Preview: MSI Big Bang Z77 MPower Motherboard
The MSI Big Bang Z77 MPower is the flagship Intel Z77 Express-based motherboard to be OC Certified. This overclocking standard set by the company is only accorded to boards that have passed its stringent overclocking testing procedure to guarantee stable overclocking results.
The Beginning of Overclocking Approved Mobos?
The Big Bang series of motherboards from MSI has always had larger-than-life presence. From the recently seen MSI Big Bang-XPower II to the current MSI Z77 MPower, this series evokes a sense of awe, even amongst the most hardcore of overclockers and rig builders. The Big Bang series also comprise of 'historical' series like the Trienergy & Fuzion, XPower and Marshal. Hence, we have seen our fair share of MSI Big Bang series motherboards, these boards are high-end products that feature some of the latest technologies and the latest Z77 MPower is no exception.
The MPower series is actually a sub-series within Big Bang. The former is featured in both LGA1155 and LGA2011 boards. The Z77 MPower is the flagship Intel Z77 Express-based board to support MPower - a moniker that refers to the board being OC Certified after passing the company's own internal testing. According to MSI, the OC Certified standard is "... an all-new standard for overclocking stability and a major extension of MSI's Military Class certification". OC Certified is MSI's stamp of approval from their overclocking testing procedure to guarantee stable overclocking results. The Military Class burn-in test for OC Certified status is the 24-hour Prime95 burn-in test with a liquid-cooled overclocked CPU. You can refer to our previous report for more details on the testing process.
The MSI Z77 MPower board sports a rather muted color scheme. Set against a black PCB, with free flashes of yellow stripes to break its dark monotony, it belies the true prowess of the board, its OC Certified capabilities.
The MSI Big Bang Z77 MPower is a standard ATX board that support LGA1155 CPUs, such as the latest third generation Intel Core CPUs (Ivy Bridge). According to its manual, the board actually supports overclocked DDR3 memory modules that have been rated up to 3000MHz! With its Military Class III CPU VRM components, this board is really begigingto be overclocked.
No Extra PCIe Lanes Added
We start our inspection from expansion slot configuration. The arrangement of its three PCIe Gen3 x16 slots and the four PCIe 2.0 x1 slots is identical to the MSI Z77A-GD65 board. For a board of this pedigree, we were half-expecting it to feature a PLX PXE 8747 switching chip that takes in the 16 PCIe lanes from an Ivy Bridge processor and support 32 PCIe lanes via high speed switching for various multi-GPU setups. Hence, it seems that the MPower sub-series is mainly focused on delivering the overclocking edge (OC Certified) with guaranteed performance and stability (Military Class III CPU VRM components).
When a dual-slot graphics card is inserted into the first PCIe x16 slot, its neighboring PCIe 2.0 x1 slot below will be inaccessible. Despite this often seen trait on other boards, the Z77 MPower has plenty of room for a multi-GPU setup.
Still In Full Military Class III Glory
Moving up north from the PEG slots, we can see the power regulation system for the LGA1155 processor that boasts of Military Class III components (first discussed in this article), the board features an impressive cooling system for its VRM components as we notice the three heatsinks that are connected with a 8mm thick heat-pipe which is dubbed SuperPipe (this has been a mainstay in their upper-class boards since 2009). In its current heat transfer configuration, it's likely that the SuperPipe is dissipating heat from the two of the larger heatsinks which sit directly on the MOSFET ICs (DrMOS II), to the smaller heatsink. The larger VRM heatsinks remind us of gun barrels, just like those of the MSI Big Bang-XPower II.
The Military Class III CPU VRM components are designed to ensure durability and reliability during the operation of the board, especially when the board is being overclocked and its processor and memory modules will demand more power.
High Urban Density
The four DDR3 memory slots are located beyond the CPU socket and the manual claims that the board is able to support memory modules that are rated up to 3000MHz. Just beyond the clips of the DIMM slots, near the edge of the board, we see a DrMOS alarm LED and twelve CPU Phase LEDs. Hence, the CPU has a total of 12 power phases for a reliable flow of power to the CPU. But unlike some boards where these LEDs light up to indicate the number of power phases in active operation, the implementation differs on the MSI Big Bang Z77 MPower. Instead of the expected, the DrMOS alarm LEDs will light up the LED when a corresponding MOSFET IC has overheated.
According to the manual, the DrMOS alarm LED will light up when the MOSFET ICs are overheated.
We are puzzled by the position of a system fan power connector, which is located just above the onboard control buttons, making it difficult to connect or reach for most fans given their logical positions within a modern casing. The onboard control buttons (Easy Button 3) themselves are placed in tricky spot which will likely be blocked by an optical disc drive (ODD) in a tower system, hence making them inaccessible once installed within a chassis.
The PCB real estate beyond the DIMM slots looks very busy and cluttered.
The 6-pin power connector and the voltage checkpoints connectors are too close for our comfort.
The system fan power connector and the onboard control buttons are likely to be blocked by an ODD installed within the chassis.
Other Features of the Board
We understand that there are no third-party SATA 6Gbps controllers; hence, the Z77 MPower features the standard fare of SATA connectors; two SATA 6Gbps and four 3Gbps connectors.
The pair of SATA 6Gbps connectors is distinctive enough from the four SATA 3Gbps ones, even though they are of the same color. A USB 3.0 front panel expansion header is placed next to the SATA 6Gbps connectors.
With the board's Multi-BIOS system, we are able to keep one set of BIOS for regular use and the other for back-up purposes. With the board in vertical orientation, flicking the switch left will toggle BIOS ROM A while BIOS ROM B is toggled when the switch is shifted right,
There is a Multi-BIOS switch located next to the set of SATA 3Gbps connectors. The SW1 button is the GO2BIOS button that will force the board to boot to its BIOS selection menu when it is pressed.
From the left are the front panel headers for audio, TPM, and system fan power connectors. The USB 2.0 and 3.0 expansion headers are to the right. They allow the connection of additional USB devices with their corresponding USB brackets (which are provided in the package). With MSI's SuperCharger application installed on the operating system, these connectors will provide quicker USB charging.
New Additions to the Board's Rear Panel
The standard rear I/O panel has been upgraded with the inclusion of wireless connectivity modules ; one supports Wireless 802.11 b/g/n networking and the other, Bluetooth 3.0+HS. Apart from the pleasantly unexpected inclusion of wireless connectivity options, the rest is of the ports are mostly standard fare. There are a total of six USB 3.0 rear ports; two of them are supported by the board's Intel Z77 chipset while the other four are courtesy of USB controllers from Renesas Electronics. A lone Gigabit LAN port sits above a pair of USB 3.0 ports, and we noticed that external storage options for this board are restricted to USB devices as there are no eSATA ports at the rear panel. VGA and DVI ports are absent, but there are HDMI and DisplayPort options for video output from the integrated GPU on the CPU. Other usual suspects include the PS/2 keyboard-mouse combo port and the block of audio ports.
To the right of the black pair of USB 2.0 ports, we see the clear CMOS button that has a unique and kitschy '60s sci-fi design.
The bundled Wi-Fi antenna is small and light as it is made out of plastic, but it is better than the one who we last saw with the ECS Z77H2-AX.
There is a bundled Wi-Fi antenna to extend the range of the board's Wi-Fi module.
First Impressions
At first glance, the MSI Big Bang Z77 MPower sports the color scheme of the newer MSI Lightning graphics cards series like the MSI R7970 Lightning. Upon further examination, we noticed the improved CPU VRM by the way of twelve-phase power input versus the eight-phase version of the older MSI Z77A-GD65. With its OC Certified status and support for insanely highly overclocked DDR3 memory modules, its overclocking edge will probably be stronger than the former board. By virtue of it's OC Certified status, questions will arise from after-sales support when overclocking hiccups occur. According to our discussion with the product managers of the board at MSI's booth in Comutex 2012, they've mentioned that this series of boards will feature OC-in-Warranty support, which translates to better warranty terms for overclockers who damage their boards due to their OC attempts.
Well, we'll have to put the Z77 MPower through its paces to find out its performance gains and ascertain if these gains are worth its improved build and higher asking price. Alas, there is no information on its availability and pricing at this point of time, but do watch this space for more updates in our upcoming review.
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