Power Consumption

We measure CPU power consumption since one of our first tasks is to truly verify system stability. I isolate the power coming through the 8-pin ATX connector using an in-line meter that provides voltage and current readings, and total wattage passed through. While this may not prove to isolate the CPU power draw in all instances, it does serve as a good indicator of board efficiency and effective VRM design. Total system power consumption is no longer reported as this figure can change depending on what VGA is installed. The sole board-only power measurements possible without physically modifying a motherboard are those taken via the 8-pin CPU connector, making it the only figure of value worth reporting. I use wPrime with eight threads selected in its options since it provides a consistently high workload throughout the full length of the test and runs long enough for the VRM and CPU to produce a fair bit of heat. Most average workloads will draw far less than that, although distributed computing applications are quite similar. This is not supposed to test stability since I use several other applications to do so, but merely serves to provide repeatable power draw numbers anyone can replicate. The meter used is an off-the-shelf Zalman unit that has been on the market for some time. In my test environment, it provides results similar to a FLUKE 337 clamp meter.

The MSI Z170A GAMING M7 seems to fare well in terms of power consumed, but I have to say that I haven't tested many socket 1151 boards just yet. It's good, but how good is yet to be quantified.

Fan Control

The MSI Z170A GAMING M7 has fairly decent fan-control options, both in BIOS and software. The options are precisely identical in each instance, so what you find in one place, and how it looks, is pretty much the same as in the other. You can adjust fan curves or set fans to static speeds, but fan curves are based on provided sensor readings, without the ability to swap sensors.


As in the BIOS, software offers the same, but the visual presence fits the board much better than it does in the BIOS. That's a bit of a disappointment, to be honest. The controls are good, but they could most definitely be better. At least we find 4-pin plugs in every fan port.