Product Comparison: MSI Z270 Gaming M5 vs MSI Z270 Gaming M7

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MSI Z270 Gaming M5 DDR4 VR Ready HDMI USB 3 ATX Motherboard

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MSI Z270 Gaming M7 DDR4 VR Ready HDMI USB 3 ATX Motherboard

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General Specifications

Brand

MSI

Model

Z270 GAMING M5

Z270 GAMING M7

Origin

China

About the Product

MSI's Z270 Gaming M5 is undoubtedly one of the more feature rich Motherboard. Built for gaming first and foremost, it's packing just about everything you're going to need for a premium experience while using Intel's Core 7000 series CPUs, or the previous generation Skylake chips.

MSI Z270 GAMING M7 motherboard is one of the most complete motherboards currently on the market. Aside from a large array of PCIe x16 (3 in total) and 3 x PCIe x 1 lanes, the Z270 GAMING M7 also features a whopping 3 x M.2 Turbo slots for the highest performing storage possible. In addition to this is 6 x SATA3 ports and a single U.2 Turbo port for the latest U.2 SSDs.

Key Specs

Form Factor

ATX

Socket

LGA1151

Intel® Socket 1151

Chipset

Intel® Z270

Supported Processors

7th/6th Generation Core™ i7, 7th/6th Generation Core™ i5, 7th/6th Generation Core™ i3, 7th/6th Generation Core™ Pentium, 7th/6th Generation Core™ Celeron

Memory Slot Type

288 pin

What customers say about "Key Specs"

MSI Z270 Gaming M5 DDR4 VR Ready HDMI USB 3 ATX Motherboard

So far, this is an amazing motherboard. This motherboard is a Z170A chipset for the 1151 Processor, or Skylake.
First of all, I haven't purchased this Mobo, but I just have to say, damn this thing is gorgeous (other than the gaudy MSI dragon on the chipset heatsink) but hey its MSI.
Fits perfectly fine in my corsair 450D case
Once the build was complete and I started to configure the system, I realized that MSI builds a great product, more for the customer, not just for profit.
Bent pins are common with MSI motherboards. I recommend to closely look for any bent pins with a magnifying glass and flash light before placing the intel CPU in the socket. Many times you can correct the bent pins with a small tool instead of returning the motherboard.

MSI Z270 Gaming M7 DDR4 VR Ready HDMI USB 3 ATX Motherboard

I bought this to replace as it turns out a defective Gigabyte motherboard. The overclocking options are amazing and pretty straightforward. Very well built and premium motherboard, and an extra plus, is that it fixed the problem I was having with the old Gigabyte motherboard.
The board has been great out the box, lot of room for ram and video cards, onboard network has done pretty good for me and it has a great amount of USB & Sata ports. Great for the gaming I do..
Great Motherboard. Tons of features. M.2, Crossfire/SLI, overclocking, Deticated Audio, Sata 6gbs. DDR4 and Skylake. Highly satisfied.
The lagging performance improvements since the 4th gen, doesn't make for a better upgrade. just spending more money.
Moving up to this build from an i7-4790k @ 4.58 ghz, 2400gskill ddr3, benchmarked only 9% overall improvement, not much to warrant the 1000.00 upgrade. but it's here. so....

Size & Weight

Height

12 in.

Width

9.6 in.

Depth

1 in.

3.1 in.

Weight

3.8 lbs.

4 lbs.

MSI Z270 Gaming M5

MSI Z270 Gaming M7

MSI Z270 Gaming M5

MSI Z270 Gaming M7

MSI Z270 Gaming M5

MSI Z270 Gaming M7

MSI Z270 Gaming M5

MSI Z270 Gaming M7

Memory

Memory Type

DDR4

Maximum Speed

3866 MHz

4133 MHz

Number Of Memory Slots

Max. Memory Supported

64 GB

MSI Z270 Gaming M5

MSI Z270 Gaming M7

MSI Z270 Gaming M5

MSI Z270 Gaming M7

MSI Z270 Gaming M5

MSI Z270 Gaming M7

What customers say about "Memory"

MSI Z270 Gaming M5 DDR4 VR Ready HDMI USB 3 ATX Motherboard

Great Memory support, running GSkill tridents at 3733
I have this board paired with an Intel i7 7700K, 32gb Corsair Dominator Platinum SE 3200mhz Memory, EVGA GTX 1080 FTW Hybrid, Corsair H115i, Intel 600p 512gb NVMe Drive. Packaging of the motherboard was superb and included everything needed for the build.
This was my first MSI motherboard and I have no regrets so far. Memory started at lower Mhz by default but I only needed to turn on XMP to correct. Included utilities are very helpful for system monitoring.
I can't get XMP to work, G.skill TridentZ 3000Mhz. I manually got it to 15-16-16-35 2800Mhz. If I manually set it to 3000Mhz the board doesn't post.
I'm not sure if what I did solved the issues, but I reduced my speeds down to 4.8 ghz and 3000 mhz for memory and that seemed to do the trick. I suspect, i may need a clean copy of windows 10 on a new SSD

MSI Z270 Gaming M7 DDR4 VR Ready HDMI USB 3 ATX Motherboard

I purchased the MSI M5 motherboard as a replacement. I "bread boarded" the motherboard as soon as it arrived, using 32GB of DDR4 and an Intel Core i7 6700-K black edition at 4.0GHz and everything was perfect.
This motherboard is very good, it supports DDR4 and has handled everything I've thrown at it.
I'm running as i7-7700k with 16gb 3200 ddr4 ram and it handles it perfectly fine. The reinforced ram slots and graphic card slots is also a nice plus.
Check MSI's website to make sure your RAM is supported. Also make sure it's DDR4, since DDR3 is unsupported. Supports RAM speeds up to 3600 mHz/s, or 3866 mHz/s for a single stick.
The ddr4 memory was not normal in configuration for it, it was double on the far side right next to each other. And the graphics card is of course not working.

Connectivity

PCI-E

3 x PCI-E 3.0 x16 slots

3 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (support x16/x0/x0, x8/x8/x0, x8/x4/x4 modes), 3 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots

HDMI

USB

2 x USB 3.1 Gen2 (Type A+C), 6 x USB 3.1 Gen1, 7 x USB 2.0

3 x USB 2.0 Type-A ports, 2 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports, 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A port, 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C port

SATA

Other Interfaces

2 x M.2 slots, 1 x U.2 port, SATA RAID: 0,1,5,10, Killer™ E2500 Gigabit LAN port, 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector, 1 x 4-pin CPU fan connector, 1 x 4-pin water pump fan connector, 4 x 4-pin system fan connectors, 1 x Front panel audio connector, 2 x Front panel connectors, 1 x Serial port connector, 1 x RGB LED connector, 1 x TPM module connector, 1 x Chassis Intrusion connector, 1 x Clear CMOS jumper, 1 x BIOS FLASHBACK+ button, 1 x 2-Digit Debug Code LED, 1 x PS/2 mouse & keyboard combo port, 5 x OFC audio jacks, 1 x Optical S/PDIF OUT connector

DisplayPort port 1.2, 1 x U.2 port, 3 x M.2 slots (Key M), 1 x Killer™ E2500 Gigabit LAN controller, 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector, 1 x 4-pin ATX 12V power connector, 1 x 4-pin CPU fan connector, 1 x 4-pin water pump fan connector, 4 x 4-pin system fan connectors, 1 x Front panel audio connector, 2 x Front panel connectors, 1 x RGB LED connector, 1 x Chassis Intrusion connector, 1 x Clear CMOS jumper, 1 x Low Temperature Booting Jumper, 1 x 2-pin Slow mode jumper, 1 x 2-pin OC retry jumper, 1 x 2-pin OC Force enter BIOS jumper, 1 x 2-pin Discharge jumper, 1 x 2-Digit Debug Code LED, 1 x PS/2 mouse & keyboard combo port, 1 x Clear CMOS button(s), 1 x Optical S/PDIF OUT connector, 5 x OFC audio jacks, 2 x USB 3.1 Gen1 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 3.1 Gen1 ports), 2 x USB 2.0 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 2.0 ports)

What customers say about "Connectivity"

MSI Z270 Gaming M5 DDR4 VR Ready HDMI USB 3 ATX Motherboard

Motherboard offers a reading of every slot so you can essentially trouble shoot what ever issues you're having
The PCI slots will hold the heaviest GPU you can find for some like myself, we need it. I had my last Motherboard fail on me because of this very same issue.
I love the reinforced PCI-E slots. I don't know why this isn't a norm on all boards especially with cards being a foot long.
Some graphics cards are VERY heavy and can put a lot of stress on the slot, but the MSI M5's reinforced slots had no problem accommodating the huge Radeon card.
The board offers three 4-pin fan connectors, as well as two 4-pin CPU fan connectors.

MSI Z270 Gaming M7 DDR4 VR Ready HDMI USB 3 ATX Motherboard

The nice layout with all the fan headers, M.2 slots, SATA ports, etc. made the build that much easier and pleasant. Driver and software installs were seamless and so far everything plays nice together.
I do, however, like the temperature display and the number of HDMI and USB ports.
I accidentally bought this Mobo when I actually needed the M5; it doesn't support the number of USB ports, card readers, and external fan controls my tower features.
DOA Will not find any PCI cards except PCI Express! Can not use the MSI Geforce GTX 1050TI as it will not see it.
The only complaint I had was the SysFan2 port was at the bottom in the middle, I use a Rosewill ATX Case Mid Tower Computer Case Gaming Computer Case GUNGNIR, Black/Red, and the cables from my second case fan would not reach.
Came with a short circuit into card's USB port, runs for 15 seconds, then shots down for an over current on 1 of the 5 Board's usb port, and it happens to be impossible tell which one of the 5 usb ports on board is in short.

Features

Native Audio

Realtek® ALC1220 Codec

Dual Realtek® ALC1220 Codec

Additional Accessories Included

Drivers & Utilities Disc, User's manual, SATA Cable x4, I/O Shield, SLI Bridge Connector, SATA Cable Labels, RGB LED Extension Cable 80cm x1

Drivers & Utilities Disc, User's manual, I/O Shield, SATA Cable x4, SLI Bridge Connector, M-Connector, 1 to 2 RGB LED Extension Y Cable 80cm x1, SATA Cable Labels

Extras

VR Ready and VR Boost, Mystic Light RGB and Mystic Light Sync, Military Class 5, Guard-Pro: Latest evolution in high quality components for best protection and efficiency, In-Game Weapons: Game Boost, GAMING Hotkey, X-Boost, Xsplit Gamecaster, EZ Debug LED: Easiest way to troubleshoot, GAMING CERTIFIED: 24-hour on- and offline game and motherboard testing by eSports players

What customers say about "Features"

MSI Z270 Gaming M5 DDR4 VR Ready HDMI USB 3 ATX Motherboard

MSI Utility Software works wonders.
You can do a diagantostic type of OVERCLOCKING. Basically the mtoher baord will find the best OC setting for youre setting
Installation and setup was an absolute breeze. Currently running M.2 950 pros in raid 0. Boot time 14 seconds.
Onboard audio is pretty good. Used my ATH-M50X for a little bit and the sound were good (to my ears). I ended up using my usb DAC instead because why waste a DAC when you have one already.
"RGB" Lighting is very limited. Only a set number of colors are available.
Audio Boost 3 is not as good as the competition at this price point, I.e Asrock, Gigabyte offer 115 dB SNR
Not much for "RGB" Lighting.. but I didn't buy it for that so no real biggie

MSI Z270 Gaming M7 DDR4 VR Ready HDMI USB 3 ATX Motherboard

Easy install. Worked first time. Solid performance and features.
Looks awesome, has nice LEDs, and the install from my prior motherboard was simple.
Fan control is extremely easy to deal with
It also features Audio Boost 3 for great audio, especially compared to lower end motherboards.
Wish the LEDs could change colors
BIOS that ships with board has compatibility issues

Power

Power Connectors

1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector

What customers say about "Power"

MSI Z270 Gaming M5 DDR4 VR Ready HDMI USB 3 ATX Motherboard

It has 5 cpu fan slots, wish it had more but I made do with what I had. the 2 fans I have on the front of the case are connected straight to the power supply.
Thought i could use an older power 900W power supply, but seems the specs for the power supply for the newer chips changed and had to purchase a new power supply.
This board has all the high end features an enthusiast gaming mother board would expect. Its also well built and have great power delivery for overclocking.
One lesson I learned though, don't skip the ATX 6 pin power connector above the graphics card. It isn't optional, as USB devices wouldn't work on startup sometimes if it wasn't plugged in. I don't know what the 6 pin is for, but since I plugged in the extra power no issues.
I don't like that this mobo has no LED light to tell you that the power-supply is properly connected and powering the mobo. The mobo's LED only turns on when you completely power on the PC, instead of when it's receiving power from the PSU.
The biggest issue I had was right when I first installed the mobo and everything else in my case -- there was a red LED present near the 24pin power connector on the mobo, and nothing would power on!

MSI Z270 Gaming M7 DDR4 VR Ready HDMI USB 3 ATX Motherboard

For the enthusiast it would be hard to find a bios more thorough and the power delivery is very stable.
It has 5 cpu fan slots, wish it had more but I made do with what I had. the 2 fans I have on the front of the case are connected straight to the power supply.
It has 4 separate power connecters, which is likely not a bad thing at all, except that the manual doesn't provide much instruction on that point, making the board not-so-beginner-friendly. If this won't be your first experience installing a motherboard, you'll probably be fine.
After 2 days of trying to troubleshoot the problem. No power was getting to the MOBO what so ever. What it seems like is the motherboard isn't getting the standby power from the PSU.
I don't like that this mobo has no LED light to tell you that the power-supply is properly connected and powering the mobo. The mobo's LED only turns on when you completely power on the PC, instead of when it's receiving power from the PSU.
A Molex to SATA power adapter started a small fire on a PCI card and it burned up my Mobo and a PCI card. I

Warranty / Certifications

Manufacturer Warranty

1 year(s)

Certifications

FCC, CE