MSI Z270 GAMING PRO CARBON LGA1151 Review

BIOS and Overclocking

MSI’s Click BIOS 5 is beautifully presented to help novices navigate between tabs on a single page and displays key system statistics to determine the system’s health. The BIOS is divided into two modes; a basic skin to alter common settings including XMP and an advanced mode designed for extreme overclocking. Speaking of overclocking, the Game Boost function is useful for those without a great deal of technical expertise who want to obtain higher performance. This feature automatically detects the installed CPU, thermal values and cooling hardware before applying a suitable overclock within a single click!

Here we can see the advanced interface which separates various options into thematic categories. As a result, finding a specific setting only takes a matter of seconds and creates a more streamlined aesthetic. Also, the tooltips on the side explain the impact of each setting and ensure the end-user feels confident around the BIOS. On another note, I really like how the background has a central positioning and doesn’t interfere with the text’s legibility. This demonstrates MSI’s attention to detail and providing a BIOS which isn’t just style over substance.

On the settings page, you can access other sub-menus including System Status, Advanced, Boot, Security and Save & Exit.

The System Status page outlines the BIOS version, connected SATA devices, RAM capacity and other essential information.

It’s also possible to manage the boot order and choose between LEGACY, UEFI, or a combination of both.

If you’re overly concerned about other family members ruining your BIOS settings, there’s an administrator password option to restrict access.

Here we can see the Advanced section which allows you to alter power management options, ACPI settings and more. Unless you’re an experienced tweaker, I wouldn’t change any of the default values.

The Overclocking menu is really simple and lists key settings in an easy-to-understand manner. To perform a basic overclock, simply insert the CPU Ratio, and adjust the Core Voltage. You can also set the XMP profile and manually enter the DRAM frequency. If you’re looking to eke out every last inch of potential from your CPU, then enable the Expert mode to discover additional settings including per core overclocking.

Further down the menu, the end-user is provided with an enormous array of settings ranging from the SA Voltage to the PCH voltage. This makes the motherboard a fine choice for overclocking gurus who enjoy manually inputting the voltage for every possible parameter.

The BIOS even allows you to disable certain CPU features including Hyper-Threading, CTE, EIST and much more. Once again, the average user should leave these on the default configuration for optimal performance.

MSI embedded a dedicated timings page to modify the memory latency and make an overclock more stable.

The BIOS houses six overclocking profiles to store your custom settings, and it’s remarkably easy to switch between each configuration.

You can use the Hardware Monitor to analyse fan speed values, temperatures, and system voltages. The graph provides a fantastic visual indication of the current fan curve and outlines the RPM rates at different thermal thresholds. Of course, it’s possible to create a custom fan curve which priorities temperatures or silent running in a different manner to the automatic configuration.

One of my favourite inclusions is the Board Explorer which informs the end-user when certain slots are populated and even provides a description of its specification. For example, the memory modules’ part number is listed for your convenience.

The M-Flash software is used to update the BIOS from a USB stick. This is relatively straight-forward and only takes a matter of seconds. Once the BIOS update is complete, your system will reboot back into the newly refreshed BIOS. While you’re preparing for a BIOS update, the CPU temperature is displayed to check for hardware errors which could interrupt the flashing process, leading to a corrupt BIOS.

On the final page, you can restore the default values, save any changes you’ve made and override the boot order.

Overclocking 

Overclocking the i7-7700K shouldn’t be a difficult task providing you accept the cut-off point when the CPU cannot be overclocked any further. Initially, I hoped to achieve a 5.1GHz figure with around 1.435V but this just wasn’t possible and resulted in the test bench failing to post. After setting more reasonable goals, I attempted 5.0GHz and was surprised how much voltage was required to keep the CPU stable. In the past, I’ve managed to obtain a 5.0GHz overclock with around 1.395V. However, due to the amount of motherboards being analysed for review, certain models are tested on different CPUs. Therefore, I’d argue the overclocking result is a limitation of this particular chip and not something which was caused by the motherboard’s power circuitry or BIOS. Overall, 5.0GHz is still a good result, but I wouldn’t recommend anything above 1.40V for 24/7 usage.