The Board - A Closer Look

The MSI Z87 MPOWER MAX has the PCB layers very obviously highlighted on the left corner, with a window showing each individual layer from front to back, but I was surprised the PCB only had six layers rather than the eight or ten I am used to from high-end board products. That said, improvements in the Intel Z87 PCH have obviously allowed for less PCB complexity now that more stuff has been integrated into the Z87 chip itself.


MSI's "standard" enthusiast Killer e2205 LAN controller is on the MSI Z87 MPOWER MAX, as is the similar NXP TMDS the GAMING SERIES boards have.


There are a huge number of USB 3.0 controllers on this board, aside from Intel's own USB 3.0 ports driven by the Z87 PCH. I found both Renesas and ASMedia controllers onboard, and the dual USB 3.0 headers on the board's right edge.


The MSI Z87 MPOWER MAX uses the same Realtek ALC1150 audio as the GAMING boards, but with a, this time, line of separation highlighted by a series of yellow LEDs mounted underneath the board, and a yellow vanity plate over the EMI shield that is screwed to the board's surface.


The PCH cooler on the MSI Z87 MPOWER MAX is a huge slab of metal with a yellow plate on top. You could actually remove the yellow plate if you really wanted to, since it is attached to the cooler by a few screws here and there, but doing so would probably void your warranty. Altogether, these parts are what MSI thinks of as a great base for your MSI Lightning cards, and for taking them to the, heh, MPOWER MAX.