The Z97 XPower is MSI's flagship offer when it comes to Z97 Express based motherboards. This board not only comes with a massive 32 phase digital power design but also lots of additional overclocking and gaming related features. Other than that MSI provided this board with their unique and good looking color scheme, where basically almost anything is black apart from a few yellow spots.
Today, we are going to take a closer look at one of the MSI's motherboards
based on the Intel Z97 Express chipset and check out if MSI is was able to
do a great job with implementation of this chipset on its Z97 XPower
motherboard.
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Specs and Delivery
Chipset |
Intel Z97 |
Memory |
Dual Channel DDR3, 4 x DIMM, Max. 32
GB DDR3, non-ECC, un-buffered memory
DDR3
3300 / 3200 / 3100 / 3000 / 2800 / 2666 / 2600 / 2400 / 2200 / 2133 / 2000 / 1866 / 1600 / 1333 / 1066 MHz
(OC) |
Multi-GPU |
- Supports NVIDIA SLI Technology (4-Way)
- Supports AMD CrossFireX Technology (4-Way)
|
Slots |
- 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16
- 4 x PCIe 3.0 PLX8747 (x16/x16, x16/x8/x8 or x8/x8/x8/x8)
- 2 x PCIe 2.0 x1
|
Audio |
Audio Boost (Realtek ALC1150)
- 7.1-Channel High Definition Audio
- Supports S/PDIF output
|
Storage |
Intel Z97 chipset
- 6 x SATA 6Gb/s (SATA3)
- 1 x mSATA and SATA5 port share resources and using one disables
the other
ASMedia ASM1061
- 4 x SATA 6Gb/s (SATA ports 7 and 8)
|
Network |
- Intel I218-V(10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet)
- WiFi /Bluetooth (AC 7260 cvhip 2.4GHz, 5GHz)
- Supports Intel Wireless Display (WiDi)
|
Internal Connectors |
- ATX 24-Pin power connector
- 2 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
- 1 x 6-pin ATX 12V Power connector
- 2 x 4-pin CPU fan connectors
- 5 x 4-pin System fan connectors
- 10 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
- 2 x USB 2.0 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 2.0 ports)
- 2 x USB 3.0 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 3.0 ports)
- 1 x Discharge jumper
- 1 x Multi BIOS Switch
- 1 x Front Panel Audio connector
- 2 x System panel connectors
- 1 x Chassis Intrusion connector
- 14 x V-Check points (7x V-Check connectors, 7x V-Check spots)
- 1 x Base Clock step switch
- 1 x Power button
- 1 x GO2BIOS button
- 1 x OC Genie button
- 1 x CPU Ratio control button
- 1 x Reset button
- 2 x Base Clock control buttons
- 1 x Clear CMOS jumper
- 1 x Power button
- 1 x OC Genie mode switch
- 1 x 2-Digit Debug Code LED
- 1 x Wi-Fi/ Bluetooth module connector
|
Extrenal Connectors |
- 1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port
- 1 x Clear CMOS button
- 1 x Optical S/PDIF-out port
- 2 x USB 2.0 ports
- 8 x USB 3.0 ports
- 1 x RJ45 LAN jack
- 1 x 6 in 1 OFC audio jack
- 1 x DisplayPort with max. resolution up to 4096x2160@24Hz,
24bpp / 3840x1600@60Hz, 24bpp
- 2 x HDMI ports with max. resolution up to 4096x2160@24Hz,
24bpp /2560x1600@60Hz, 24bpp / 1920x1080@60Hz, 36bpp
|
Forfactor |
E-ATX (30.5cm x 26.4cm) |
BIOS |
2 x 64Mb flash ROM, UEFI AMI
BIOS |
- Drivers & Utilities Disc
- OC pen Drive
- OC Fan Stand
- Motherboard User Guide
- I/O Shield
- 6x SATA Cable
- Network Driver & Utilities Disc
- Software & Application User Guide
- USB 3.0 Bracket
- E-SATA Bracket
- M-Connectors
- 2x Antenna
- mPCIe card with Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module
- 3xSLI Bridge
- 4x V-Check Cable
- Door Hanger
- Molex to 2x SATA Power converter
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Features
Military Class 4 Components |
MSI's fancy name for high quality components, the
Military Class 4 Components certified motherboards, are equiped with Hi-CCAP, Super Ferrite Choke and Dark CAPs for better stability, durability,
efficiency and current as well as DrMOS 4, which is the name of the new MOSFETs which
should deliver more than 600+ Watts for extreme
overclocking. |
|
|
DigitALL Power PWM |
For quite some years and like all the large motherboard manufacturers, MSI has been also equipping its motherboards with
digital power design. |
|
|
OC Pen Drive |
MSI started a new way to give users latest drivers
with no more DVD in bundle but an 8GB pen drive named the OC Pen Drive
which includes the drivers needed for the motherboard and all overclocking
tools. We can also do more with this pen drive, save and load BIOS
profiles with one click which means gamers and overclockers can easily
share their settings and need only to load it to another motherboard with
same model and BIOS version. |
|
|
OC PCB |
The Z97 XPower does not just give you 32-phases for
those that like to go crazy on the CPU voltages but is also using
50% more layers for Xtreme overclocking. So, if you are an extreme
overclocker with some LN2 to spare, you know what it means when you are
running to break the world record and the mainboard starts to fail
because some part of it is wet and you need to unmount the whole system.
The rest of the features and design solutions include a clean CPU
socket area which should have more compatibilty with LN2 containers,
V-Check points for voltage monitoring and buttons for overcloking on the
fly for Bclk and multiplier. While many overlcockers will not exactly like
the "overclock on the fly" features which can be done easily in
the BIOS, it
can be used when system is at the limit and when benchmarks finish and
the system come back into idle from load and also it helps in some
benchmarks like 3Dmark Vantage or 3Dmark 06, when in order to get higher score
you need to run higher game tests as well as for CPU tests when you underclock
the CPU frequency. |
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OC Fan Stand
|
OC Fan Stand is the new feature from MSI that helps extreme overclockers
a lot and also very nice solution for gamers with hot
graphics card(s). Basically you can install the OC Fan Stand close to
memory or the CPU and any other part of motherboard to cool the
components. This
feature avoids the issue of fan falling or touching certain components
and there is no need to find a way to fix the fan on, for example graphics card PWM area
or the LN2 container. |
|
|
|
Audio Boost
|
MSI equips its latest and greatest motherboard with an improved audio
solution which includes the Realtek ALC1150 chip, studio level
600 Ohm headphone amplifier. At the I/O shield we find golden audio
jacks which is to improve the audio signals as well as EMI shielded audio
codec, high quality capacitors and the PCB
separation. |
|
|
Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Module
|
MSI bundles its motherboard with an unpluggable mPCIe
card equiped with a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module from Intel. The latter
supports 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and Intel WiDi. |
|
|
|
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M.2 Support
|
The
new XPower Z97 motherboard from MSI features an M.2 slot which is placed between the
two PCIe slots. This motherboard can be equipped with SSDs in M.2 format
and it is wired directly to the Z97 PCH via two PCI Express lanes,
therefore offering x2 bandwidth. In other words up to 10 Gbps can be pushed over the bus through this slot, almost doubling
the performance compared to the SATA-III port.
|
|
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Layout
As we mentioned in the introduction, the MSI Z97 XPower motherboard comes
with a Twin Frozr IV based design. Therefore the PCB has a matte black finish
with a few yellow touches on the heatsinks. The heatsinks themselves have been
shaped with a lot of attention to detail and come with a matte black colour
scheme. Combined, it makes the design unique and good looking. The layout itself
has been well thought and there are plenty of useful features, like eight USB
3.0 ports on the back, SATA 6Gbps ports, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, overclocking features
and more.
MSI equipped the Z97 XPower with a 32-phase digital power design
with IR3563B ICs from International Rectifier taking care of the CPU VRM. Unlike
the previous MPower motherboard (Z77), the Z97 XPower power design has one DRMOS
for two phases rather than one DRMOS for one phase. All those solid capacitors
are part of MSI's Military Class IV group of components so that is one pretty strong power design.
The memory gets a 3-phase digital power design driven by a UPI uP1606R,
which one more phase than usual.
As far as the memory goes, you can find four DIMM-slots on the Z97
XPower motherboard.
Officially supported are the DDR3 3200 / 3100 / 3000 / 2800 / 2666 / 2600 / 2400 / 2200 / 2133
/ 2000 / 1866 / 1600 / 1333 / 1066 MHz (O.C.). There is enough space between the
DIMM-slots and the CPU socket which means that you will not run into any issues
with large coolers, even if you choose to install memory with big heatspreaders.
Also supported are the Xtreme Memory Profiles (XMP) in version 1.3. Overclocking
the memory on this board with old ICs (PSC, BBSE), which are what all overlcockers
are still using, is not really nice because of the BIOS not being optimized. On the other
hand, overclocking
with the new Samsung ICs or the Hynix CFR, BFR, MFR is not bad for gaming and daily use PCs,
but not for getting any serious high memory frequency results.
The PCH as well as current converters are being held at adequate
temperatures via passive heatsinks. The current converters heatsink is made from
a single aluminium block that use one 8mm nickel-plated copper heatpipe. The
PCH heatsink has not been integrated into the heatpipe loop and it is
quite simple and flat. The cooling blocks have been very well made and also they
very firmly attached to the motherboard to provide enough pressure on the components
they have to cool down. They are entirely black colored with yellow elements to
go well with Twin Frozr IV graphics card cooler design and color
choices.
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Connectors and I/O
MSI equipped the Z97 XPower with ten SATA 6Gbps connectors. This means you
get six native SATA-III ports from the PCH and four SATA-III from another chip
which is in this case an ASM1061 from ASMedia.
With this motherboard you get five PCIe x16 Gen 3.0 and and two PCIe 2.0 x1
slots and all of them have been coloured black. From top to bottom for the PCIe
x16 slots, you get 16 lanes, 16 lanes, 8 lanes, 16 lanes and 8 lanes. This
means you can do 4-Way SLI/CrossFire with a bit of help from the PLX8747 chip.
If you take a closer look at the PCB you will notice four DIP PCIe switches
witch are connected to the PLX and helps CPU to fully support x16 lanes on the
second x16 PCIe slot, so we recommend that this PCIe slot be used with a single
graphics card. The placement of the PCIe connectors has been well thought in
case of the multi GPU scenario.
Something that is almost standard nowadays on premium motherboards are the
practical onboard power- and reset-buttons as well as the debug LED. MSI added
some extra stuff like a two physical BIOS' as well as a another switch to select
which one you actually want to use. Furthermore there is an OC Genie button,
voltage reading points and a Go-BIOS button. This last one is here to help you
get into the BIOS on next boot after pressing it.
The BIOS can be cleared by removing the battery or simply by pushing the
CLR_CMOS button located in the back panel.
In total, you will find seven fan headers on the MSI Z97 XPower, which is
enough to provide an overclocking rig or even a high-end gaming machine with
plenty of fresh air. A closer look at the pictures below shows where they have
been placed. All fan connectors are the PWM (4-pin) kind.
Looking at the external connectors placed directly at the I/O-panel, MSI equipped
the new Z97 XPower motherboard with a P/S2 connector, eight USB 3.0 ports, one Gigabit Ethernet
port, one HDMI connector, a DisplayPort, two USB 2.0 ports, a CLR_CMOS button
as well as an optical out and the analogue audio panel.
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Conclusion
Allgemein |
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+ |
- |
A closer look at the motherboard lineup
from MSI reveals that the Z97 XPower is the best equipped model.
Therefore, it comes with some really neat features, like for example a
highly powerful power design regarding CPU(+600W) and memory. The
included 32-phase design is going to be more than enough for any overclocker, no matter what record wants to be broken. MSI also equipped this
board with some features for extreme overclocking and gamers. The lineup
includes the OC PCB
and OC buttons for extreme overclocking as well as the OC Pen Drive, OC
fan stand,
a beefed-up audio solution, integrated WiFi and Bluetooth and the M.2 support. Apart from the
features for gamers, the bundle is rich and there is more than you will ever need with this
motherboard. |
|
- Design
- 4 x PCI-Express 3.0 Slots
- Features
- Bundle |
- No SATA Express Connector |
|
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|
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Layout |
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+ |
- |
Overall, the MSI Z97 XPower layout has
been well thought. It features a clear CPU socket zone which should
appeal to the extreme overclockers and make it compatible with most, if
not all, CPU coolers. It has enough space for multi graphics card setups
and features angled SATA connectors that you can find on almost any
motherboard these days. Other than that, there are few USB 3.0
connectors, practical power- and reset-buttons, OC Genie and Bclk and
multiplier plus and minus buttons, CLR_CMOS button, which is located at
the I/O panel. Furthermore, there is even a debug display which is very
useful in case you should have issues with a component in your system or
the board itself. In total, you get five PCI Express Gen3 x16 slots
(thanks to the PLX8748 chip), which have been well positioned. Otherwise
you have two PCIe Gen2 x1 slots, and MSI has also included an
unpluggable PCIe Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module. The rest also complies with the
very high standard: eight USB 3.0, ten SATA-III connectos and one internal USB3
header (for two USB3
ports).
In case you are looking for more overclocking friendly features, MSI has
equipped the motherboard with voltage reading points and two physical
BIOS with a DIP switch to select the one you want. |
|
- Angled SATA connectors
- Power/Reset-Button onboard
- Debug display / CLR_CMOS
- 6x USB 3.0
- Bluetooth/Wi-Fi
- 2x BIOS
- Clean CPU Socket
Area |
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Author: m.buechel@ocaholic.ch Luca Rocchi l.rocchi@ocaholic.ch