Introduction
Since the launch of Haswell LGA 1150 processors and the Z87 Intel chipset back in June we’ve seen a tonne of motherboards come through eTeknix for review. In fact, we’ve still got quite a few more to come and today we take a look at another motherboard, this time from MSI. On the test bench today we have the MSI Z87-G43 motherboard which is designed to be one of MSI’s most entry level motherboards sitting above only the Z87-G41 PC Mate.
The MSI Z87-G43 is as simple as you will find for an ATX Z87 motherboard and at its core is a philosophy of offering you the most bang for your buck – no frills attached. Despite that budget-minded orientation the motherboard certainly doesn’t skimp out on the core features you’d expect from a motherboard that is still relatively high end. MSI equip military class components, deploy a UEFI Click BIOS and provide you with some innovative software.
Of course straight away you’ll be interested to know the pricing as this is one of the most crucial aspects of this motherboard. At most retailers you will find the MSI Z87-G43 is the cheapest motherboard on offering costing around £90-95 and $120-130. The only motherboard I could find that was cheaper was the Z87-G41 PC Mate mentioned earlier. MSI is targeting budget minded enthusiasts, gamers and system integrators with this motherboard. This motherboard is for people who want the benefits of abundant SATA III, good overclocking potential and abundant PCIe connectivity, but don’t need all the networking & audio extras or the fancy motherboard buttons and switches of more expensive motherboards. So let’s see what the MSI Z87-G43 has to offer.
Everybody (well almost everybody) would rather have top of the range mobo’s, smartphones, GFX cards etc. but products like these are the volume sellers. Without products like this, companies wouldn’t exist. If I had to pay for my computer stuff, this would be the kind of board I’d buy. There’s nothing wrong with it.
So true, I’m actually seriously considering this. The run-of-the-mill boards are what makes a manufacturer’s success. Sure we’d all love to get all the shenanigans, but money is not growing on trees yet, so we make do.
“Built around MSI’s tried-and-tested Military Class 4 components” What a joke this is, there is no ML STD anymore and there sure isn’t any “class 4” The electronics manufacturing world follows IPC standards. Military falls under class 3 requirements. “Whereas Class 3 products demand continued high performance or performance-on-demand is critical and equipment downtime cannot be tolerated, the end use environment may be uncommonly harsh, and the equipment must function when required, such as life support or other critical systems” I am a certified IPC specialist, and can tell you that it does likely meet the class 3 military spec, BUT so does almost every other manufacturer. I wish guys doing reviews would start to take note of this “class 4” BS. It’s false and should be noted.
I appreciate your feedback. I’d be interested to read more and question our MSI representatives on it. Could you provide the relative links to the IPC standard descriptions?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPC_(electronics) best I can do, I cant find any free link that details the standards. basically class 1 is it just has to work, class 2 is where continued performance and extended life are required and for which uninterrupted service is desired, but not critical. I already posted class 3. Here you can see the IPC cert on MSI’s web page. http://www.msi.com/html/product/ipc/DMS/index.html Click manufacture tab and bottom of page.
you don’t know what you’re taking about
expert, can you provide us with the criteria and source for a military class 4 designation ? It seems made up :)