MSI's Z270 GAMING M7 is the ultimate no-compromise high-level GAMING motherboard in MSI's arsenal, one not only designed for use in the pro-gaming world, but also tested there before you get your hands on it. This board is meant to be one you can count on in the heat of battle, even when pushing a serious overclock and high memory speeds. The audio is precisely designed so that you can still hear every leaf rustle while your teammate's kids scream in your ears. There's no detail missed here, and there's nothing you do not need when takings thing to the top; just all the good stuff.

I could go on and on about his board and the features it has and how you might need them, or how you might not, but the truth of the matter is that this is one damn good board for gamers who aren't really tied to a budget; those who are going to spend that $500 for a high-end memory kit because it might give you that added 0.5 FPS. You're not going to let slow memory get in your way, are you? Of course not! MSI knows the gaming market really well and dumps tons of money not only into the hardware, but also the players, and they really are that brand to trust when that's how you plan to use your PC. MSI has worked hard to get all their hardware to that point, and it really shows.

When things get this good, you truly have to be critical of what sits before you. I didn't find an HB SLI bridge in the box with this board, and I don't see anyone using less than two 1060s with SLI with this board, so why include a bridge at all if it's not going to be an HB bridge? This confuses me. I really like all this RGB LED stuff, and I know MSI is still very much into black and red, but when I fired this board up, it was red and stayed that way, and then nearly burnt my eyes out (which was my own doing, if I'm honest). Nobody really needs three M.2 slots and a U.2, either. Two M.2 slots are enough, and toss in a U.2 adapter if need be. No Wi-Fi? Killer LAN? I know the Killer E2500 works fine, but the drama... oh the drama hurts the soul. The MSI Z270 GAMING M7 feels almost like a $325 motherboard, but it isn't one, making all my complaints rather trivial. That said, I'm not exactly a pro gamer either, am I? Are you? Let me know what you think in the forums. ;)