otherwise, I’m an MSI fan, but the inclusion of the streaming hardware is simply unnecessary – in fact it is limiting if you want to stream at higher than 1920×1080, and may even force you to play at that resolution. In the PC gaming world, where 2560×1440 is not at all uncommon and some are beginning to use 3840×2160, that is just unacceptable.
The least powerful CPU that will be plugged into this board is more than capable of handling any streaming you want to do all by itself using a (totally free) application. OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) is a great tool with a high amount of flexibility I have used to stream on an i5-4670K clocked at a mild 4.2GHz. That CPU is more than capable, and so is OBS. A Haswell-E chip wouldn’t even blink.
Wheres all the AMD boards?
Wheres all the AMD boards?
Ok people I have a question
Ok people I have a question for anyone that is able to answer this concerning the motherboard
I’m currently building a Monster Next Gen PC using this motherboard, but the build theme for my build is Black/Blue
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/RyuTakeru/saved/zhdG3C
My question is what are the Red Area’s of the motherboard made out of?, as I may need to alter the color of the accents to match my theme.
Also are these sections some type of anodized metal? or is this simply plastic components requiring nothing more than a simple paint job.
Any Info would be much appreciated.
Thx;)