OC Certified Motherboard. MSI Z77 MPower

Question

For those who are wanting to have a good priced performing Z77 motherboard, MSI Bigbang Mpower might be the one for you. These boards have been tested using Prime95 and validated to run at certain OC speeds before releasing it to the market and if ever a Military Class III components gets damaged during overclocking, it will be still covered by warranty which other brands do not offer. MSI has also decided to make the MPower's color scheme to black and yellow to match their Lightning Videocard Series. Combining these two hardwares together, you will have a bad-ass kicking computer system.
Moving on with the specifics of the Mpower, It has an improved 16-Phase CPU VRM and optimized PCB for delivering higher overclocks and faster response time to the system. It also has an embedded 6-pin PCIE power connector to give additional ampage boost on the graphic cards. We also see a diagnostic LEDs as this helps to troubleshoot hardware problems with the codes it displays and it also acts as CPU Temp Monitor. Voltage measurement points is also provided as this is primarily used by overclockers to check the voltages accurately and in real-time. Three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (x8/x4/x4) for Nvidia 3 Way SLI or for an AMD 2 Way Crossfire multi-graphic setup.
The newest feature that MSI integrated to the board is the inclusion of Atheros Bluetooth and Wifi N combo device. With this, you can communicate with the board using a downloadable application called "Command Center" to your ios phone or tablet to overclock the board or turn it into a remote control to do basic windows commands such as power on/off, clearing CMOS setting, playing/stopping media, volume control, and more. Pretty cool right?!
For a quick review of the Z77 chipset, we all know that it supports both Intel Sandy Bridge and 22nm Ivy Bridge Processors. Native USB 3.0 is implemented and the upgrade of PCI-Express x16 towards 3.0.
Time for product Show case
Components, card slots and connectors are all laid-out nicely. The PCB of the board is actually thicker compared with a regular one.
Comes with the board are Sata 6GB/s Cables, SLI Bridge, V-Check Point Connectors, Easy Connector Header Guide, Antennas for the Wifi N device, IO Backplate
Manuals, Overclocking Guide, Driver Utility Disc and the Quality Passed Certificate of Quality and Stability
Military Standard "MIL-STD-810G" Tests consists of the following:
•Temperature Shock Test
  Method 503.5
  Temperature: -40C to 70C
  Number of Cycles:3
  Test Duration: 4.5hours
•Humidity Test
 Method 507.5
 Temperature: 24C
 Number of Cycles: 95% (RH)
 Test Duration: 10 Days
•Vibration Test
 Method 514.6
 Frequency: 10-500 Hz
 Waveform: Random
 Test Duration: 1 Hour/Axis (X/Y/Z)
•Low Pressure Test
 Method 500.5
 Height: 15000 Feet
 Test Duration: 4 Hours
•High Temperature Test
 Method 501.5
 Temperature: 71X
 Test Duration: 24 Hours
•Low Pressure Test
 Method 502.5
 Temperature: -51C
 Test Duration: 24 Hours
•Shock Test
 Method 516.6
 Drop Height: 10cm
 Drop Surface: Rigid Steel (4.5cm)
 Number of Drops: 4
Left to Right: PS2 Combo Port which automatically detects if a PS2 Mouse or Keyboard has been connected, Clear Cmos Button which lits up when pressed, Bluetooth , Wifi Antenna , Realtek 8111E Gigabit LAN Port / USB 3.0 Ports, Digital SPDIF Audio (Realtek ALC898 THY TruStudio Pro Software Layered) / HDMI and Display Port Connector which supports 2560x1600 Resolution, 6 Analog Audio Jacks
Military Class III Components circling around the socket area Improved VRM heatsinks with Superpipe Flat heatpipe for faster heat dissipation.
From Left to Right: 6Pin Power for additional GPU Power Amp, V-Check Points, The Easy Buttons which consist the Power, Reset and OC Genie II.
So what does the OC Genie II do?
Its a chip that detects the hardware configuration and increases the overall system performance through overclocking. It automatically set the clocks and voltages of the CPU/RAM and IGP with just a press of a single button.
Left to Right: All SATA Ports are handled by Intel Chipset. SATA 3-6 are 3GB/s while SATA 1-2 are 6GB/s. USB 3.0 header and Debug LEDs indicator.
Switchable Multi Bios A and B. The SW1 is for the Go2Bios which helps you to enter the Bios Screen before the Windows 8 boots up.
The Red USB Header is for the SuperCharger feature which charges your USB device even if your computer is turned off, you just have to ensure that the PSU is plugged in the electric outlet and switched on. Then you have the regular USB 2.0 black headers.
4x PCIE 2.0 x1 and the 3x PCI-Express 3.0 X16 slots.
I tested the board for a short period of time but I noticed right away the fast installation of windows 7 and the fast boot up to windows. Programs are very responsive and I haven't tweaked the Windows yet. The wifi device signal is quite strong too that even without the antenna, it can easily connect to my wifi router which is located at the other room. Lastly, MSI should have integrated realtime Bclock adjustment like the Direct OC before into this board. This is a good additional OC tool for overclockers like me.
 

Answer 1

Probably co-incidence
Quote
Don't understand how enabling Virtu Lucid in the BIOS with OC Genie 'ON' could have such a result.. Has MSI tested this??
I am sure they tested it, most likely the board was defective and whatever switch was flipped by this change allowed the damage to occur.