Conclusion

...the MSI Z170A Gaming M7 is a complete package of striking aesthetics, solid performance and abundant features.

MSI's Z170A Gaming M7 comes with an MSRP of £180 which is reasonable for a near-flagship status gaming motherboard. There is one potential sticking point for prospective buyers which is that the Z170A Gaming M5 costs £150 yet only loses out a negligible number of features compared to the M7 model.

Specifically the M5 lacks the hardware Gaming Hotkey, the Gaming Boost switch, drops a single power phase for the CPU's integrated graphics and omits one USB 2.0 port as well as the associated USB flashback function of that port. Is that enough to compensate for a £30 reduction?

In the grand scheme of things most buyers would be happy to sacrifice those features for some extra funds to allocate towards a better GPU or some other system component.

The M7 still has its place for PC gamers demanding a better solution though it will be a clear case of diminishing returns for the more value minded. The M7 is, according to MSI, likely to be a favourite among professional overclockers and technical media and thus BIOS updates for increased performance will be more common to the M7 than the M5.

M7, too, features extra audio capacitors, heatpipes in the heatsinks as well as a few other minor technicalities that make it a more expensive product. The flagship argument does fall a little flat when considering MSI does offer two better boards than Gaming M7 - the Gaming M9 ACK and XPower Gaming Titanium Edition.

MSI has carefully crafted an attractive new range of motherboards for the Z170 launch and the Gaming M7 showcases this point well. The MSI Z170A Gaming M7 is a complete package of striking aesthetics, solid performance and abundant features that delivers the basis for a compelling high-end gaming system. Prospective buyers still have to contemplate whether they are better served by the M5 variant, but both motherboards are still worthy considerations for any new Intel Skylake build.

The Good		The Bad
Premium feel and aesthetics Well-equipped storage options Brimming with extra features		The Z170A Gaming M5 is compelling

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MSI Z170A Gaming M7

HEXUS.where2buy

The MSI Z170A Gaming M7 is available from Scan.co.uk*

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At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.

*UK-based HEXUS community members are eligible for free delivery and priority customer service through the SCAN.care@HEXUS forum.

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I've not built or overclocked in a while but seriously £180 for a motherboard?! Is this the new norm?

rob4001
I've not built or overclocked in a while but seriously £180 for a motherboard?! Is this the new norm?

Not at all, see for example our ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming motherboard review - http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/mainboard/85253-asus-z170-pro-gaming/ , That board retails for £120.

We also have reviews of the ASUS Z170-A (approx £120 again) and a £100 MSI Z170 motherboard coming soon.

£180's a bit steep.. I like the reinforced pci-e lanes but aside from those, I prefer the designs of MSI's Z97 boards. I'm not sure what it is about the Z170s

Wow, this redefines ugliness to a whole new level.

abaxas
Wow, this redefines ugliness to a whole new level.

Not bad for people going for a Red and Black colour theme. Which seems to be all there is at the moment. Having to buy sleeved red and black cables to go with the red and black motherboard, red and black memory modules, red and black fans. The red led lighting on my motherboard, etc etc.

I say this, the above is 100% what I've had to do since upgrading to Z97 and the only colour options were Red and Black, or Black and Red. Although I was tempted to by the MSI Z97 Krait Edition, I got an amazing price on the Asus Pro Gamer - pretty much sealed my red and black fate.