MSI Z97 GAMING 5 (Intel LGA 1150) Review

Name: MSI Z97 GAMING 5 (Intel LGA 1150)
Brand: MSI

cadaveca

on May 9th, 2014,

in Motherboards.

Manufacturer: MSI

Board Software »

BIOS Walkthrough

BIOS Options
Clocks	Range	Step Size
CPU BCLK:	90.0 MHz ... 300.0 MHz	0.06 MHz
Memory Dividers:	x8 (800 MHz), x10.67 (1067 MHz), x13.33 (1333 MHz), x14 (1400 MHz), x16 (1600 MHz ), x18 (1800 MHz), x18.66 (1866 MHz), x20 (2000 MHz ), x21.33 (2133 MHz), x22 (2200 MHz), x24 (2400 MHz), x26 (2600 MHz), x26.66 (2666 MHz), x28 (2800 MHz), x29.33 (2933 MHz), x30 (3000 MHz), x32 (3200 MHz)
Voltages	Range	Step Size
CPU Vcore:	0.800 V... 2.10 V	0.001 V
CPU Ring Voltage:	0.800 V... 2.10 V	0.001 V
DRAM Voltage:	0.240 V... 2.77 V	0.01 V

MSI motherboards offer a BIOS that is very much an MSI-only thing, as the layout and organization of the options provided are quite different from that of other brands. I did not really like MSI's BIOS design at first, but as time has progressed through several platform iterations, the company has come a long way towards providing something that works well and is easy to use. That said, getting the best out of this BIOS requires a mouse as you have to click your way through the BIOS's different sections via the huge labels which also act as buttons. Board settings, overclocking, or monitoring, all the options you would expect to find are in the right spot and can be reached within a click or two. There is no "simple" or "advanced mode"; both are here at the same time, with simple drag-and-drop options for boot devices included. Just give it a click if you see something and want to change it. Some brands almost make it feel as though using a mouse makes things more difficult, so I have to truly commend MSI for providing everything you want in such a readily applicable way.