MSI Z87-G43 (LGA 1150) Motherboard Review

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.