Checking at the Z270 Gaming series from MSI we can tell that few things have changed compared to the past generation based on the Intel Z170 chipset. For example the color scheme of the entire series is kept in black and shades of grey.


The MSI Z270 Gaming M5 is based on an ATX form-factor and there are your usual four DIMM slots. Compared to the previous model we find a more sophisticated plastic cover both on PCIe slots and heatsinks. Apart from that there is the “Mystic Light” feature, which allows to change the illumination of the board from within Windows. There are also three full-sized PCIe slots and two of them feature a steel reinforcement.

Between the first and the second full-sized PCIe slot there are two slots distance providing plenty of space for graphics cards in case of multi-GPU setups. On the storage side we see two M.2 slots and the one placed on the bottom part of the motherboard is covered with the MSI M.2 Shield which should improve temperatures. The SATA port count is the same that you can find on the Z170A Gaming M5.

The new Z270 Gaming M5 we doesn’t come with any onboard buttons which were present on the previous model. In our opinion this model looks quite interesting, although the covers are made from cheap plastic.