MSI ATX DDR3 2600 LGA 1150 Motherboards Z97-G45 GAMING

This is a great motherboard. I built a 'gaming' PC a few years ago with an AMD CPU, but it got taken over by my brother. I wanted to build another one but with Intel this time. I use this computer for a gaming rig (obviously) but also to do some photo/video editing and this motherboard offers a lot for both.Pros:- The motherboard runs pretty cool even on heavy use- There are many ports for any configuration SATA, PCI, USB 3.0- The BIOS is SO easy to use and to overclock your memory or CPU (this coming from the old style of BIOS that didn't allow you to use your mouse)- The Audio Boost...wow. Talk about amazing audio. This amplifier doesn't kid around. Definitely worth it if gaming is your thing or if you want to watch movie or TV.- Came with two black SATA plugs.Cons:- There are only 5 fans ports (2-CPU, 3-SYSFAN). I wish it had more (more is always better), but it ended up not being a big deal (used the PS to power the rear outflow fan, an Antec TrueQuiet 140mm Cooling Fan). Alternatively, you can split the plugs by getting a splitter, but I didn't have one.If you don't need the extra ports (i.e. SATA, fan, PCI) that the other MSI boards above this one like the Gaming 7 or 9 or even the ASUS Sabertooth boards (or if you don't have the money), this one does pretty much everything you need to get you started and then some. It definitely met and exceed my expectations in terms of a motherboard that is versatile but also solid for a relatively good price.My rig:- Corsair Obsidian Series 750D Full Tower- MSI ATX Z97-G45 Motherboard- MSI GTX 970 Gaming Graphic Card- Intel i5-4690K 3.5GHz (OC @4.5GHz)- Corsair Hydro Series H110- Samsung 850 PRO 128GB SSD, Crucial 256GB SSD, WD 1TB HDD- Corsair 16GB DDR3 (4x4GB)- Corsair RM850 Power Supply

This seems to be an excellent motherboard. It is solid and has plenty of room for expansion. So far everything works great and the software is great. BUT! IT DOES NOT HAVE WIFI OR BLUETOOTH which is one of the features that is included in this listing (as of August 22, 2014) and is one of the main reasons I purchased this board.I noticed another reviewer had notified Amazon about this (false) listing over a month ago. Yet, this listing has not been corrected. Normally, I would have returned this item, but it is indeed, a great motherboard.So if you need/want the built in WiFi/Bluetooth, I suggest looking further.Back to the positive. Every other aspect of this board gets 5 STARS. This was my first computer build and it went very smoothly thanks to the design and it being well documented. The board itself is so well marked that it is basically self explanatory. Everything was installed and up & running in about 2 1/2 hours.My build:MSI ATX DDR3 2600 LGA 1150 MB Z97-G45Intel Core i5-4690S LGA 1150 - BX80646154690SWindows 7 HP 64bitSamsung SSD 120GB 840EVO For Desktop PCWD Blue 1TB SATA III WD10EZEX HDASUS GT-640 2GB DDR3 Graphics CardCrucial Ballistix Sport 8GB Kit DDR3 1600MT/s (PC3-12800)LG 12X Blu-ray M-Disc Combo Reader Drive UH12S30Thermaltake V4 Black Ed VM30001W2ZCorsair CX Series 600 ATX/EPS Modular PS 80Plus Bronze 552I added an external WiFi adapter for now and everything works great... and FAST! (I am not a gamer! Just wanted a good fast computer with decent graphics.)This is definitely a "5 star" motherboard. Too bad about the false advertising, That cost it a star.Update: August 5th 2015 - I have been running this motherboard for about a year now with absolutely no issues. It is a great board. I am upping it to 5 stars. No WiFi is no big deal! I would buy this board again without hesitation.

The motherboard works very well! The OC Genie and XMProfiles are a very handy tool when trying to overclock. My only wish was that I could use my RAID set-up and fast UEFI boot at the same time.Sound quality is absolutely excellent, however if you experience crackling sound and low volume, try loosening the stand-offs, I/O shield, and the chip cover. I was experiencing a short somewhere that was causing sound issues, but I was able to fix it.The layout is very convenient, as in the CPU and RAM are not in the way. The only layout complaint I have is that there are soldering points on the back of the board that hinder the attachment of third-party CPU coolers (such as the Corsair Hydra 110). If you squeeze the back mounting plate of the cooler to the board while screwing in from the top, it can be done.Quick Summary:Pros-Stylish and efficient layout-Excellent BIOS with great tuning abilities-Wide range of RAM support-Awesome LAN and sound cardCons-Sound card can short if too tight of mounting-Mouse and Keyboard ports (game optimized) are peripheral specific, but not labeled as such-Only 5 fan slots (needed 7)UPDATE: I had a problem with the volume crackling and distorting from the rear audio output. I ran the motherboard outside of my case and it worked fine. I narrowed it down to the mounting screws to the bottom left and middle left stand-offs. I'm not sure if this is a mobo, case, or user error. Works great otherwise!

I'm giving you a star because I can't put negative points, I used this board for 3 months and always ignore the program that you bring to updated components of the motherboards but on January 14, I decided to use your program Live update 6 and started downloading updates and one of these was the Bios, the problem started when the download finished, my pc stop working and I decided to restart and after that never showed me a screen image, your program damaged the Bios and now all I have is a useless large red brick as computer, I am very disappointed, I trust your programs and now my computer is damaged, to any user who is reading this, I would not advise to update your Bios through the program live update 6... And I hope this company may contact me and give me an explanation.