MSI Announces Z97 Gaming 9 AC Flagship LGA1150 Motherboard

btarunr · May 15, 2014

MSI launched its Intel Z97 chipset-based Gaming series lineup with three ATX motherboards, the Z97 Gaming 3, the Z97 Gaming 5, and the Z97 Gaming 7. The company now made a high-end addition, with the Z97 Gaming 9 AC. Built in the standard ATX form-factor, the board is filled to the brim with features targeted more toward high-end gaming PC builds, than professional CPU/memory overclocking. It still offers a decent overclocking feature-set. To begin with, the board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, 8-pin EPS connectors, and uses a 16-phase VRM to condition power for the CPU, which is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, and three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x8/x4/x4 when all three are populated, x8/x8/x0 when two are, and x16/x0/x0 when one is. 3-way SLI and CrossFire are supported.

An EMI shield covers the rear-panel I/O, while another shields the entire onboard audio circuitry, and the NICs. Audio is care of a 100+ dBA SNR DAC, which an external headphone amp circuit, ground-layer isolation, audio-grade capacitors, and EMI shielding. Wired connectivity is handled by Broadcom's newer Killer E2205 gigabit NIC. Wireless connectivity is handled by an Intel-made chipset that offers 802.11 ac WLAN, and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity. Storage connectivity is devoid of SATA-Express, but features eight SATA 6 Gb/s, and an M.2 slot. Overclocking features include voltage measurement points, and POST LED display. Expect this one to go for over US $200.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

natr0n · May 15, 2014

clean and fancy.

Breit · May 15, 2014

It seems everyone is doing the red-black-theme these days. I guess ASUS has to find another color scheme for their ROG boards now... 8)

BorisDG · May 15, 2014

High-end? ONLY 3 full PCI-E slots, not SATA Express and VRM part looks like s*it? Just MSI...

Breit said:
It seems everyone is doing the red-black-theme these days. I guess ASUS has to find another color scheme for their ROG boards now... 8)

Pink? Red typical is the color of "aggression". We have "Green", "Yellow", "Blue", "Gold", "Orange" ... so no attractive colors are available...

Hope soon mobos to change it's color - entirely white PCB for example will be cool!

radrok · May 15, 2014

I like it but that badge on the PCH heatsink is ewww

The Terrible Puddle · May 15, 2014

I like it

Aesthetically, it's one of the better boards out there.

MxPhenom 216 · May 15, 2014

BorisDG said:
High-end? ONLY 3 full PCI-E slots, not SATA Express and VRM part looks like s*it? Just MSI...

Pink? Red typical is the color of "aggression". We have "Green", "Yellow", "Blue", "Gold", "Orange" ... so no attractive colors are available...

Hope soon mobos to change it's color - entirely white PCB for example will be cool!

How does the VRM section look like shit? It has 16 phases. Which is more than enough for Haswell. This is also gaming board.

BorisDG · May 15, 2014

Compare ASUS motherboards VRM (R6E, R4E, R4BE...) and this MSI. It looks totally lean and cheap.

cadaveca · May 15, 2014

BorisDG said:
Compare ASUS motherboards VRM (R6E, R4E, R4BE...) and this MSI. It looks totally lean and cheap.

I like how you skipped mentioning current ASUS 8-phase VRMs.

Platform itself MIGHT pull 150W on 24/7 OC. Kind of a weird thing to be concerned about, honestly.

radrok · May 15, 2014

I can tell your that R4E's VRMs on a 5+ GHz overclock can scorch your eyes if you look directly at them, even with waterblocks. That board needed way more phases imo.

BorisDG · May 15, 2014

cadaveca said:
I like how you skipped mentioning current ASUS 8-phase VRMs. Platform itself MIGHT pull 150W on 24/7 OC. Kind of a weird thing to be concerned about, honestly.

8 + 3 + 2x2. Also the VRM part in ASUS motherboards (specially M6E, R4BE) is from kick-ass components.

cadaveca · May 15, 2014

BorisDG said:
8 + 3 + 2x2. Also the VRM part in ASUS motherboards (specially M6E, R4BE) is from kick-ass components.

But you are comparing VRM for SKT2011 to Z97. I have all these boards...well, not this GAMING 9 yet, actually, but the others... sit in their boxes next to my desk. Haswell platform has VRM control inside CPU itself, so board VRM is not as critical as on other platforms. Even ASUS has reduced VRM phases for Z87/Z97. ASUS has same VRM design on HERO, GENE, FORMULA, IMPACT, EXTREME for MAXIMUS VI series, and MAXIMUS VII series. RANGER gets "reduced" VRM.

If HERO has same VRM as EXTREME...VRM is not that important for overclock like is has been on other platforms. So focusing on that is equally un-important. I dropped covering that in detail on my reviews due to this.

That's all I had to say, really.

On Z87/Z97, even puny 4-phase or 6-phase VRM can OC CPUs to 4.6 GHz+.

TheHunter · May 15, 2014

MY delux has 16vrm too

btw that msi SFC vrm are like on gpu's and those can sustain some serious stress, dunno why this dissing

GhostRyder · May 15, 2014

That board, is beyond awesome. Reminds me of the Asus series of boards and contains some very nice looking Heatsinks and a nice cover.

wot · May 16, 2014

No 3-way Sli with 8x-4x-4x only crossfire, but I like the layout you can do 3x290x and a soundcard.

Arrakis9 · May 16, 2014

This is a gaming board not an overclocking focused board if you don't like the features it has then look at an M power or X power board not this. features cost money and you guys are trying to compare "ricers" with "race cars" here. I for one like the look of this board its nice and clean AND from the looks of it the VRM heatsink can be painted easily with those phillips head screws :pimp:

System Name	RBMK-1000
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling	DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory	2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s)	Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage	Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s)	BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case	Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s)	ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse	ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard	Gamdias Hermes E2
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	natr0n-PC
Processor	Ryzen 5950x-5600x \| 9600k
Motherboard	B450 AORUS M \| Z390 UD
Cooling	EK AIO 360 - 6 fan action \| AIO
Memory	Patriot - Viper Steel DDR4 (B-Die)(4x8GB) \| Samsung DDR4 (4x8GB)
Video Card(s)	EVGA 3070ti FTW
Storage	Various
Display(s)	Pixio PX279 Prime
Case	Thermaltake Level 20 VT \| Black bench
Audio Device(s)	LOXJIE D10 + Kinter Amp + 6 Bookshelf Speakers Sony+JVC+Sony
Power Supply	Super Flower Leadex III ARGB 80+ Gold 650W \| EVGA 700 Gold
Software	XP/7/8.1/10
Benchmark Scores	http://valid.x86.fr/79kuh6

System Name	Blackbird
Processor	AMD Threadripper 3960X 24-core
Motherboard	Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Master
Cooling	Full custom-loop water cooling, mostly Aqua Computer and EKWB stuff!
Memory	4x 16GB G.Skill Trident-Z RGB @3733-CL14
Video Card(s)	Nvidia RTX 3090 FE
Storage	Samsung 950PRO 512GB, Crusial P5 2TB, Samsung 850PRO 1TB
Display(s)	LG 38GN950-B 38" IPS TFT, Dell U3011 30" IPS TFT
Case	CaseLabs TH10A
Audio Device(s)	Edifier S1000DB
Power Supply	ASUS ROG Thor 1200W (SeaSonic)
Mouse	Logitech MX Master
Keyboard	SteelSeries Apex M800
Software	MS Windows 10 Pro for Workstation
Benchmark Scores	A lot.

System Name	Black Knight \| White Queen
Processor	Intel Core i9-10940X (28 cores) \| Intel Core i7-5775C (8 cores)
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Rampage VI Extreme Encore X299G \| ASUS Sabertooth Z97 Mark S (White)
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black \| Xigmatek Dark Knight SD-1283 Night Hawk (White)
Memory	G.SKILL Trident Z RGB 4x8GB DDR4 3600MHz CL16 \| Corsair Vengeance LP 4x4GB DDR3L 1600MHz CL9 (White)
Video Card(s)	ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4090 OC \| KFA2/Galax GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Hall of Fame Edition
Storage	Samsung 990 Pro 2TB, 980 Pro 1TB, 850 Pro 256GB, 840 Pro 256GB, WD 10TB+ (incl. VelociRaptors)
Display(s)	Dell Alienware AW2721D 240Hz\| LG OLED evo C4 48" 144Hz
Case	Corsair 7000D AIRFLOW (Black) \| NZXT ??? w/ ASUS DRW-24B1ST
Audio Device(s)	ASUS Xonar Essence STX \| Realtek ALC1150
Power Supply	Enermax Revolution 1250W 85+ \| Super Flower Leadex Gold 650W (White)
Mouse	Razer Basilisk Ultimate, Razer Naga Trinity \| Razer Mamba 16000
Keyboard	Razer Blackwidow Chroma V2 (Orange switch) \| Razer Ornata Chroma
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64bit

Processor	8700k Intel
Motherboard	z370 MSI Godlike Gaming
Cooling	Triple Aquacomputer AMS Copper 840 with D5
Memory	TridentZ RGB G.Skill C16 3600MHz
Video Card(s)	GTX 1080 Ti
Storage	Crucial MX SSDs
Display(s)	Dell U3011 2560x1600 + Dell 2408WFP 1200x1920 (Portrait)
Case	Core P5 Thermaltake
Audio Device(s)	Essence STX
Power Supply	AX 1500i
Mouse	Logitech
Keyboard	Corsair
Software	Win10

MSI Announces Z97 Gaming 9 AC Flagship LGA1150 Motherboard

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator

natr0n

Breit

BorisDG

radrok

The Terrible Puddle

MxPhenom 216

ASIC Engineer

BorisDG

cadaveca

My name is Dave

radrok

BorisDG

cadaveca

My name is Dave

TheHunter

GhostRyder

wot

Arrakis9

System Name	Ryzen Reflection
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 5900x
Motherboard	Gigabyte X570S Aorus Master
Cooling	2x EK PE360 \| TechN AM4 AMD Block Black \| EK Quantum Vector Trinity GPU Nickel + Plexi
Memory	Teamgroup T-Force Xtreem 2x16GB B-Die 3600 @ 14-14-14-28-42-288-2T 1.45v
Video Card(s)	Zotac AMP HoloBlack RTX 3080Ti 12G \| 950mV 1950Mhz
Storage	WD SN850 500GB (OS) \| Samsung 980 Pro 1TB (Games_1) \| Samsung 970 Evo 1TB (Games_2)
Display(s)	Asus XG27AQM 240Hz G-Sync Fast-IPS \| Gigabyte M27Q-P 165Hz 1440P IPS \| LG 24" IPS 1440p
Case	Lian Li PC-011D XL \| Custom cables by Cablemodz
Audio Device(s)	FiiO K7 \| Sennheiser HD650 + Beyerdynamic FOX Mic
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime Ultra Platinum 850
Mouse	Razer Viper v2 Pro
Keyboard	Corsair K65 Plus 75% Wireless - USB Mode
Software	Windows 11 Pro 64-Bit

System Name	-aLiEn beaTs-
Processor	Intel i7 11700kf @ 5.055Ghz
Motherboard	MSI Z490 Unify
Cooling	Corsair H115i Pro RGB
Memory	G.skill Royal Silver 4400 cl17 @ 4403mhz
Video Card(s)	Zotac GTX 980TI AMP!Omega Factory OC 1418MHz
Storage	Intel SSD 330, Crucial SSD MX300 & MX500
Display(s)	Samsung C24FG73 144HZ
Case	CoolerMaster HAF 932 USB3.0
Audio Device(s)	X-Fi Titanium HD @ 2.1 Bose acoustimass 5
Power Supply	CoolerMaster 850W v2 gold atx 2.52
Mouse	Razer viper 8k
Keyboard	Logitech G19s
Software	Windows 11 Pro 21h2 64Bit
Benchmark Scores	► ♪♫♪♩♬♫♪♭

System Name	SnowFire / The Reinforcer
Processor	i7 10700K 5.1ghz (24/7) / 2x Xeon E52650v2
Motherboard	Asus Strix Z490 / Dell Dual Socket (R720)
Cooling	RX 360mm + 140mm Custom Loop / Dell Stock
Memory	Corsair RGB 16gb DDR4 3000 CL 16 / DDR3 128gb 16 x 8gb
Video Card(s)	GTX Titan XP (2025mhz) / Asus GTX 950 (No Power Connector)
Storage	Samsung 970 1tb NVME and 2tb HDD x4 RAID 5 / 300gb x8 RAID 5
Display(s)	Acer XG270HU, Samsung G7 Odyssey (1440p 240hz)
Case	Thermaltake Cube / Dell Poweredge R720 Rack Mount Case
Audio Device(s)	Realtec ALC1150 (On board)
Power Supply	Rosewill Lightning 1300Watt / Dell Stock 750 / Brick
Mouse	Logitech G5
Keyboard	Logitech G19S
Software	Windows 11 Pro / Windows Server 2016

Processor	i9 11900k
Motherboard	Maximus XII Apex
Cooling	Custom Liquid W/ 360x60 Radiator
Memory	32Gb Team XTREEM ARGB 3600 b-die
Video Card(s)	Waterblocked MSI RTX 4070
Storage	Intel 900p 480Gb + 4tb Intel 670p
Display(s)	LG C2 evo 42"
Case	Geometric Future Model 8
Audio Device(s)	HD58X + Sennheiser GSX 1000
Power Supply	Corsair RM 750x
Mouse	Steelseries Aerox 5 wired
Keyboard	Akko Mod 007b HE
VR HMD	Samsung Odyssey+
Software	Windows 11