Re: MSI Z97A Gaming 7 Advice/Help

Re: PSU, as I said previously it's +12V amps you need to go by not the watts. Cheaper PSUs with high watt rating don't have the higher +12V amps that better quality PSU can provide. When it comes to that ignore the watt rating and go by the +12V amps....

Quote from: Chike on Yesterday at 21:56:25Nah, the built in graphics is no match for the card.
Few things for building the PC:
Inspect all parts for visual damage, especially CPU socket for bent pins (a macro picture ...

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MSI Z97A Gaming 7 Advice/Help

Quote from: HenryW on Today at 22:05:57 Also what PSU have you been looking to buy for this build of yours?
I'm guessing you mean the Power Supply. Right now I haven't really looked very much because I th...

Svet - oh, well, I hoped they are there... but nevermind. I drop MSI tech support an email: [email protected]
Same as this thread. Hopefully I get some nice news, or there will be a ughly microcode update by force
Chike - Quoteor co...

MSI Z97A Gaming 6 meets up Intel Broadwell i7 5775C

It’s been awhile since I posted short reviews of PC hardware stuff but today I have something up my sleeve. We will take a quick glance on MSI’s Z97A Gaming 6 motherboard together with Intel’s new Broadwell Processor.
Box design is same as any MSI Gaming motherboard before with black/red theme, dragon logo in front and PCB trace prints all over the box. The only difference is the new USB 3.1 Type-C featured logo on top. Another thing, if you noticed the naming rule for this model. You have the letter “A” after the Z97. “A” stands for the USB 3.1 functionality.
Flipping the box, you have an overview of the input/output ports, specifications and brief information about the features of the Z97A Gaming 6 motherboard.
Specifications:
•CPU Support – 4th and 5th Generation Intel Core Processors
•CPU Socket – LGA1150
•Chipset - Intel Z97 Express Chipset
•Graphics Interface – 3x PCI-3.0 x16 slots with 4th and 5th Gen Intel Core processors
•Display Interface – HDMI, DVI, D-Sub – Requires Processor Graphics
•Memory Support – 4 DIMMs, Dual Channel DDR3-3200(OC)
•Expansion Slots – 4x PCI-Ex1 slots
•M.2/SATA – 1x M.2 Slot + 6x SATA 6GB/s (2 ports reserved for SATA Express)
•SATA RAID – RAID 0, 1, 51 10 – Only available on ports SATA1 to SATA6
•USB Port – 1x USB 3.1 Type-C + 6x USB 3.0 + 6x USB 2.0
•LAN – Killer E2205 Gigabit Ethernet
•Audio – 8-Channel (7.1) HD Audio
Main Features:
•Audio Boost2 – Provides true quality, less noise and crystal clear sound with the aid of high audio quality components such as Japanase Nichicon capacitors, dual audio amplifiers, EMI shielding, audio isolation line, golden audio jacks and direct audio power.
•Killer E2200 – Built for maximum performance for online games and high-quality audio and video streaming.
•USB Audio Power – Continuously delivers stable 5V when connecting multiple USB devices, where traditional USB solutions fall short. This is highly noticeable with high-quality external USB DACs, making sure you can continue to enjoy the crystal clear audio standard you expect.
•USB 3.1 Type-C – Allows speeds up to 10Gb/s which is twice faster than a regular USB 3.0 connection. Type-C is reversible with double sided connections for easier plugging in of your devices.
•Multi-GPU – the board is designed to have spaces in between multi-graphic cards configurations to maximize air flow.
•Gaming-App –Allows simultaneous control of both Gaming motherboard & video card’s overclocking feature. Choose from Silent, Gaming or OC mode.
•Xsplit Gamecaster V2 – Lets you record your gaming moments and broadcast your live gameplay session to Twitch, YouTube, UStream and more. Enjoy 6 months premium license for free.
Next, for the bundle we have the following
•Origin of MSI Gaming
•User Guide
•Door Hanger
•Quick Installation Guide
•DVD Utility Disc
•SATA label sticker
•Black IO Plate with soft static shielding
•SLI Bridge
•Audio direct power cable
•M-Connector for easy installation of cables to headers
•2x 90 degrees SATA 6GB/s cable
•MSI Gaming Case Badge
And there you have it my friend, MSI’s Z97A-Gaming 6 motherboard. Sleek isn’t it?!
This is a 4-layer PCB with matte black finish complimenting the red stripes for both VRM & bottom part heatsinks. There is a total of 8 power phases which is enough to squeeze out more juice from the processor during overclocking. Military Class components make the board sturdy, stable and efficient. You can see them all over the board but specifically more are placed around the processor socket area.
Before getting close with other parts of the board, here are the input/output rear ports. All red ports are part of MSI’s gaming features. Starting from the left is a PS2 combo port capable of autosensing keyboard or mouse and below it are 2x USB 2.0 ports. Both internally are gold plated to protect against oxidation and increase the lifetime 10x longer when plugging/unplugging devices. It also makes the mouse or keyboard more responsive in games.
Next, you have a wide range of display terminal options. Specifically VGA, DVI and HDMI ports and just above that is a Digital SPDIF audio terminal. The small port there is the USB 3.1 type-c connector and beside it are the Killer E2205 Gigabit LAN and 2x USB 3.0 ports. Lastly, 6 analog gold plated audio jacks with one dedicated amplified output optimized for studio-grade headgear.
Did you notice that chrome dragon on the Dragon Claw VRM heatsink before?
I really like how the components are laid out around the socket, no obstructions for installing any 3rd party market coolers out there in the market.
8pin power connector for powering up the processor and MSI manage to put a M.2 socket just above the 1st 16x PCIe slot. M.2 uses PCIe 2x bus and takes full length 2280 and 2260 M.2 devices.
4x DDR3 DIMM slots capable of speeds up to 3200MHz with max capacity of 32GB. On top of the 24pin power connector are the voltage check points. You can just tap your digital multi-tester on the read points to get real-time voltages of hardware components like the processor, memory and system agent.
The board is packed with PCIe connectors that starts with PCIe 1x and runs through 16x, 1x, 1x, 8x, 1x to 4x. If you are planning to do multi-graphics card setup, just go for a dual configuration only as the last video card slot is crippled to 4x bandwidth. At the bottom-most part are headers like USB 2.0, HD Audio, Power/Reset/HDD LED/Power LED and also present here is the debug LED for easy troubleshooting of basic bootup problems.
On the left side is where the isolated Audio Boost system is found. From the audio capacitors, amplifier chips, Realtek audio chip and Audio power header are put together into one place.
6x SATA 6GB/s ports are available but some will be lost once you utilize the SATA Express connection. RAID configurations can be set to 0/1/5 and 10. You also have here another USB 3.0 front header in a 90 degree position for better cable management.
Moving on, here are some handy software features of the MSI Gaming motherboard.
•MSI Eco Center – With this, you can turn off or disable certain ports or connectors of the board.
•MSI Gaming App which I already discussed earlier
•Sound Blaster Cinema 2 – Improving more the audio quality of Audio Boost 2
•MSI Fast Boot & Go2Bios – Shortcut command software to enter BIOS right away after a restart.
•MSI Command Center – The All in One Center to tweak and overclock your motherboard, fans, memory, built-in graphics card and processor.
MSI Command Center lets you enable the OC Genie function through Windows and make use of the RAMDisk application for high data read and write performance
Here is another exciting part of the review. Intel’s flagship LGA-1150 Broadwell i7-5775C. This is a 14nm die shrink of Haswell which was built on 22nm with a few tweaks and rated speed of 3.3Ghz (Turbo 3.7GHz). Being 14nm in die size, results to a lower power consumption and lesser heat. TDP is only at 65W but I guess Intel might be releasing soon a Broadwell based on 88W with higher frequency.
You have here is the first set of Broadwell to be launched in the market. As for the naming rule goes, I’m not really sure why Intel use “C” this time for their unlocked multiplier processors while “R” is for the BGA (Ball Grid Array) embedded to the board package.
*Crystalwell is the codename of the L4 cache (eDRAM) featured in the Iris Pro-enabled Haswell CPUs
Another best feat of Broadwell is its integrated graphics chip – Iris Pro 6200. It utilizes the extra eDRAM L4 Cache to gain more memory bandwidth. The architecture also provides faster 3d and compute performance
•20% more computes and 50% higher sampler throughput
•Microarchitecture improvements for increased Geometry, Z, Pixel Fill Performance
•More Thermal Headroom with 14nm Process
•Scalable Architecture
•Continued Focus on Gaming with support for Direct X* 11.2 & OpenGL* 4.3
•OpenCL 1.2 and 2.0 (with Shared Virtual Memory Support) for GPU Compute
You will be amaze how the Iris Pro 6200 performs with popular games title today. Benchmarks will be shown later too and the only thing I could say “We have a new IGP king!!!”.
Here comes the good part where the motherboard and processor meets up. They will be put to the test to show off some benchies scores
Test System Configuration:
•Processor: Intel i7-5775C 3.3Ghz / 3.7Ghz Turbo
•Motherboard: MSI Z97A Gaming 6
•Integrated Graphics: Intel Iris Pro 6200
•Memory: Kingston HyperX 2x4GB DDR3 2133MHz
•SSD: Kingston HyperX 3k 128GB
•PSU: Antec TPQ 1200W
Software:
Windows 7 64Bit SP1, latest downloadable CPU-Z & GPU-Z, Cinebench R15 & R11.5, PCMark 7, Heaven Benchmark, 3dMark13 , Catzilla
Games:
Far Cry 4 and Call of Duty Advanced Warfare
Catzilla is a benchmark program with impressive animation. It tests your computer graphics capabilities if it can run the latest games today or watch HD movies in best quality. It can also suggest what hardware modules of your computer should be replaced in order to get best performance.
PCMark 7 is a complete PC benchmarking solution that measure performance under common use scenarios or at the hardware component level. It includes 7 tests combining more than 25 individual workloads covering storage, computation, image and video manipulation, web browsing and gaming.
Heaven software is a GPU-intensive benchmark software that tests your graphics card to the limits. This can be used to determine the stability of a GPU under stressful conditions, as well as check the cooling system’s potential under maximum heat output
Basic mode uses DirectX 9
Extreme mode is DirectX 11
Maxon Cinebench Software tests both CPU and Graphics Card Performance. I use version R11.5 and R15 of Cinebench
CPU test scenario uses all of your system’s processing power to render a photorealistic 3D Scene. This scene makes use of various algorithms to stress all available processor cores.
R11.5 CPU Result: 8.52
For the Graphic test side, the procedure uses a complex 3D scene depicting a car chase which measures the performance of your graphics card in OpenGL mode. The performance depends on various factors, such as the GPU processor on your hardware, on the drivers used. The graphics card has to display a huge amount of geometry and textures.
R11.5 GPU Result: 2074.43
R15 CPU Result: 792CB
R15 GPU Result: 81.63
3dMark13 Cloud Gate is a new test that is designed for Windows notebooks and typical home PCs. Cloud Gate includes two graphics tests and a physics test. Cloud Gate uses a DirectX 11 engine limited to Direct3D feature level 10 making it suitable for testing DirectX 10 compatible hardware.
Fire Strike is a showcase DirectX 11 benchmark designed for today's high-performance gaming PCs. It features real-time graphics rendered with detail and complexity far beyond what is found in other benchmarks and games today.
Lastly, game benchmark results of Intel Iris Pro 6200. Resolution at 1920x1080 with medium graphics quality.
We know how intensive Far Cry 4 game is but Iris Pro 6200 was able to handle it
These are the game settings
Call of Duty Advanced Warfare baby!!! And it’s fast and smooth!!!!
So that concludes my short review. The Gaming 6 is quite similar with the Gaming 5 design except for the IO Ports, inclusion of the USB 3.1 function and SATA Express port. So if you are planning to build your gaming system now, it’s good to have these new functions as to make your system future proof. I’m sure there will be lots of USB 3.1 devices in the future, be it smartphones or storage devices. Aside from this, Z97 chipset motherboards are compatible with the latest Intel Broadwell processors. I’m sure you were amazed upon seeing the performance of the Intel Iris Pro 6200 in games. The IGP is capable of playing latest games smoothly even at high resolutions.
More reviews to come and it’s nice to be back

Thanks for the tip Henry! As mentioned, this will be my last resort...
Pat
Quote from: HenryW on Today at 21:49:31 I normally test any build of mine on a sheet of plain brown cardboard cut from a box. I always do...

MSI Z97A Gaming 9 ACK Question

Hi guys, I wanna purchase the Z97A Gaming 9 ACK and I also wanna use a Samsung M.2 XP941 256GB SSD with it. I wanna know if I can use 2 GTX 980s in SLI while also using the said Samsung M.2 SSD with this MB? or will I have to move to X99 Platform?

Quote
I see the lates Bios for this Board is 1.9 and strangely 1.A version which seems like a beta if I'm correct.
nope, 1.A is also official version
Quote
Also I keep hearing a lot about BSODs on MSI Gaming MBs due to Killer Ethernet, Is this something I should worrie about?
don't think so
Quote
Im more of minimalist and usually don't install any extra software and I plan on using the base driver only for E2205 from MSI website, I also wont be attaching the Wireless card or using it as I only always use the Wire Ethernet.
sounds fine

Re: MSI Z97M Gaming M.2 help?

I changed the title as you wrote Z77M Gaming instead of Z97M Gaming.
The board's M.2 port supports either a M.2 SATA 6Gb/s (two notches) module or M.2 PCIe module (one notch). Therefor the desired M.2 SATA SSD can be used and should work fine.
It is n...

@granery.fabien already tried that a couple times. but it didn't help.
@cmplieger when I run an ad-hoc connection using these commands my laptop says limited connection, when connected to the home network it ...

Re: MSI z97a gaming 7 what RAM

What site are you buying from?

So okay decided after your help to pick 1600mhz ram from compatibility list of my mobo but which will be best:
-Corsair -[Vengeance] CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10
-[Vengeance] CMZ8GX3M1A1600C10
-[Value Select] CMV8GX3M1A1600C
-[Va...

Re: Intel 4790k / MSI Z97A Gaming 7 / GSkill ripjawsx 16Gb - New PC constant BSOD.

Be careful when removing/inserting the memory not to damage the slots or the PCB.
Normally I would recommend doing all installation and tests outside the case before assembling it in.

Temps are fine..
CPU is hovering between 40-50C and likewise for the GPU.
I should add that recently I had my i7 4790K replaced on an RMA and after getting the new one I seem to be facing the same issue.
My system is starting up with minimal services a...

Re: MSI Z97A Gaming 6 meets up Intel Broadwell i7 5775C

Killer review and I'm amazed to see the iris graphics results do so well! Thank you for the great review.

Thanks for the tip Henry! As mentioned, this will be my last resort...
Pat
Quote from: HenryW on Today at 21:49:31 I normally test any build of mine on a sheet of plain brown cardboard cut from a box. I always do...

MSI Gaming Z97A Gaming 9 ACK Sound Card Install

Hi fellow MSI users I am having an issue when trying to install my Creative Fatality Recon Soundcard in any of the PCIE 2.0 x 1 slots it is not detected in the bios. The soundcards led lights up so it appears to be getting power but the bios reports it as empty. I have tried everything and I am not sure what am I doing wrong?
Here are my specs
Main Board: MSI Z97A Gaming 9 ACK
Bios Version: V1.11
Video Card: GTX 980 GAMING 4G
PSU: Corsair TX 850
12v rail Rating of listed PSU:+12V Rail The dedicated 60A
CPU: Intel i7 4790K
Memory: 2 x G.SKill F3-12800CL10-8GBXL
SSD/ HDD: Samsung EVO 250gb
CPU COOLER:stock
Raid Card:none
Sound Card:
Any Additional hardware plugged into your system: Nope
OC: (Yes / No) NO
Operating System: Windows 8.1 Pro

Finding information on the card is pretty hard.
Does this require any type of external power to be plugged into it? Maybe you missed that part?
Granted this is slightly different, but my older Asus Xonar sound card required a plug from the power supply in order to make it work and be detected, even though the lights on the card would light up.

Msi z97 gaming 5 bios update help

Hello I recently purchased the msi z97 gaming 5 motherboard. It was working fine it came with bios version 1.0 and I wanted to update it. I downloaded the latest 1.5 bios from msi website copied to usb flash drive and flashed it using mflash. Computer powers on but black screen wont do nothing. I cleared cmos and battery and still nothing so I am pretty sure its bricked. I am going to store to exchange it for another one but I want to be able to safely update the bios without bricking again. I usually dont update bios unless needed but i need at least 1.2 bios to fully support the devils canyon cpu. Can someone please point me in the right direction? I read about the usb flashing tool in forum but also read that bios+me need to be flashed and I don't know if that program is up to date and will flash both files? I really appreciate it if someone helped thanks in advance.

Also does anyone know if it is dangerous to update the bios with a 4690k devils canyon cpu since it is not officially supported until 1.2? Is that why my first bios flash was bricked? I would hate to go and borrow another cpu just to update the bios but if I have to I will. Sorry for all the questions but I need to get my bios updated and I will not update it until I am sure of all these things. Thanks to anyone who answers these questions.

DIMM 1/2 stopped working on MSI Z97 Gaming 5, help!

Hello again!
Today I was trying out a different cooler for my i7 4790K, I mounted it and everything worked fine, but results were bad, so I decided to mount previous cooler again...
And here were the problem starts. After I mounted everything back (exactly following guide like before, thermal paste etc all done) my PC would not start the system nor BIOS.
I wondered what could cause it, so just to check a possibility, I unplugged one RAM module from DIMM 2 (they used to work in dual-channel at 2/4 DIMMs) and it suddenly started BIOS and system up normally.
Following this tip, I unmounted cooler's fan, because it covers DIMM 1 to check if it would work, and doesn't matter what memory I plug in DIMM 1 or 2, it won't work Doesn't work with any combination, so I can't actually use dual-channel right now, as only DIMM 3 and 4 work at the moment (both or alone). Any module plugged in 1/2 slots doesn't work.
All I see is that temperature monitor on my MSI Z97 Gaming 5 shows 10-55, 10-55 all the time, jumpy temps, everything works, but nothing loads. Just black screen, nothing. I work with 3/4 slots in single channel right now.
What the hell could happen? Please help me with this!
Edit: Is that possible I could move a CPU from a proper pin so it doesn't connect properly with DIMM 1 and 2? My cooler moved a bit before I mounted it properly. That's only thing that comes to my mind right now.

Quote
EXTENT OF LIMITED WARRANTY
Intel does not warrant that the Product will be free from design defects or errors known as “errata.” Current characterized errata are
available upon request. Further, this Limited Warranty does NOT cover:
any costs associated with the repair or replacement of the Product including labor, installation or other costs incurred by you, and in
particular, any costs relating to the removal or replacement of any Product that is soldered or otherwise permanently affixed to any
printed circuit board;
OR
damage to the Product due to external causes, including accident, problems with electrical power, abnormal electrical, mechanical or
environmental conditions, usage not in accordance with product instructions, misuse, neglect, alteration, repair, improper installation, or
improper testing;
OR
any Product which has been modified or operated outside of Intel’s publicly available specifications or where the original identification
markings (trademark or serial number) has been removed, altered or obliterated from the Product.
http://download.intel.com/support/processors/sb/warranty_procts_english.pdf
So if you have bent the pins and didn't buy the "care package" or whatever they call for improved warranty, then I believe that it is void. But read whole PDF carefully.
I might be wrong, I'm just a human. Contact Intel about this:
http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/warranty

Help with msi 970 gaming

I have a msi 970 gaming, I am having some problems with it, I made a usb bios stick which has now become corrupt, so I got in touch with msi and am still awaiting a reply. I was told to clear the cmos jumper of which I have, I have also taken the battery out for five mins and that hasn't changed anything.
so I am sat with a board that powers up okay but have no video output. anyone willing to help me with some suggestions please I have tried everything from taking my two gtx770 and amd fx6300 and amd phanom ii x4 black edition check all power outputs to the board and cards and hd and dl dvd, so any help would be most appreciated. Dave

The bios update failed and due to not having a backup bios the board is now bricked. You need to rma it as it is beyond things you can try yourself.

HELP why wont my msi z97 gaming 9 mother board find my msi N770 graphics card ?

have built a new gaming PC from scratch based around the MSI Z97 gaming 9 motherboard and the MSI NVIDIA GTX 770 graphics card i have installed all the drivers for the mother board and everything seems to be ok i have then used live update to update all the drivers and bios.
i then installed the graphics card and it powers up and the fans start but my pc isn't recognising the fact that is exists helps please

Recheck your WiFi Bluetooth expansion module connection on the board.
Recheck your MB mounting in the case, i.e. errant standoffs. Perhaps test the board outside the case on a non conductive surface to ensure no potential short exists. Then retest with the WiFi plugged in.

New MSI 97 GAMING 5 CHIP FAILURE ? help

HELLO,
I have just purchased a msi z97 gaming 5 (with intel I7 4790K) .
It starts and worked normaly for a few minutes, then during windows installation it stopped brutally , and no way to start it again. The led is flashing blue for a few seconds sometimes when attempting to start again.
I have changed all the components (power, cpu memory..) , same. Rarely, after many attemps it starts rarely but if I reset, no start and led flashing blue, no error code. Just if there was no power . I have changed power unit I am sure that it's working . I have also changed the case ... So I am sure all components others than the motherboard are ok...
What means this led blue flashing sometimes ? Is the motherboard dead ?
Advise ?
Thanks
thank you for your help

maybe you could check if there might be bent pin in ??
did you try to plug out power supply and clear CMOS again? or clear CMOS/take out battery and wait for 10 min before power on again..
no power means your CPU fan will still spins right but only show blank screen?

MSI GTX970 Gaming 4G issue

hi guys, was after a bit of help/advice.
I swapped out my gigabyte GTX770 4gb O/C card for a new MSI GTX970 Gaming 4G card yesterday.
At the same time I decided to do a clean installation of drivers and update to new 344.48 drivers.
I uninstalled the 344.16 drivers and used driver sweeper as normal to clear out old NVidia files.
I then tried to install the new 344.48 WHQL drivers from the nvidia site and I got a security warning stating the driver install could not proceed as the driver wasn't digitally signed
I downloaded a new version of 344.48 from the nvidia website and this time the driver installed.
However, when I tried to play the a game of BF4 or borderlands, I get an APP Crash error and the game freezes.
I have just done a clean installation of windows in case I had corrupt anything during card swap over, and once again downloaded a fresh version of 344.48 WHQL and once again its telling me the driver is not digitally signed and I cant proceed with installation.
I have managed to get the older 344.16 driver installed at the moment, but I haven't a clue what is causing this. I have yet to test the games after the clean windows install, but I have feeling they are going to crash again.
I hope I don't have to RMA this card ;/
My build: -
Intel i5-4670k (stock speed)
Corsair H80 water cooler
Gigabyte Z87x-UD3H m/b running bios update F8
XFX 850w black edition modular PSU
16gb DDR3 1666 corsair vengeance
MSI GTX970 Gaming 4G GPU
Asus VG248QE 144hz monitor with custom gaming ICC profile
Win 7 64 bit (all updates)
cheers for any help guys

Quote from: matt3o on 26-October-14, 17:56:53
I'd try to update the motherboard bios as well. http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4481#bios
cheers guys, I just flashed to latest F10b bios and changed pci-e slot from gen3 to auto in bios, running borderlands now for last 30mins in OC mode on card and no crashes or app hangs
fingers crossed, this has resolved the crash issues.....still doesn't explain why the latest Nvidia drivers are saying I cant install due to no digital signature.
I will try to update to latest 344.48 later and see what happens, don't want to mess too much at the moment as I've only just got this card stable....fingers crossed ;p
thanks for your help guys

Re: MSI Z97A Gaming 7 Advice/Help

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