MSI Z87 MPOWER MAX Pro Reviews

The Z87 MPower MAX isn’t inexpensive and may not be as novice-friendly as some competitors but it isn’t designed to cater to those needing hand-holding. This is a board designed from the ground up for overclocking and in that respect, it succeeds on nearly every level. If given the chance, even first timers will come to appreciate what MSI is offering in terms of stability, features and build quality which makes the MAX a great fit for nearly everyone that can stomach its price.

Behind the scenes here at TPU, I have been working closer with MSI than ever before, having been in contact with staff from VP down to tech service agents and marketing reps. The communication over email and phone, and the packages sent back and forth, amount to far more effort than I put into many other brands right now. MSI is one of those companies I have had a love-hate relationship with for many years, and honestly, they aren't my favorite company out there. Yet when I get my hands on their products, I always see great potential lately, and there is no denying that many companies could benefit from adopting MSI's current attention to detail and their focus on meeting consumer needs. Now, that should give some basis to what I'm about to say, and I hope MSI's staff reads through it closely as well. This board sucks. Overall, it is like some bastard child of Frankenstein and Groucho Marx, a mix of many different parts stitched together, even in the bundled accessories package inside the box. Looking at its included paper materials makes you think this board is all about LN2 overclocking, but its scope of delivery also includes extra USB 3.0 ports, eSATA bracket wiring, and an Intel wireless card with big, tall antennas. There are extra USB and SATA controllers, decent audio, and then these buttons for overclocking and a switchable dual-BIOS design. The VRM is hugely over-built, like on one of MSI's Lightning VGAs, even appearing to use several components also on those cards, just like the esthetic styling clearly taken from the Lightning brand. And like Groucho, it's quick-witted and has some snappy comebacks; that is, until you push things and get a big cloud of smoke in your face, with big bushy eyebrows bouncing at you suggestively from behind the smoke. The MSI Z87 MPOWER MAX is confused, not sure where it wants to go, and the BIOS proves it.

All in all I was pleased with what MSI brought to the table with the Z87 MPOWER MAX. It compared well with the rest of the boards I have looked at and is fully capable of delivering as much performance as your components will allow. At $259, MSI's MPOWER MAX is not a low buck option but does allow you to get your money's worth. When it comes to the end of the road and it's your money on the line, you really cannot go wrong with the MPOWER MAX!

With a kitchen-sink list of features, understated good looks, and loads of overclocker-friendly buttons, knobs, and BIOS settings, MSI’s Z87 MPower Max is the best enthusiast board we’ve examined to date for Intel’s latest processors. Granted, some of the features, such as the onboard voltage and current measurements, are useful only for a small subset of users. But support for 64GB of RAM will be appreciated by some, especially since the board comes with free RAM disk software. The plethora of in-box accessories is also very nice, especially if you’re a novice builder and don’t have a collection of cables, brackets, and connectors in a box somewhere left over from past builds. For some, this board will be more than a bit of overkill. But with competing Asus and Intel boards we’re also in the process of reviewing priced about the same or even a bit more, while lacking some of the Z87 MPower Max’s niceties, this board should definitely be on your short list—if you can afford it.

I don't think there's any compelling reason to move from an Ivy Bridge or even a Sandy Bridge based system to a Haswell system-- there simply isn't enough performance and feature differential to justify it. On the other hand, if you're building a new rig from scratch, there's little point in investing in end-of-life platforms, so going Haswell/Z87 makes sense. MSI enhances the performance and utility of this board with a broad array of proprietary hardware and software features. An mSATA connector, high-end sound, controller buttons, eight SATA 6G ports, and 10 USB 3.0 ports ensure that it's unlikely you'll ever need anything this board doesn't supply. We've seen MSI's yellow and black color scheme on other MPOWER boards, but they've taken it an extra step further here. The bright yellow accents really stand out, and the massive heat sink cooling the VRMs around the CPU socket really demands a water-cooled system with a window for maximum visibility. That said, the black painted finish is a little delicate and you should exercise caution when strapping on your giant air cooler.