MSI Z97 Motherboard Gaming Lineup Leaked – Z97 Gaming 9 AC, Mini-ITX Z97I Gaming And More!

[KakaoDj]

WCCF article  -  Lots of pictures inside

 

 

I really like the design overhaul, fewer dragons, more black, and no more red    (i am using my TN laptop with ungodly amounts of color saturation, i really can't tell if it is red or orange  :wacko:)  I also like the badge-looking thing they've got going on.

I would prefer if they had used white for the details instead of orange though, but who knows, maybe next revision?   JUST IMAGINE THIS THING IN BLACK/WHITE!!

I am loving the black PCBs though, huge props to MSI for that  :wub:

  
[spoiler=MSI Z97 Gaming 9 AC – The Mighty Two Headed Firebreathing Dragon]

The flagship and most featured packed entry in the Gaming lineup is the MSI Z97 Gaming 9 AC motherboard. This flagship product comes with a neat new design and a cool set of features for gamers and enthusiasts for instance, the LGA 1150 socket supports the Intel Haswell, Haswell Refresh, Haswell Refresh K-Series (Devil’s Canyon), and the Broadwell K-Series which arrives in 2015. So to sum it all up, this and all the other Z97 motherboards have a longer support time.

The LGA 1150 socket is powered by a 12 Phase power design and provided juice through a single 8-Pin PCI-E powe connector in addition to the 24-Pin ATX connector. The military class IV components are seated beneath an new and improved heatsink design which involves heat transfer through heatpipe. Four DDR3 DIMMs offer support for memory upto 64 GB with speeds of upto 2666 MHz (O.C+). The motherboard features the V-Check Points 2 which will let users use 2 ground connectors so that you now can use up to 3 multi-meters at the same time. The Power On/Off, Reset and OC Engine switches can be found next to the DIMM slots. For Expansion, we are looking at 3 x PCI-e 3.0 x16 and 3 PCI-e 3.0 x1 slots. There’s a M.2 PCIe slot which will be able to support mSATA SSDs with a good length for easier installation. The Z97 chipset itself is fused underneath a large Dragoon style Gaming G-Series heatsink. MSI has been using the brand since some time now on their Gaming products which include note books, motherboards and graphics cards. For storage, we have 8 SATA 6 GB/s ports, a USB 3.0 header and a LED for diagnostics.

The MSI Z97 Gaming 9 AC also features the latest Audio Boost 2 with Xtreme Audio DAC (Digital to Audio Converter) chipset which improves sound quality radically when listening through speakers and headphones. The board also comes with the Killer E2200 LAN chipset and 802.11AC which improves wireless connectivity and inter-net speeds. Prices are unknown at the moment but we expect a $249-$299 range for this flagship part.

 

[spoiler=

MSI Z97 Gaming 7, The "Almost As Mighty As The Two Headed Firebreathing Dragon" ]

Rest of the lineup include the MSI Z97 Gaming 7 which is also a high-end board packing some interesting features such as the obvious LGA1150 socket with 12 Phase supply powered with an 8-Pin connector. Four DIMM slots and V-Check Points 2. The OC Engine switches have been moved to the bottom of the board while expansion slots com with three PCI-e 3.0 x16 slots, four PCI-e 3.0 x1 slots and a M.2 SSD port. Storage includes 8 SATA 6 GB/s ports and a USB 3.0 header is located right next to it. The board features the Audio Boost 2 technology for improved audio via the output device. A couple of USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports are located at the I/O.

 

[spoiler=

MSI Z97 Gaming 5, The teenage dragon that could still kick your ass]

The MSI Z97 Gaming 5 comes with a 8 Phase supply powered with the 8-Pin power connector. Expansion slots include three PCI-e 3.0 x16, four PCI-e 3.0 x1 and a M.2 SSD interface. Four DIMM slots are located next to the 24-Pin ATX connector while storage packs 6 SATA 6 GB/s ports and a USB 3.0 header next to them. Audio Boost 2.0 is include but MSI has removed OC Engine, V-Check Points 2 and included a cheaper heatsink design without heatpipe to cut down the cost.

 

[spoiler=

MSI Z97 Gaming 3, the second best looking one  ]

The Z97 Gaming 3 and H97 Gaming 3 feature the same design and specifications, the only difference is that one comes with the Z97 chipset with the other features the H97 chipset. The main features include a 6 Phase power supply with a nice heatsink design followed by four DDR3 DIMM slots. Storage includes four SATA 6 GB/s ports while expansion includes two PCI-e 3.0 x16, two PCI-e 3.0 x1, three PCI and a M.2 SSD interface. Audio Boost 2 and MSI’s Military Class IV components are featured on both boards.

 

[spoiler=

MSI H97 Gaming 3, The H is for Heart :wub: ]

 

[spoiler=

MSI Z97I Gaming – The Small, But Ferocious Little Dragon]

The most interesting board of the Gaming Z97 motherboard lineup from MSI has to be the Z97I Gaming board. Featuring the same LGA 1150 socket, the motherboard comes in the Mini-ITX form factor which enables small form factor PCs and interesting concept design by modders and enthusiasts.

From a design perspective, the Z97I Gaming is a step froward by MSI equipped with a 6 Phase supply that is powered through an 8-Pin connector which will allow some decent overclocking on the new motherboards. Expansion slots include a single PCI-e 3.0 x16 and two DDR3 DIMM slots supporting a max of 32 GB memory with frequencies of 2666 MHz (O.C+). The motherboard has a 8-Layer PCB design and packs four SATA 6 GB/s ports for storage. A USB 3.0 header is also located right beneath the 24-Pin ATX connector. The VRM and PCH are hidden and cooled by the Dragoon themed heatsink design which involves heatpipe thermal transfer and goes well with the board’s layout.

I/O connectors on the MSI Z97I Gaming include an 8.1 Channel Audio Jack powered with the MSI Audio Boost 2.0 technology, six USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, 2 e-SATA ports, Dual HDMI, Display port, SPDIF, Killer E2200 LAN and an 802.11 AC B/G/N wireless antenna connector port for ultra fast WiFi.

 

[TechFan@ic]

Oh goodness that's sexy !

[KakaoDj]

Oh goodness that's sexy !

My thoughts exactly! Looks so sick 

[nixproducer]

looks really good, finally they got black pcb's

[Vendetta]

Gorgeous board, wish they would just get rid of the damn red though. I'm so tired of red/black.

[wtfxmitchell]

why no micro atx?

[AlexGoesHigh]

Get rid of the dragon and you a beastly looking mobo

[TheNinjaNextDor]

Give all black boards.

[ViruZ_HUN]

That sexy looking board does not deserve to get so less features. I hope MSI will put all their power now and do a 300 USd board but wiht worlds all features:D

[brownninja97]

I liked the dragons more.

[Izaya Orihara]

Less Red Great. 

[Izaya Orihara]

Give all black boards.

Do you even R4BE? 

[Bad@Gaming]

Interesting that the socket cover says, "LGA 115x"

 

Could this mean Z97 might be backwards compatible with haswell/ivy/sandy?

[TheNinjaNextDor]

Do you even R4BE?

Idk wat dis 1337 gamur speec es

I love that board lol too bad it's x79 and $500.

Maybe I'll cover it in paste for my dream build.

[mikeangeles 75]

God, those sexy black PCBs are soooo... sexy.

 

I wish the MSI Gaming logo could be removed.

[nsyedhasan]

Z97 MPOWER?

[hms1193]

Interesting that the socket cover says, "LGA 115x"

 

Could this mean Z97 might be backwards compatible with haswell/ivy/sandy?

 

LGA1150 socket on Z97 motherboards supports Haswell, Haswell Refresh, Haswell Refresh K-Series (Devil's Canyon) and Broadwell processors.

[One Who Craves Souls]

I'm tired of the same black/red themes over and over again, but I admit even for an over-used theme it looks nice. Especially the black pcb...

[JLCitadel]

Their flagship doesn't support quad-sli.. interesting?

[SeanAngelo]

omfg that looks so sexy

 

s;dlkjfgha;lksfh

[Mr.Duck]

Seeing these makes me even more excited for the Z97 SaberTooth ;D

[ObeseWalrus]

Get rid of the dragon and make it all black

[One Who Craves Souls]

Seeing these makes me even more excited for the Z97 SaberTooth ;D

That's going to be interesting.

[micedits]

Wow they look great 

[papeles]

I don't find them goodlooking  :wacko:

 

am i the only one?