MSI MPower Max review

The MSI Z87 MPower Max is an Intel Z87-based motherboard designed for overclocking, and is packed with onboard and software features that help you push your unlocked Haswell processors to the limit. There’s an onboard switch to enable an automatic overclock, for example, and increase or decrease the base clock of the system.

As the Z87 MPower Max uses the Intel Z87 chipset, the motherboard only accepts processors compatible with the LGA1150 socket, and as it’s designed for overclocking you’ll want to install one of Intel’s unlocked “K” processors, such as the Core i5-4670K that we’ve used. It doesn’t make sense to pay £175 for this board and then install a processor that only runs at stock speeds.

The Z87 MPower Max is an ATX motherboard, so there’s plenty of scope for expansion within its 304x244mm frame. There are four memory slots that can accommodate up to 64GB of RAM, for instance, and the board supports Intel’s XMP memory profiles and memory running at up to 3,000MHz.

There are three PCI Express x16 expansion slots, although only one runs at x16. The second slot runs at x8 and the third runs at x4. The Z87 MPower Max supports 2-way CrossFire and three-way SLI, so keen gamers and graphics card overclockers are pretty well catered for. There are no legacy PCI slots, and although this may inconvenience some users we think it’s a good decision. This board is intended for those who want to tinker with the latest gear, not install an old TV tuner and forget about it.

You’ll therefore also find four PCI x1 slots. Some of the x1 slots will be blocked if you use one or more dual-slot graphics cards, but otherwise you’ll have enough slots to install a couple of expansion cards. We don’t think you’ll need to install extra USB cards, though, as the Z87 MPower Max has enough onboard headers to power four USB connectors and four USB3 connectors. It even comes with a bracket that you can attach to your PC’s backplate.

Even then, you may be better off using the USB3 headers on your PC case’s front panel as the Z87 MPower Max has six on its rear connection panel. Here, you’ll also find two USB ports, a PS/2 port for legacy keyboards and mice, six 3.5mm audio jacks, an optical S/PDIF output, two HDMI outputs, a DisplayPort output and a Killer Ethernet port. The Killer Ethernet port is controlled by an E2205 Killer LAN controller that works to prevent you from being ejected form an multiplayer game because of poor network conditions. It’s difficult to test such claims conclusively, but you do get a utility that lets you adjust bandwidth and conduct speed tests.

The Z87 MPower Max is bundled with a plug-in Wi-Fi module that provides you with 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4 and Intel Wi-Di connectivity. You’ll need a compatible TV or an Intel Wi-Di receiver to output to your display via Intel Wi-Di, though, and we’d have preferred 802.11ac Wi-Fi compatibility.

PERFORMANCE
With our Intel Core i5-4670K running at its stock speed of 3.4GHz, our test PC completed our multimedia benchmarks with an overall score of 113. This score matches that of the Asus Z87-Pro and beats the Gigabyte Z87X-OC by one point.

If you’d like to apply an automatic overclock, you can press the motherboard’s OC Genie button. You can press it at any time, and when the computer next restarts the Z87 MPower will apply an overclock based on your setup. OC Genie increased the clock speed of our processor to 4.2GHz and increased our memory’s speed to 1,600MHz. At these speeds, our test PC scored 127 overall, and a whopping 137 in the multitasking segment. That’s a healthy increase in performance for no effort at all, and it beats the Asus RoG Maximus Gene VI’s overall score of 125 overall with a 4.2GHz overclock.

As you’d expect from a motherboard such as the Z87 MPower Max, there are plenty of onboard buttons of which the OC Genie button is just one. Next to it is a Power button, along with a Reset button and plus and minus buttons that increase or decrease the base clock by 1MHz. There’s also a Clear CMOS button no the rear connection panel. The buttons are well illuminated and easy to spot, but they’re located right next to the third PCI Express x16 slot, and will be obscured if you install a dual-slot card in it.

The Z87 MPower Max’s UEFI BIOS is fairly well organised, but the mouse feels a little redundant. We prefer Asus’s UEFI BIOS, but we do appreciate the traditional list-style organisation of the Z87 MPower Max’s BIOS. You get access to voltage and frequency settings for your processor, memory and on-chip graphics processor, so there’s much scope for tinkering.

CONCLUSION

We like the MSI Z87 MPower Max, and it’s pretty well priced. The Z87 MPower Max costs more than the Asus RoG Maximus Gene VI, but it provides more expansion slots and display outputs. However, the Maximus VI Gene is more compact. Both are great boards, but we prefer the MSI Z87 MPower Max because its extra size allows greater opportunities for expansion and it allows higher memory capacities, even though it costs more.