MSI is brand of performance Motherboards and the Enthusiasts always pleased by the Performance level, Solid build Quality and the Design of MSI Motherboards. Today we Review the z77 series motherboard which is msi z77 mpower.This motherboard shined in performance, overclocking and value, showing they can hang with the big boys. Both motherboards overclocked as well as, if not better, than any of the higher-end boards. If you think MSI is going to stay quiet about the potential industry shake up, think twice. With MSI’s progression, we can easily see them filling the number 3 spot provided the aqusition goes through. If if doesn’t, MSI is still on the rise giving the other big boys a run for their money.The Big Bang nomenclature is reserved for the highest models in the range. Where Gigabyte has a UD7, ASUS the 'Extreme', so MSI have a Big Bang. Each model comes with a different suffix, and today we're taking a look at the latest in their range, the Z77 Big Bang MPower.Military Class III is the big buzzword with the MSI MPower. Polymer capacitors, Super Ferrite Chokes and MSI's own DrMos II ensure that the MPower really does live up to its name. The Military Class isn't just a bit of meaningless advertising blurb either. These components have passed the MIL-STD-810G test, which is the United States Military Standard for ensuring that items are tested to the very extremes, and thus worthy of use with the Department of Defence. Given how much of a pounding they'll get in the field, it's pretty safe to bet that they'll be indestructible on your desk.The integrated PCIe bus on the CPU has also been upgraded. It can be split differently from SandyBridge CPUs with IvyBridge natively supporting three devices over a single bus with 16 lanes of PCIe 3.0 connectivity, compared to the two devices and PCIe 2.0 connectivity that are found inside Sandy Bridge products. Taking advantage of that added PCIe functionality requires a motherboard design change from previous Sandybridge-supporting motherboards. Backwards and forwards component compatibility for both SandyBridge and IvyBridge platform products, including CPUs and chipsets, is still possible with updated firmware for older Socket 1155 board products. Using a new IvyBridge CPU with an older P67 Express or Z68 Express motherboard may limit PCIe functionality. PCIe functionality would, naturally, with SandyBridge only supporting two devices, be limited. The tertiary slot provided on some Z77 Express boards will not work with some products when a SandyBridge CPU is installed.The Ivy Bridge CPUs are made using a new 28nm process technology that lowers power consumption and gives a bit more performance-per-clock over previous Intel 2nd Generation Core i5/i7 products. Also changed is the onboard GPU that's part of the Ivy Bridge silicon, now taking up more of that slice of silicon that sits under the integrated heatspreader.MSI has released several Big Bang products in the past, a label they reserve for the most high-end of their high-end. This one has several new features, including a claim of being the first "Overclock Certified" motherboard, and they tell me each board is hand-tested to be able to reach 4.6 GHz with "K-SKU" CPUs, passing a series of tests in multiple cooling environments. Honestly, that clock is a bit modest to me, as you've seen all boards I've tested with Ivybridge reaching 4.6 GHz, except for one that offered no overclocking at all. However, that isn't everything this board has to offer, so let's take a look.With only three PCI Express slots, the MPower is designed more for realistic home use, rather than any attempts at Quad-GPU world records. PCI slots isn't the only area in which the MPower takes the 'less is more' route, as it's also without a 1394 port, only one LAN connector and no eSATA. For nearly everybody these aren't deal breakers, as they are features that most people ignore or even disable.
Technical Spec/Features:
CPU Supports 3rd Gen Intel® Core™ i7 / Core™ i5 / Core™ i3 / Pentium® / Celeron® processors for LGA 1155 socket
Chipset Intel® Z77
DDR3 Memory
1066/1333/1600/1866*/2000*/2133*(OC)
2200*/2400*/2600*/2667*/2800*/3000*(OC, 22nm CPU required)
Memory Channel Dual
DIMM Slots 4
Max Memory (GB) 32
PCI-Ex16 3 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots
PCI-E Gen Gen3
PCI-Ex1 4 x PCIe 2.0 x1 slots
PCI N/A
IDE N/A
SATAIII 2
SATAII 4
RAID 0/1/5/10
LAN Supports one PCI Express LAN 10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet by Realtek® 8111E
Supports Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
TPM 1
USB 3.0 ports (Rear) 6 USB 3.0 rear I/O ports (2 ports by Intel® Z77, 4 ports by Renesas® uDP72020)
USB 2.0 ports (Rear) 1 USB 3.0 onboard connector by Intel® Z77
Audio ports (Rear) Chipset integrated by Realtek® ALC898
Flexible 8-channel audio with jack sensing
Compliant with Azalia 1.0 Spec
Serial ports (Rear) N/A
Parallel ports (Rear) N/A
1394 ports (Rear) N/A
eSATA N/A
Display Port 1
DrMOS II Y
HDMI 1
DVI N/A
VGA Max Share Memory (MB) 1760
DirectX DX11
Form Factor 30.5cm(L) x 24.5cm(W) ATX
Internal Connections
3 x USB 2.0 connectors
1 x USB 3.0 connector
1 x Multi BIOS Switch
1 x TPM Module connector
1 x Front Panel connector
1 x Front Panel Audio connector
1 x Chassis Intrusion connector
1 x Voice Genie connector (optional)
1 x MultiConnect Panel connector (optional)
1x Debug LED panel
1 x V-Check Points Set
1 x Power button
1 x OC Genie button
1 x Reset button
1 x Clear CMOS jumper
1 x GO2BIOS button
CPU x 1 / System x 4 FAN connectors
ATX 24-pin Power Connector
ATX 8-pin Power Connector
ATX 6-pin Power Connector
Multi-GPU • Supports ATI® CrossFire™ Technology
• Supports NVIDIA® SLI™ Technology
• Supports Lucid® Virtu Universal MVP
- Excellent Design.
- Good Build Quality.
- Nice Onboard Cooling.
- Nice Audio.
- Much Affordable Price.
- Good Performance.
- AMI UEFI BIOS.
- Overclock ability is not upto mark.
- Front pin header is at uncomfortable location to be connected in mostly cases.
