MSI Big Bang Z77 MPower Intel LGA 1155 Review 29

MSI Big Bang Z77 MPower Intel LGA 1155 Review

(29 Comments) »

Value & Conclusion

  • The MSI Z77 MPower is available right now, at the price of $209.99.
  • Excellent onboard cooling that still provides excellent clearance for add-on parts.
  • Many overclocking-specific features, too many to list
  • Pretty decent pricing, considering all the features
  • Very good performance efficiency, both at stock and when overclocked
  • Good audio rendering
  • Big software package
  • Simple color-scheme that can easily match any other components well
  • Fully functional AMI UEFI BIOS, including mouse support and support for 3 TB+ drives.
  • Overclock ability is not as good as expected.
  • Not enough cables in the box for all internal SATA ports.
  • Limited accessories, like not enough V-Check cables for every read point
  • Add-on PCIe power can be provided by 6-pin PCIe power plug only, which many 750 W and lower PSUs do not support
  • Front panel pin header not in the most ideal location.
Well, there's not much I can add to the list above. MSI did a decent job with this product, and the price is pretty good as well. I really like that they have a common theme available throughout the different parts they sell, like the Lightning VGA cards and "OC Certified" memory with the same black and yellow color-scheme, which really is MSI's own.
When I stuck the included software DVD in and launched the autorun listing, I was really shocked by how much was offered, and I liked the LiveUpdate5 tool a lot, since it offers updates for everything you need right in one tool. Unfortunately, I was hoping for the board to be a top 3DMark performer, but it wasn't. Yet, at the same time, 24/7 use doesn't really need high 3DMark scores, as the Z77 MPower did manage to take the top spot in a fair number of other benchmarks, including 3D game testing.
I don't like the PCIe power plug. AT ALL. At the very least, they could have made it sit at a 90-degree angle to the board's surface to make cable routing easy. The cooling, on the other hand, is really nice, and I really do like the color scheme MSI uses here: simple, yet splashy, with just enough style not to be plain. Sophisticated, perhaps.
MSI told me they were sure the Big Bang Z77 Mpower would impress me, and I must admit that, overall, it did. There are few things here that MSI could quite easily improve upon. If you bought an MSI Ligtning HD 7970 or GTX 680, there's really no doubt which board you should be using - this one.
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Nov 26th, 2024 17:28 EST change timezone

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