MSI Z270 GAMING M5
http://www.msi.com £185
STACKED UP
1 2 3 4 5 6 7ASRock Z270 Extreme 4Gigabyte Z270X-Gaming 7Asus Maximus IX CodeASRock Z270 Pro 4MSI Z270 Gaming Pro CarbonAsus Strix Z270G GamingMSI Z270 Gaming M5
185
4.9
1072PRICE (£) OVERCLOCK (GHz) CINEBENCH R15 (points)
Not overclocked
Overclocked7
Dig a little deeper, and you don’t find much extra for
the price difference. A U.2 slot adds extra SSD
support but it’s a very niche feature. You also get a
POST readout. You miss out on the raft of extras on
more expensive models, such as power and
overclocking buttons. You don’t even get labelling
for the front panel headers, leaving you to read the
manual to know which cable to plug in where.
Otherwise there are few slip ups. The layout is
tidy and intuitive and the M.2 shield a nice extra.
When it comes to performance the Gaming M5 just
pipped the Carbon in its default config, though it
consumed slightly more power in the process.
As for overclocking, for some reason we couldn’t
push past 4.9GHz, even with quite a bit of extra
voltage. It remained rock solid at 4.9GHz at 1.34V,
though, and the resulting performance was within
one per cent of the Carbon.
This is a good board, but it doesn’t
excite as much as more expensive
ones, nor is it a bargain.The MSI Z270 Gaming M5 is, on paper, very similar to the
Gaming Pro Carbon, but what a difference a little bit of design
makes. It gets just the right balance of muted colours, little
extras and that obligatory RGB lighting.
80 %
1 2 3 4 5 6 7ATXATXATXATXATXATXmATXForm Factor9556577USB Type A1111111USB Type CYesNoNoNoNoNoYesWi-FiESSENTIALS
160
5.0
1090210
5.0
1067290
5.0
1081120
4.8
1058160
4.9
1066215
4.8
9881053988983996988986994YesNoYesYesYesYesYesSurround SoundZ27O Motherboards
Z27O MOTHERBOARDS
76