MSI Z270 Gaming M3 Motherboard Review

New AMD motherboards and Ryzen processors have been gathering the limelight for the past few weeks but there is still a fiercely-contested battle under way between Intel and AMD. Adding fuel to the fire are motherboard vendors who are jostling for a position in which they can enjoy the spoils of an in-demand platform. We examine MSI’s competitively-priced, mid-range Z270 Gaming M3 motherboard to see what it brings to the table. Priced around £150, the MSI Z270 Gaming M3 tunes its focus on features that gamers in this price segment will value. You get support for high-speed DDR4 memory, two M.2 slots, and USB 3.1 Gen 2 in Type-A and Type-C form. The colour scheme is red and black to fit into MSI’s Gaming range and onboard LED lighting is kept minimal, with MSI instead providing customisation using an RGB header and software-based control. The mid-range Z270 motherboard market is rife with tough competitors. How will MSI’s Z270 Gaming M3 fare against competition from multiple angles? Features (taken from the MSI product page): Mystic Light Sync: Synchronize other RGB solutions with your gaming rig and control all LEDs in one click. Twin Turbo M.2 with Steel Armor. Intel Optane Memory Ready, Lightning USB 3.1 Gen2. Audio Boost 4 with Nahimic 2: Reward your ears with studio grade sound quality for the most immersive gaming experience. GAMING LAN with LAN Protect, powered by Killer™: The best online gaming experience with lowest latency and bandwidth management. Military Class 5, Guard-Pro: Latest evolution in high quality components for best protection and efficiency. Click BIOS 5: Award-winning BIOS with high resolution scalable font, favourites and search function. GAMING CERTIFIED: 24-hour on- and offline game and motherboard testing by eSports players. MSI ships the Z270 Gaming M3 in a bright red box that features an image of the motherboard on its front side and specifications on the rear. A slim accessory bundle is to be expected at this price point. MSI keeps added extras to a minimum by providing just two SATA cables alongside the labelled rear IO shield and a 4-pin RGB header extension cable. That RGB extension cable is a smart inclusion that can address cable routing issues. The usual set of documents is provided alongside a large case sticker featuring MSI’s trademark gaming dragon. Accompanying the bundle is a set of stickers that can be used to label cables running to different devices. This is particularly useful to those with multiple storage drives. The MSI Z270 Gaming M3 is equipped with a black, grey, and red colour scheme with the latter being deployed as multiple lines that form a circuitry type of appearance. Hints of grey on the heatsinks and rear IO cover will appeal to many potential customers. Other than MOSFET phase doubles/drivers, nothing else of note is mounted on the rear of the motherboard PCB. Mounted close to the 24-pin power connector and two 4-pin fan headers are the board’s four DDR4 DIMM slots. MSI lists support for DDR4 frequencies in the region of 3800MHz via overclocking. However, such speeds will be heavily tied to the CPU’s IMC strength and the BIOS profile tuning. 16GB DDR4 DIMMs can be installed, making this motherboard useable with up to 64GB of memory. I like MSI’s on-PCB text that outlines which DIMM slots should be used first for those with two-stick kits. Being an LGA 1151 motherboard, the MSI Z270 Gaming M3 is compatible with Intel’s 6th Generation and 7th Generation LGA 1151 processors such as the Core i5-6600K, Core i3-7350K, and Core i7-7700K. A total of ten power delivery phases are allocated for the CPU and additional components, such as the iGPU. MSI uses components falling under the vendor’s ‘Military Class V’ branding, which include Titanium-based chokes and ‘dark’ capacitors. A well-built heatsink is deployed on top of the hot-running MOSFETs, which is very pleasing to see even if LGA 1151 processors are not in danger of overloading the power delivery components. Six right-angled SATA 6Gbps ports are all provided by way of the Z270 chipset. Sat next to those ports is one of the board’s two internal USB 3.0 5Gbps headers for connection to a case. Its right-angled orientation is ideal for users trying to hide the fat USB 3.0 header cable when trying to conduct cable management. All six SATA 6Gbps ports can be used alongside a pair of M.2 PCIe SSDs, though M.2 slot 1 steals its SATA 6Gbps link from SATA port 1 and M.2 slot 2 steals its SATA 6Gbps link from SATA port 6. A pair of M.2 SATA SSDs will render two of the physical SATA ports unusable. I think MSI’s lane allocation for SATA connections is very smart. It is highly unlikely that a user buying this type of motherboard will need more than six SATA devices in total, or six plus two M.2 PCIe SSDs. MSI also deserves credit for pages 32 and 33 in its motherboard manual which give a clear interpretation of possible storage device connections. This reduces the installation complexity to novice users with lots of drives. Two M.2 slots both support PCIe NVMe SSDs with up to 32Gbps Gen 3 x4 link speeds, as well as SATA 6Gbps SSDs. The slots are compatible with Intel Optane technology using the 3D XPoint-equipped M.2 SSD available. Bandwidth sharing means that using the lower M.2 slot renders the second full-length PCIe expansion slot unusable. Disabling of the four PCIe x1 expansion slots may have been an alternative option. However, those x1 slots are likely more valuable to users at this end of the market than the high-bandwidth PCIe 3.0 x4 expansion slot in its full-length form. Positioning of the M.2 slots is fine. The upper one will receive incidental airflow from an air CPU cooler while the lower slot is far enough from a graphics card to reduce the likelihood of overheating. However, the positioning does mean that an M.2 SSD with an ugly green PCB will be highly visible. No SATA-Express or U.2 are not negative points for a motherboard with this target audience, especially seeing as the former is practically dead and the latter can be provided through an adapter. MSI has clearly designed this board for users not wanting multiple graphics cards as that point is confirmed by the lack of SLI or high-bandwidth CrossFire compatibility. All sixteen PCIe 3.0 lanes from an LGA 1151 processor are delivered directly to the uppermost PCIe slot for a graphics card. That full-length slot also receives steel shielding, that MSI refers to as Steel Armor, to enhance its strength. The second full-length PCIe slot runs at Gen 3 x4 bandwidth with lanes coming from the Z270 chipset, making it suitable for use with devices such as a high-speed SSD, a high-bandwidth NIC, or a RAID card. However, its lanes are shared with the lower M.2 slot and it is rendered unusable if a SSD is installed in that M.2 location. Further expansion options are provided by the four PCIe 3.0 x1 slots, three of which will be usable alongside a graphics card. These are ideal for low-bandwidth devices such as WiFi and sound cards. The usual set of headers is found along the board’s bottom edge, in addition to a second internal USB 3.0 5Gbps header and the 4-pin RGB connection. MSI’s Audio Boost 4 system is based around the popular Realtek ALC1220 audio codec. Nippon Chemicon capacitors are used in addition to multiple EMI-reducing steps and a headphone amplifier. Nahimic 2 software is supported. Peripherals connectivity is taken care of by two USB 2.0 ports and a legacy PS/2 connector. Four red-coloured 5Gbps USB 3.0 Type-A ports are delivered through the Z270 chipset. MSI uses a PCIe 3.0 x2 ASMedia ASM2142 chipset to provide 10Gbps USB 3.1 Gen 2 connectivity in Type-A and Type-C form. DVI-D (single-link) and HDMI provide video output for the iGPU. The DVI connector can operate up to 1920x1200 at 60Hz, while the HDMI port is capable of 4K at a low refresh rate (30Hz or below, depending on the processor) or up to 2560x1600 at 60Hz. There is no 4K60-capable video output with this motherboard, which is unlikely to be missed by gamers. Gigabit Ethernet is delivered by a Killer E2500 controller that is compatible with Killer’s network-management software. MSI also includes a free subscription of WTFast gaming network software. Gold plating is used on the audio connectors to enhance signal quality. Six 4-pin fan headers are distributed across the motherboard, which is excellent for a mid-priced offering. Four of the headers are within reach of the CPU socket and they all feature an ability to provide DC or PWM control to fans. The board’s sole software-controllable 4-pin RGB header is found on the bottom edge, next to a pair of 4-pin fan connections. MSI Z270 UEFI Firstly, we are pleased to report that our generic wireless mouse worked correctly in the MSI Z270 UEFI. Some mice can be troubling with UEFI support, so when a generic wireless unit functions correctly in the interface, that is usually a good sign for overall mouse support. Given the similarities between motherboards with MSI's Click BIOS 5 UEFI, we have re-used the screenshots from a previous MSI Z270 motherboard review. Entry into MSI's Click BIOS 5 UEFI is started on the EZ Mode page. MSI's version of EZ Mode is the best of all motherboard vendors as it features the most options but does not overcrowd the screen and remove the ease-of-use aspect. Buttons for simple XMP and Game Boost overclocking activation are smart moves. Game Boost is MSI's pre-determined overclocking mode which takes a Core i7-7700K CPU to 4.8GHz at the click of one button. Hitting F7 takes a user into the Advanced section. There are few changes from MSI's previous UEFI implementations and the general layout is well-described and easy to follow. Six tabs house all of the adjustable settings, with information and boot device adjustment being held at the top of the page. The OC section is, as expected full of settings relating to overclocking. MSI smartly includes a Normal or Expert selection mode that is useful for those trying to learn about overclocking who do not want to risk adjusting irrelevant settings. There are plenty of options relating to voltage, frequency, and setting adjustments and all are generally easy to find. Being critical, the layout could be a little more segregated to reduce the amount of information on the single primary page. I am pleased to report that MSI has updated its Load-line Calibration settings to make them clear and functional. Several options can be selected and MSI smartly uses a simple graph to show how the voltage changes based on load. Simple, yet functional. And it certainly aided the simplicity of our overclocking attempts. A good number of options are also allocated for memory. High dividers can be selected, which is ideal for aiding flexibility to overclockers who are pushing their system with high-speed RAM. Up to six individual settings profiles can be saved to the board and more can be transferred using storage mediums. Pressing F8 and F9 on a main page of the UEFI draws down an overclocking profile tool which allows for saving and loading. This tool is a superb graphical method of displaying how the system will change compared to its current state. It would be great to see MSI also roll this out to the more mundane OC Profile section. Either way, the graphical display is certainly a positive for MSI's UEFI over its competitors'. Hardware Monitor is where the primary fan control actions take place. PWM and DC control modes are selectable. MSI keeps in-built fan speed presets to a bare minimum and instead relies on its good graphical control method. A 4-point curve can be used to adjust the fan speed profile based on temperature readings from the CPU or system. I like the written information that MSI displays alongside the graph, such as exact fan speed percentages and temperatures for each marker. I successfully controlled (including running at 0 RPM) 3-pin and 4-pin Noctua fans, as well as a 4-pin PWM Cooler Master model. Board Explorer is a visual interpretation of the motherboard and its connected devices. This is a good tool to use for troubleshooting or ensuring that components are connected to the correct port at the correct speed. This is similar to ASRock's System Browser tool. M-Flash has an ability to select BIOS profiles in USB drive folders, which is good. The tool works without hassle. Secure Erase is a new addition to MSI's UEFI. The tool can be used to securely wipe (not just format) an SSD with great ease which can be good if selling it on or aiming to restore performance from a 'dirty' drive. I tested Secure Erase with a SanDisk SSD and it worked as expected. General settings relating to the time, boot priority, and onboard devices can be accessed on the Settings tab. UEFI Summary: MSI's Click BIOS 5 UEFI is a great offering without any glaring weaknesses. The EZ Mode page is market-leading, ease of navigation is high despite the crowded OC page, and tools such as Secure Erase and Board Explorer sweeten the deal. Manual fan control is good though a lack of preset profiles is a weakness for MSI in comparison to some of its competitors in this department. Save slots for six system profiles is sufficient and the alternative mode by which these profiles can be selected is extremely intuitive. The lack of RGB LED control options through the UEFI is disappointing. UEFI settings for LEDs can be retained in the event of an OS crash or reinstall. Despite this, MSI's UEFI is a strong offering that should serve the vast majority of users well. Software Command Center is the bread-and-butter of MSI's OS-based software tools. Primary functionality of the system can be controlled here, including adjustment of multiplier ratios, clocks and voltages, and MSI's Game Boost overclocking preset. Fan tuning options in Command Center are good. There is an auto fan tuning mode which allows the system to adjust the fan speed curve to its perceived optimal design. User adjustment of the fan speed curves is also possible using a 4-point graph. Break-out tabs display information and adjustment options for voltages, ratios, and fan speeds. DRAM timings also get their own break-out page. MSI's temperature sensor page is good although the number of reading points is limited to just two - the CPU and system. This page also shows which fans are connected and a temperature illustration can be set to give visual interpretation of system behaviour. Gaming App is used to control a number of different operating modes for the system. Three pre-set modes are available - Gaming, OC, and Silent. The OC mode applies Game Boost, as it is called in the UEFI. Macros can be set in a dedicated section for both the keyboard and mouse. There's also an OSD to display system information though it is far less in-depth than RivaTuner that is supplied with MSI Afterburner. A monitor's colour profile can be adjusted to reduce eye-strain or blue light. There's also an option for remote control of the system settings. The RGB section of MSI's Gaming App is where most users are likely to be spending their time. Individual control is only available to the 4-pin RGB header, given the very limited onboard RGB LED capacity. Lighting for the audio tracks can also be disabled or set as red. Different lighting modes can be activated, including breathing, flashing, and random behaviour. The lights can also be set to behave in a manner that is associated with different styles of music - for example, the rap mode flashed as if it was following the repetitive backing tune of a rap song. There is also an option to completely switch off all LED lighting. MSI's lighting options in the OS software are decent. They aren't quite as good as Gigabyte's and ASUS' alternatives which offer intelligent operation modes for the LED colours to react to system behaviour such as temperatures. MSI's RAMdisk does what the title says. The RAM disk size can be set up to a high percentage of system memory. For example, we were able to select a 14.5GB RAM disk with our 16GB of system memory. The tool also includes options to restore the RAM disk upon boot, back it up to a non-volatile storage device, and set advanced cache for certain options. X-Boost features a number of system operation modes that use tweaked settings. There are presets for operations such as gaming and video editing and the option for a user to create their own setting is present. The game mode sets all performance metrics to a high importance while the video editing mode emphasises parameters important to such a task. There is also the ability to speed up USB and storage devices. We tested X-Boost and found it to offer little benefit to storage devices other than those based on USB 3.1. Using our USB 3.1 Gen 2 test device with RAID 0 SSDs, X-Boost helped to deliver more consistent transfer rates in our ATTO test. DPC Latency Tuner allows system settings to be tweaked in order to optimise DPC latency. This tool could be useful for those with audio editing tasks. Go2BIOS is a quick and easy way of entering the BIOS, without missing the option due to such fast system POST using newer Windows versions. Smart Tool can be used to create a bootable USB for Windows 7 installation. Live Update 6 is a tool that can update utility apps and drivers. I do not like the presence of unrequested software installations such as Norton and Google toolbar. Nahimic audio software gives a user control over the operation of the board's audio system. Presets relating to gaming and multimedia content consumption can be set. There is also control for the microphone and interaction of the audio system with XSplit Gamecaster. Sound Tracker is a visual tool that can display the direction of sound sources during gaming. This is similar to Sonic Radar on competing solutions. Software Summary: It would be a significant understatement to say that MSI includes a good number of in-depth software tools. The separate software pages are vast and options are plentiful. I particularly like X-Boost and also the extremely in-depth Command Center. MSI's RGB lighting control tool is decent and it could be better given that ASUS and Gigabyte offer intelligent operation modes that can adjust colour based on temperatures, for example. I would have also liked to see a software manager app like App Center by Gigabyte and AI Suite by ASUS. A lot of software means a lot of shortcuts or location to manage - one umbrella utility would aid ease of navigation to different software offerings. Overall, MSI's variety and quality of OS-based software apps is good. We will be outlining the MSI Z270 Gaming M3 motherboard’s performance with the Core i7 7700K CPU and 16GB of 3200MHz G.Skill TridentZ DDR4 memory. By default, the MSI Z270 Gaming M3 motherboard applies a multi-core turbo (MCT) state and forces the 7700K to a constant 4.5GHz when XMP is enabled. Overclocked performance will be outlined later in the review. Stock MCT voltage hit around 1.28V under Prime 95 load. Z270 Motherboard Test System: Processor: Intel Core i7 7700K (4.5GHz Forced Turbo). Memory: 16GB (2x8GB) G.Skill TridentZ 3200MHz 14-14-14-34 DDR4 @ 1.35V. Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX Titan X Pascal (custom fan curve to eliminate thermal throttling). System Drive: 500GB Samsung 840 SATA 6Gbps SSD. Games Drive: 960GB SK Hynix SE3010 SATA 6Gbps SSD. CPU Cooler: Corsair H110i GT. Power Supply: Seasonic Platinum 760W SS-760XP. Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Anniversary Update). Compared Z270 Motherboards: ASRock Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming K6. ASUS STRIX Z270F Gaming. Gigabyte Aorus Z270X-Gaming 7. Gigabyte Aorus Z270X-Gaming K5. MSI Z270 Gaming Pro Carbon. Software: MSI Z270 Gaming M3 BIOS v1.00 (latest at the time of testing). GeForce 376.19 VGA drivers. Tests: Cinebench R15 – All-core CPU benchmark (CPU) HandBrake 0.10.5 – Convert 6.27GB 4K video recording using the Normal Profile setting and MP4 container (CPU) SiSoft Sandra 2016 SP1 - Processor Arithmetic Test (CPU) and Memory Bandwidth Test (Memory) 7-Zip 16.04 – Built-in 7-Zip benchmark test (CPU & Memory) 3DMark Fire Strike v1.1 – Fire Strike (1080p) test (Gaming) Ashes of the Singularity – Built-in benchmark tool CPU-Focused test, 1920 x 1080, Extreme quality preset, DX12 version (Gaming) Grand Theft Auto V - Built-in benchmark tool, 1920 x 1080, Maximum quality settings, Maximum Advanced Graphics (Gaming) Metro: Last Light Redux - Built-in benchmark tool, 1920 x 1080, Very High quality, SSAA, AF 16X, Tessellation: High (Gaming) ATTO - M.2, USB 3.1, and SATA 6Gbps transfer rates (Motherboard) RightMark Audio Analyzer - Record and playback test using a line-in to line-out loopback with a 3.5mm audio cable (Motherboard) Cinebench R15 Cinebench is an application which renders a photorealistic 3D scene to benchmark a computer’s rendering performance, on one CPU core, all CPU cores or using the GPU. We run the test using the all core CPU mode. Sandra Processor Arithmetic SiSoft Sandra 2016 is a multi-function utility program that supports remote analysis, benchmarking and diagnostic features for PCs, servers, mobile devices and networks. We run the application’s processor arithmetic test to gauge the CPU performance on each tested motherboard. Handbrake Conversion Handbrake is a free and open-source video transcoding tool that can be used to convert video files between different codecs, formats and resolutions. We measured the average frame rate achieved for a task of converting a 6.27GB 4K video using the Normal Profile setting and MP4 container. The test stresses all CPU cores to 100% and shows an affinity for memory bandwidth. CPU-heavy performance from the MSI Z270 Gaming M3 is solid. The motherboard shows very similar performance to Z270 competitors. Sandra Memory Bandwidth SiSoft Sandra 2016 is a multi-function utility program that supports remote analysis, benchmarking and diagnostic features for PCs, servers, mobile devices and networks. We use the SiSoft Sandra memory bandwidth test to provide a set of memory bandwidth results. 7-Zip 7-Zip is an open source Windows utility for manipulating archives. We measure the Total Rating performance using the built-in benchmark tool. The test stresses all CPU cores to 100% and shows an affinity for memory bandwidth. A good memory bandwidth result leads to strong performance in 7-Zip. 3DMark 3DMark is a multi-platform hardware benchmark designed to test varying resolutions and detail levels of 3D gaming performance. We run the Windows platform test and in particular the Fire Strike benchmark, which is indicative of high-end 1080p PC Gaming. Ashes of the Singularity Ashes of the Singularity is a Sci-Fi real-time strategy game built for the PC platform. The game includes a built-in benchmark tool and was one of the first available DirectX 12 benchmarks. We run the CPU-focused benchmark using DirectX 12, a 1080p resolution and the Extreme quality preset. Grand Theft Auto V Grand Theft Auto V remains an immensely popular game for PC gamers and as such retains its place in our test suite. The well-designed game engine is capable of providing heavy stress to a number of system components, including the GPU, CPU, and Memory, and can highlight performance differences between motherboards. We run the built-in benchmark using a 1080p resolution and generally Maximum quality settings (including Advanced Graphics). Metro: Last Light Redux Despite its age, Metro: Last Light Redux remains a punishing title for modern computer hardware. We use the game's built-in benchmark with quality set to Very High, SSAA enabled, AF 16X, and High tessellation. You should not have any worries about the Z270 Gaming M3's performance in AAA titles. GTA V scores the MSI board a little lower than its competitors but this is due to subtle changes in the game software version. Realistically, all of these motherboards perform very similarly in gaming scenarios. Automatic CPU Overclocking: MSI's straightforward Game Boost overclocking preset took our Core i7-7700K to 4.8GHz with the click of one button. The overclocking configuration used a core voltage of 1.30V and a -4x AVX offset on the CPU multiplier to maintain stability. Our 3200MHz DDR4 memory kit was set to operate at its rated speed, which was good to see. There was a slight overshoot in load voltage, but nothing that represents cause for concern. Both the 4.8GHz and 4.4GHz AVX-based operating frequencies were checked and worked with stability. Manual CPU Overclocking: To test the MSI Z270 Gaming M3 motherboard’s CPU overclocking potential, we first increased the CPU VCore to 1.35V and applied the Mode 4 LLC setting in order to deliver a constant voltage close to our intended 1.35V. We maintained the DRAM frequency at 3200MHz to take its stability out of the overclocking equation. Cache frequency was maintained at its stock MCT value of 4.2GHz. The MSI Z270 Gaming M3 took our Core i7-7700K to its 4.8GHz Prime-stable limit. Voltage overshoot was a little higher than we would have liked at 18mV more than we input but this is not a worrying level and is decent for a mid-range motherboard. 3600MHz XMP Memory: We test the motherboard's ability to run G.Skill's high-speed 16GB DDR4 TridentZ kit at a 3600MHz XMP setting. High-speed XMP settings can prove a challenge for motherboard designers when optimising the settings for stability at the intended DRAM frequency. We actually used a Kaby Lake Core i3-7350K to test if the motherboard's XMP settings would accept 3600MHz DDR4 and it functioned correctly. Overclocked Performance As a performance comparison, we have included the results from five other Z270 motherboards. The maximum overclocked configuration achieved with each board was a 4800MHz (48 x 100MHz) processor frequency whilst using 3200MHz CL14 memory. Overclocked performance was on par with competing Z270 motherboards. Power We leave the system to idle on the Windows 10 desktop for 5 minutes before taking a reading. For CPU load results we run AIDA64 CPU, FPU, and Cache stress tests and take a reading. The power consumption of our entire test system (at the wall) is shown in the chart. Sensible voltage levels gave the Z270 Gaming M3 good power draw numbers at stock speeds. The voltage overshoot when overclocked had a slightly negative influence on power draw readings, putting MSI's Z270 Gaming M3 close to the highest overclocked load draw of our competitors. ATTO Disk Benchmark The ATTO disk benchmark is a Windows-based utility for testing storage performance of any storage drive or controller. We use the default benchmark setup. M.2 PCIe Performance For M.2 testing we use a Toshiba OCZ RD400 256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD. Both M.2 slots delivered full performance to our Toshiba OCZ RD400 M.2 PCIe SSD. We did not observe thermal throttling, despite the lack of M.2 slot cooling. USB 3.1 Performance We test USB 3.1 performance using a pair of Corsair Force LE 120GB SSDs in RAID 0 connected to an Icy Box RD2253-U31 2-bay USB 3.1 enclosure powered by an ASMedia ASM1352R controller. Performance from the ASM2142-powered USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports was excellent. SATA 6Gbps Performance For SATA 6Gbps testing we use a SK Hynix SE3010 960GB SSD. No concerns with SATA 6Gbps transfer rates. Audio Rightmark Audio Analyser is a freeware benchmarking utility designed to objectively test the performance characteristics of audio solutions. We setup a line-in line-out loop and execute the record/playback test before generating the results report you see below. A sampling mode of 24-bit, 192 kHz was tested. RMAA rated the MSI Z270 Gaming M3 motherboard's audio solution as 'Very Good'. With that said, its performance was not quite as positive as the numbers displayed by some of the higher-priced competitors shown in our charts. The MSI Z270 Gaming M3 is a well-balanced, cost-effective motherboard that proves itself as a good mid-range Z270 option. Performance numbers throughout testing were comparable to higher-priced competitors. There was no problem taking our Core i7-7700K to its 4.8GHz Prime-stable limit, thanks in large to MSI's easy-to-navigate UEFI and smart LLC options. The Game Boost overclocking preset also worked well, even if the AVX-loaded frequency of 4.4GHz was a little low for a Core i7-7700K. MSI's chosen quota of features for the Z270 Gaming M3 includes clear compromise. SLI and high-bandwidth CrossFire support have been put on the chopping block and I think that's a fair move given the unlikelihood of such solutions being partnered with a mid-range Z270 part. With that said, lower-cost competing solutions offer multi-GPU support where MSI does not. Fast USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A and Type-C ports are made available and the M.2 slots support simultaneous usage of PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSDs. RGB lighting is an area where MSI has clearly cut costs. Onboard LEDs are kept to a bare minimum on the Z270 Gaming M3 and only the 4-pin RGB header features a significant level of functionality in the OS-based LED control software. However, fan control is superb and the distribution of six 4-pin fan headers makes for plentiful options when specifying your chassis cooling requirements. MSI's range of software tools is also very good and will likely provide functionality to several different usage cases. The MSI Z270 Gaming M3 is available at Overclockers UK for £154.99. This makes it a reasonable option for the price but there are more feature-filled competitors available at a similar price or even lower. That is true even for the products from MSI's own stable, such as the Z270 Gaming Pro Carbon which is only very slightly more expensive, as well as the Z270 SLI Plus that is cheaper. Discuss on our Facebook page, over HERE. Pros: Good storage capability - dual PCIe M.2 SSDs plus six SATA devices. Fast USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports. Game Boost overclocking preset worked well. Excellent fan control system with plenty of headers. Easy-to-navigate UEFI with straightforward overclocking options. Lots of gaming-orientated OS software. Cons: High price for a motherboard without multi-GPU capability. Very limited RGB LED capability. No 4K60-capable video output may disappoint some users. KitGuru says: A solid performer with a good overall set of features. A reasonable choice if it suits your needs but more feature-filled options are available at a similar price.