MSI Z97 MPOWER MAX AC (LGA 1150) Motherboard Review

A Closer Look & Layout Analysis

MSI’s Z97 MPower Max motherboard has a clean and nice aesthetic. The matte black PCB is a great look and the overall design is very pleasing. In terms of the layout everything is well placed with exception to the supplementary power connector which is awkward to reach and also the fact that one USB 3.0 header is right angled and the other one next to it isn’t – that seems a little strange to me. Aside from that the rest of the layout is spot on with SATA ports, USB headers, power connectors and fan headers being in ideal locations.

The main heatsink is branded MPower Max covers a hefty 12 phase VRM. We can also see that it has water cooling support integrated into it. These are 3/8 inch barbs which seems strange given G1/4 barbs are the standard. Either way we think that this is a feature most people won’t use, but I guess it is nice to see it included.

Around the memory banks we find all the buttons including the OC Genie button, power, reset, base clock up and down and a power discharge button to drain the board of power.

Down by the heatsink we find dual USB 3.0 headers and eight SATA III ports.

The bottom has abundant USB connectivity and system fan headers as well as an M.2 port and debug LED. You can also see all the PCIe X16 lanes have enough spacing for dual slot cards which is nice.

Around the back we find the separated audio PCB for enhanced audio quality.

On the back I/O we find:

• 1x PS/2 keyboard/ mouse port
• 2 x USB 2.0 ports
• 1 x Clear CMOS button
• 8 x USB 3.0 ports
• 1 x Optical S/PDIF OUT connector
• 1 x DisplayPort
• 1 x LAN (RJ45) port
• 6 x OFC audio jacks
• 1 x HDMI

As well as space for mounting the included WiFi/Bluetooth module.

At the top of the board there’s a trio of fan headers and also dual CPU power connectors to help you push things that little bit further in case one 8 pin isn’t enough, this is mainly for extreme overclocking scenarios and most average users can easily get away with a single 8 pin even when overclocking.

The back reveals the full matte black PCB and you can see all the heatsinks are easily serviceable simply by removing the standard phillips-head screws.