MSI Z97A Gaming 6 Motherboard Review

first published on December 8, 2015 by Tsunami Nori

Today I got one of the MSI Gaming motherboards which features the new USB 3.1 Type-C port which effectively doubles the bandwidth of USB 3.0 from 5GB/s to 10GB/s. While the main feature of MSI’s Z97A Gaming 6 is undoubtedly its USB 3.1 Type-C connector, there are plenty of other features that will appeal to gamers and general users. Support for up to two-card SLI and three-card CrossFire is present, as is an enhanced audio solution built around the Realtek ALC 1150 codec. Killer’s E2200 series NIC and its accompanying Network Manager software also make an appearance on the board.

Features:

  • Supports 4th and 5th Gen Intel® Core™ / Pentium® / Celeron® processors for LGA 1150 socket
  • Supports DDR3-3300(OC) Memory
  • USB 3.1: Delivering speeds up to 10Gb/s, USB 3.1 offers performance twice as fast as a regular USB 3.0 connection
  • 2 + USB 3.1 + SATA Express + SATA 6 Gb/s
  • Audio Boost 2: Reward Your Ears with True Quality
  • Killer Ethernet: Kill Your Lag
  • USB Audio Power: Serve Stable 5V Power & Better Signal Transmission over USB
  • XSplit Gamecaster V2:Show off Your Skills and Achievements
  • OC Genie 4: Overclock in 1 Second
  • Click BIOS 4: Easily Fine-tune Your System
  • Sound Blaster Cinema 2: Realistic Surround Sound Experience
  • Gaming Device Port: Optimized with Triple Gold-plating for High Polling Rate Gaming Devices

 

Some close-up images of product (I pretty like the MSi Box <3)

IMG_2352 Box overall, come with great design 😉

IMG_2353 Close-up from above, color theme is as always, red and black. I am pretty happy with the layout overall and the board does look pretty great, I know it’s looking gooood!

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This model supported CPU with LGA 1150 socket. 2X extra Red/Black-themed Heatsinks around CPU to help you cooling down your CPU with good Cooler. By that way, this model allow you to do an Overclocking just few simple steps with embed tool inside. Of course, it is very easy to tweak around with your own OC settings, but  remember dont go too far or you will hurt your  motherboard itself :(

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This motherboard give your not only traditional VGA port, now with DVI and HDMI, you can easily setup multiple monitors to multi-tasking. As you can see, Z97A deliever brand-new USB3.1 Type C port – it is the little hub between HDMI port and Ethernet hub, also still give you 1 P/S2 port, 2x USB2.0 and 2xUSB3.0 hubs so you no need to worry about lack of slots for your gaming gear. Ethernet is provided by KillerNetwork, and the Network Management software only available for Windows 7 or above.

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Z97A Gaming 6 deliver 3x PCIe x16 slots for multiple graphic cards. You can set-up 3-way AMD Crossfire or 2-way NVIDIA SLI technology.

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Audio Boost technology is ready to boost up your entertainment experience with Realtek 1150 Codec (7.1 High Definition Audio). Now you can get your own theater inside just a single PC (of course, you still need good Speaker or headphone to maximum the quality) <3

IMG_2365Some additional accessories you may need to build your own rig, with 1 Manual book, 1 CD, 2 SATA 6GB/s cable, cable  labels, door hanger, etc…. Get your PC ready with the beast.

Overall – My own thought: The MSi Z97A Gaming 6 motherboard is very good choice for price. MSi really bring a powerful motherboard to compete with  other manufacturers. I’m  surely you wont get disappointed with this motherboard. Just how? It deliver super good quality with new USB3.1 Type C, while still include common functions and more.

Many thanks to MSi company for sponsor this motherboard model for this review. Hope to see you again in next production review!