Hardware MSI Z97M Gaming Review

Still sticking to my ASUS z97i-Plus.

It's a beast for $160.

 

love MSI's stuff, but till they get rid of there horrible tacky looking gaming logo ill not buy any of there stuff :/

 

Maybe MSI will when you learn the difference between there and their. Sorry but it had to be said.

 

Maybe Dyslexia makes it difficult to remember such things.

 

Dyslexia is the most common excuse used for bad English.

 

Not true, it effects more than spelling. Don't tell someone who has dyslexia how dyslexia effects them.

Edited because you realised you was incorrect?

It is annoying when people blame their poor spelling/grammar on dyslexia when they don't even have it. But I do.

 

I did indeed disagree with my own comment, almost as soon as I posted it and I totally agree with your last comment/point. It seems today Dyslexia is used much in the same way as Asthma is used by unhealthy/lazy people.

 

They won't get rid of it.

Look at some mainboard reviews here on bit-tech (or any PC related site really) and you will quickly notice that in the last couple years the performance gaps between different mainboards for the same platform is pretty much down to rounding errors. Which leaves looks and price as the only distinctions for manufacturers to focus on except for the absolute top end where you have a 3rd layer of distinction added (more features which you never need than the competition a.k.a bullet point list wars on retail packaging).

In other words, mainboard choice matters very little these days and as a consequence manufacturers are desperate to one up each other in the ohh shiny blinking lights and big logos department while neglecting that not all of us are 13 year old magpies.

 

I'm not convinced that this review format is entirely suitable any more. All the motherboards tested nowadays have fractional differences in raw performance (between members of a chipset). It might be time to focus on the things that differentiate each motherboard a little more - detailed thermal performance and the proprietary extras they add in - and a little less on five pages of performance benchmarks.

 

I'd like to see reviews of the cheaper Z97 boards, so we can see if the current trend of very little performance difference carries across to the ~£80 price point

 

I'd like to see that too, i don't think its worth spending £150+ on a mobo anymore when there doesn't seems to be any performance gains between boards, only added features which for the majority are useless

 

Great review! However, could you please update it with a RightMark Audio Analyzer test and comparison to other onboard audios? Thanks in advance!