MSI Z270 Gaming M7 Motherboard Review

We will be outlining the MSI Z270 Gaming M7 motherboard's performance with the Core i7 7700K CPU and 32GB of 3200MHz G.Skill Trident Z DDR4 memory.

By default the MSI Z270 Gaming M7 motherboard applies a multi-core turbo (MCT) state and forces the 7700K to a constant 4.5GHz when XMP is enabled. Overclocked performance will be outlined later in the review.

Z270 Motherboard Test System:

• Processor: Intel Core i7 7700K (4.5GHz All-Core Turbo).
• Memory: 32GB (4x8GB) G.Skill Trident Z XMP (3200MHz 16-18-18-38 @ 1.35V).
• Graphics Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 G1 Gaming.
• System Drive: Crucial M550 256GB SSD.
• CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i V2 with Two ML120 Pro Fans.
• Power Supply: Seasonic Platinum 760W SS-760XP.
• Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

Comparison Z270 Motherboards:

• ASRock Z270 Extreme4
• ASUS ROG Maximus IX Formula
• Gigabyte Z270X-Ultra Gaming
• MSI Z270 Gaming M7

Drivers and UEFI:

• Intel Chipset 10.1.1.38
• Nvidia GeForce 376.33 VGA drivers.
• MSI E7A57IMS.120 (02/03/2017)

Tests:

• Cinebench R15 – All-core CPU benchmark (CPU)
• HandBrake 1.0.0 – Convert 6.27GB 4K video recording using the Normal Profile setting and MP4 container (CPU)
• SiSoft Sandra 2016 SP1 – Processor Arithmetic Test (CPU) and Memory Bandwidth Test (Memory)
• 7-Zip 16.04 x64 – Built-in 7-Zip benchmark test (CPU)
• AIDA64 Engineer 5.80.4000 – System stress test and cache & memory benchmark (Memory and Power)
• 3DMark Fire Strike v1.1 – Fire Strike (1080p) test (Gaming)
• Ashes of the Singularity – Built-in benchmark tool CPU-Focused test, 1920 x 1080, Extreme quality preset, DX12 version (Gaming)
• Metro: Last Light Redux – Built-in benchmark tool, 1920 x 1080, Very High quality, SSAA, AF 16X, Tessellation: High (Gaming)
• ATTO – M.2, USB 3.0, USB 3.1, and SATA 6Gbps transfer rates (Motherboard)
• RightMark Audio Analyzer – Record and playback test using a line-in to line-out loopback with a 3.5mm audio cable (Motherboard)

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