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 M7 is based on an ATX form-factor and there are your usual four DIMM slots. Compared to the previous model we find a better color scheme and more connectors in general. Apart from that “Mystic Light” RGB lighting is supported, which allows to change the illumination of the board from within Windows. There are three full-sized PCIe slots with steel reinforcement and three PCIe x1 slots. Regarding the slots the layout is exactly the same like on the previous model.

Between each full-sized PCIe slot there is a M.2 slot and one of them is covered with the MSI M.2 Shield which should help preventing thermal throttling of M.2 SSDs. The slots can hold a whole variety of M.2 drives and the longest of them could measure 110mm, complying with the 22110 standard. In the case of SATA ports you’ll find six angled ports. MSI has also added quite a few bells and whistles that you might need for overclocking. Like on the Z270 Titanium series, there is a debug display as well as several onboard buttons.

Checking Geizhals for the price we find that this boards is listed for about 232 Euro. This is anything but cheap, but considering that this is a great looking, high-end Z270 motherboard, the price is still in a kind of reasonable range.