MSI Z97 Gaming 7 (LGA 1150) Motherboard Review

Software Overview

In terms of the software bundle there are a few mainstays we will bring your attention to briefly. MSI’s Super Charger is still present along with the latest version of Live Update that helps to keep your programs and drivers on the latest versions. MSI’s handy Go2BIOS feature is still available and I am a really big fan of this, it allows you to go to the BIOS without needing to physically interact with a button on the board.

Moving onto what’s new and we have the revamped Command Centre. One of the interesting companions is the MSI Gaming App which essentially allows you to activate overclock profiles optimised for Gaming on the fly. This little widget box slots onto your desktop quite discretely.

Moving into the Command Centre and we see a few of the main tabs. The MSI RAMDisk continues to catch my eye because I’m unaware of any other motherboard vendor offering a free RAMDisk to its customers. I’m personally surprised that MSI don’t make a bigger deal out of it, it is a really nifty feature. The rest of the command centre is generally a very nice piece of software allowing you incredibly detailed control over frequencies, voltages and timings of all your various components.

For the overclockers MSI offer an advanced voltage tweaking tab which is probably aided by the voltage checkpoints if that interests you.

MSI have their own fan tuning utility for anyone looking for increased control over their system’s cooling.

Another thing I thought was pretty cool is the fact MSI have their own mobile App to allow you to control aspects of your system from your mobile. However, the app does appear to have fairly lacklustre reviews on the Google Play Store from users so maybe it is about time MSI splatted some of their bugs.

The final piece of software worth mentioning isn’t developed by MSI themselves but they are sponsoring it. XSplit Gamecaster is provided with this motherboard – you get an impressive 6 month premium license so if you’re into streaming your games to services like Twitch then this could be for you. We didn’t really have time to explore this program but if you want to find out more you can do so here.