Z97I Gaming AC Motherboard
Looking back at the Z87M Gaming that we reviewed a few months ago, I had high expectations. We’ve seen a positive trend across all the major manufacturers in terms of increasing the number of enthusiast features on their boards in all form factors and the jump in added value to the mini ITX lines has been nothing but good news for gamers.
When we applied the standard ‘gaming’ checklist to the Z97I Gaming AC, it ticked all the boxes
Gaming LAN (Killer)
Gaming Grade Audio (AudioBoost 2 with SB Cinema 2)
Overclocker Friendly
Enthusiast Software bundle
As with most MSI products, the designers used Military Grade components for longevity, durability and reliability because nobody likes an RMA ticket on their gear – this is great to see and becoming a standard across the major manufacturers’ enthusiast lines.
The Z97I Gaming AC overclocked our i5-4670K as well as any other motherboard we tested, hitting our known limit of 4.6GHz with the magic 1.29v. Depending on your mini ITX build, overclocking might not be a priority but it’s nice to see that it’s also not a sacrifice of the smaller form factor.
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CPU Support |
Supports 4th and 5th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors, and Intel® Pentium® and Celeron® Processors for Socket LGA1150 |
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Chipset |
Intel® Z97 Express Chipset |
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Memory |
Support two DDR3 1066/1333/1600/1866*/2000*/2133*/2200*/2400*/2600*/2666* 16GB Max |
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Memory Channel |
Dual |
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Slots |
1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots |
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On-Board SATA |
Intel Z97 Express Chipset – 4 x SATA 6Gb/s ports (SATA1~4) – 2 x eSATA 6Gb/s ports – Supports RAID 0, RAID1, RAID 5 and RAID 10 – Supports Intel® Smart Response Technology, Intel® Rapid Start Technology and Intel® Smart Connect Technology**Supports Intel Core processors on Windows 7 and Windows 8/ 8.1 |
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USB |
Intel Z97 Express Chipset – 6 x USB 3.0 ports (4 ports on the back panel, 2 ports available through the internal USB 3.0 connectors) – 6 x USB 2.0 ports (4 ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB 2.0 connectors*) |
| Audio | Realtek® ALC1150 Codec – 7.1-Channel High Definition Audio – Supports S/PDIF output |
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LAN |
1x Killer E2205 Gigabit LAN controller*
* The Killer Network Manager is only available for Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 currently. The supported drivers for other operating systems would be available on the website if provided by vendor. |
| Wireless LAN | Wi-Fi/Bluetooth expansion module with Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 chip. – Supports Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual band (2.4GHz, 5GHz) up to 867 Mbps speed. – Supports Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) |
| Bluetooth | Wi-Fi/Bluetooth expansion module with Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 chip. – Supports Bluetooth v4.0 (includes BLE* and Bluetooth 3.0+HS)* BLE: Bluetooth Low Energy |
| Internal I/O Connections | – 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector – 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector – 4 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors – 1 x USB 2.0 connectors (supports additional 2 USB 2.0 ports) – 1 x USB 3.0 connector (supports additional 2 USB 3.0 ports) – 1 x 4-pin CPU fan connectors – 1 x 4-pin system fan connectors – 1 x Front panel audio connector – 2 x System panel connectors – 1 x Chassis Intrusion connector – 1 x Clear CMOS jumper – 1 x Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module connector |
| Back Panel I/O Ports | – 1 x PS/2 keyboard/ mouse port – 1 x LAN (RJ45) port – 4 x USB 2.0 ports – 4 x USB 3.0 ports – 2 x eSATA ports – 1 x Optical S/PDIF OUT connector – 6 x OFC audio jacks – 2 x HDMI port, supporting a maximum resolution of 4096X2304@24Hz/ 2560X1600@60Hz/ 3840X2160@60Hz/1920X1200@60Hz – 1 x DisplayPort, supporting a maximum resolution of 4096X2304@24Hz/ 2560X1600@60Hz/ 3840X2160@60Hz/1920X1200@60Hz |
| BIOS | • The motherboard BIOS provides “Plug & Play” BIOS which detects the peripheral devices and expansion cards of the board automatically. • The motherboard provides a Desktop Management Interface(DMI) function which records your motherboard specifications. |
| Dimensions | 6.7 in. x 6.7 in. (17 cm x 17 cm) Mini-ITX Form Factor |
| Mounting | 4 Mounting Holes |
The box and packaging is good quality in the standard black and red colour scheme with enough dragons on it to make sure you don’t forget it’s from the MSI Gaming line. The motherboard is packed inside an anti-static bag and all of the accessories are individually wrapped.
The accessories include:
- 4 SATA 3 Cables
- WIFI Module and 2 Antennae
- Nice Dragon/MSI Gaming Case badge with a carbon Fibre like backing
- Rear IO Shield with interference shielding and a force absorbing layer
- Door Hanger
- Set of Cable Labels
