MSI Z97A Gaming 6 LGA 1150 Motherboard Review

Introduction, Specifications and Packaging

The Z97 chipset is undoubted the king of the consumer chipsets; featured in almost all pre-built systems from the likes of OverclockersUK and PC Specialist, it is a safe yet, powerful base for even the most formidable gaming computers. Thanks to the Z97 chipset being released on the ‘tock’ cycle of the Intel production, it features all of the best bits from previous generations along with more features such as SATA Express being more widely used and M.2 support becoming common among almost every motherboard.

MSi have taken the Z97 range with both hands and stamped it well, producing some of the best-looking and best-performing motherboards on the market. Even though they offer the highest quality in terms of components and performance, the price is very conservative, almost undercutting the comparable competition by 10%.

Today on the test bench, we have the MSi Z97A-Gaming-6 motherboard. The Gaming 6 is considering to be ‘middle of the road’ in terms of MSi branding, with the Gaming 3 and M being below and Gaming 7 and 9 being above. This motherboard is poised to offer the best performance at the best possible price, while offering more features than you could possibly ever need or use.

Key Features

Manufacturers nowadays need to find innovative ways to stand out from the crowd, MSi is no exception and has crammed a huge array of features into this motherboard.

• Audio Boost
• Military Class 4
• Oc Genie 4
• Click Bios 4
• Sound Blaster Cinema 2
• Total Fan control
• Gaming Device Port
• Smart Utilities
• Command Center
• ECO Center

For more information on these functions, please visit the MSi Z97A Gaming 6 product page.

Packaging and Accessories

The box follows a similar design to the rest of the gaming series. Black and red with the MSi Gaming dragon.

Inside the box is a huge amount of accessories; consisting of more manuals than I ever would have thought I’d need, cable labels, door hanger, 2x SATA 6Gb/s cables, I/O shield, MSi SLi brdge, MSi Gaming plaque, button header extensions and an audio power adapter.