MSI Z87 MPOWER MAX (Intel LGA 1150)

[cadaveca]

MSI has won me over recently with their new dragon-themed GAMING SERIES products for Intel's Z87 platform, but that's not all they have been working on. The MSI Z87 MPOWER MAX, with yellow to match MSI's own Lightning VGAs, makes some big claims, but does it break limits, or is it a MAX failure?

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[springs113]

great review but I don't know I have seen other reviewers getting better results on that board. Definitely the gd65 is a sweet spot, but something seems so off about your sample.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

I couldn't help but laugh throughout reading the conclusion

 

[cadaveca]

great review but I don't know I have seen other reviewers getting better results on that board. Definitely the gd65 is a sweet spot, but something seems so off about your sample.

I can almost 1000% guarantee they weren't using publically available BIOSes. I don't care about BETA BIOS performance, and neither should you...you should care about what YOU get as an end user, and the posted results in my reviews are with the most recent PUBLIC BIOS at the time of writing. The BETA BIOSes do improve performance a fair bit. However, even today ( I just checked HERE) the only BIOS available is v1.2, from early June.

I do the same with EVERY board, and if I retest at a later date, I update to the latest BIOS then, too.

To me, using a BETA BIOS is like testing with an ES chip. Oh, what's that, other reviewers use ES chips too? Then maybe it's their ES chips giving false numbers...you can never know. Me, I use retail parts, and public BIOSes. I'm sorry if that's not what you are looking for, but I will always report exactly what the end user gets. I use retail hardware, software, etc...etc...etc...and that shouldn't be a real issue, I think.


So...meh.




Just...meh.

 

[radrok]

What a letdown... Thought this one would stand out from the crowd, had hoped for more. Really.

My impression is that MSI scored an ACE in the middle range of motherboards with their GAMING line and ASUS still owns the overclocking and memory overclocking scene...

The Hero seems like a much better choice over this one and it is cheaper too.

other reviewers getting better results on that board.

Other reviewers aren't as thorough as Dave.

I bet he could have found issues within the past EVGA line of motherboards (X79 and Z77 specifically) which have been praised by reviewers and then turned out to be the real POS.

He's like the motherboard whisperer

 

[DOM]

But the beta bios are avaliable to the public off there fourms not the same as a es cpu

I could get the thread but im not at home don't feel like looking for it I'm lazy XD

 

[cadaveca]

But the beta bios are avaliable to the public off there fourms not the same as a es cpu

Heh. Not unless you register for their forum. Most advanced users will find BETA BIOSes out there, but they need to be on the board's product page, and in "official" release.

It's a "small" issue, but unless you know where to look, or even to look at all, such things are rather...well..useless. This board should perform on par, if not better than the GAMING boards, not taking last spot in several tests.

 

[springs113]

I couldn't help but laugh throughout reading the conclusion

same here

 

[BigMack70]

8.2 for a product that "sucks"

Interesting scoring system you have there...

 

[Frick]

8.2 for a product that "sucks"

Interesting scoring system you have there...

Yeah it's a fault every reviewer here has. I pretty much never look at scores, but it really is a system that ranges from 0-3 (0 being 70).

BTW, sometimes I feel the use of American pop culture isn't that appropriate for an international site. I know Groucho and Kardashian(s) by name but not by nature.

 

[cadaveca]

8.2 for a product that "sucks"

Interesting scoring system you have there...

The board worked. The physical design is good. The accessories package is great.

The BIOS seriously needs an "official" update. I said the board sucks..yeah, I did. But really, it's not the board..it's the BIOS that sucks, and that's easily remedied by MSI releasing a new official BIOS. I used a very strong statement to express my disappointment in such a basic thing.

BTW, sometimes I feel the use of American pop culture isn't that appropriate for an international site. I know Groucho and Kardashian(s) by name but not by nature.

Hmm, good point.

 

[Major_A]

Love the honesty. But, if you want to be taken more seriously by MSI you might want to consider "This board sucks" to something a little more mature. Thanks for the review, I was liking the new MSI boards until I saw this review and another one about a week ago complaining about the same exact issues (BIOS mostly in both cases).

 

[cadaveca]

Love the honesty. But, if you want to be taken more seriously by MSI you might want to consider "This board sucks" to something a little more mature. Thanks for the review, I was liking the new MSI boards until I saw this review and another one about a week ago complaining about the same exact issues (BIOS mostly in both cases).

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[dj-electric]

Dave's legitness always makes me hard

 

[Phobia9651]

Dave's legitness always makes me hard

Roflcopter, he could do without the Frankenstein, Kardashians and Groucho (even had to look that one up) though

One thing that got me wondering why do so many other motherboards still incorporate 3-pin fan headers when it doesn't seem too much of hassle to use 4-pins instead? I know it counts as a 'feature', but shouldn't that feature be standardized by now?

 

[Ikaruga]

Great review as always, loved the conclusion too (and I do like MSI). Many thanks

Love the honesty. But, if you want to be taken more seriously by MSI you might want to consider "This board sucks" to something a little more mature.

It sounds like a disappointment of somebody who really cares.. look at the GD65 review and you will understand.

 

[VulkanBros]

That´s what I love about Your reviews.....no "kissing the manufacturer" just to please them - and maybe risking not to get further pieces from them....I dont know - and I don´t care as long as YOU deliver that kind of honest reviews!!
Keep up the good work

 

[Nirutbs]

Point taken but disappointed from the result. I've just changed my Hero to MAX. Hero is better, right?

 

[radrok]

I don't think you'll ever see a difference between the MAX and the Hero unless you ATLEAST use phase change.

These kind of boards are pointless for ambient, in my experience of course.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Point taken but disappointed from the result. I've just changed my Hero to MAX. Hero is better, right?

Get the HERO. I did and have no regrets!

 

[Nirutbs]

Get the HERO. I did and have no regrets!

Too bad that I've changed it already :shadedshu

 

[buggalugs]

That's a shame. I don't blame the reviewer for being mad. Releasing high-end products for review with a broken bios should be called out.

 

[Tivook]

There's a new bios out now.. Have anyone had time to test it and have any info if that fixes the issues that led the reviewer to think that this board sucks?

 

[cadaveca]

There's a new bios out now.. Have anyone had time to test it and have any info if that fixes the issues that led the reviewer to think that this board sucks?

Board is a bit better with BIOS updates, but still not as good as it could be. I also saw a more recently posted review posted by a user that ran into similar problems as I did. I'm testing BIOSes for the board and will be posting updated numbers in upcoming reviews soon.

 

[Tivook]

Ok.

The thing I can't get my head around though is exactly why you think the bios sucks. I've read through the article and I couldn't find any real rage what-so-ever apart from the "This board sucks".