MSI Z77A-G45 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS MSI Z77A-G45 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Pros: Rock solid stable. Great expansion room for add-on cards. Lots of SATA ports for the price. Don't even get me started on what you have on the back end for external connections.

Cons: Nothing that I can think of right now.

Other Thoughts: I am using this board for a headless linux file server. I am running 4 three terabyte drives in a RAID5 running command line Debian. The only time I have ever had any trouble with this board is when the power went out and the batteries in the UPS were exhausted. This board was an excellent choice.

Pros: It is essentially the motherboard of choice for moderate gamers. Very cheap considering the I/O, number of PCI slots and SATA ports. No bent pins (luckily, considering some unfavorable reviews), immediately recognized my GTX 650 ti boost and HHD.

This board will suit anyone who is budget conscious and looking to build a quality gaming rig. Seems like a very high quality board (Solid caps, ferrite cores or something). Looks the part.

Cons: The PCB is a fugly brown color. It is not black.
It isn't too bad, but under some light it just looks out of place.

I wouldn't be too upset if the Pictures of the board didn't appear to give such a black PCB.

Other Thoughts: Overclocked my i5 3470 to 2.8 Ghz in a snap. (As advertised).

Pros: Looks really nice, easy to work with.

Cons: Came dead.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

We apologize for the issues that you are having with this product.
Please kindly give us a call and we can assist you to determine the root cause of failure.

Our tech support team can be reached at 626.271.1004 during regular business hours from M to F, 9am to 6pm Pacific Time.
Or you can email us at usreview@msi.com, thank you.

Best Regards,
MSI Review Team | usreview@msi.com

Pros: Worked great when it was working. Nothing too bad as far as accessibility is concerned. Looks nice inside my case.

Cons: Failed in under 2 months. Computer will no longer boot, have tested the PSU multiple times, it is working. Very disappointed in this, have had a few MSI products all have been fairly decent to me, this one, was like the brat of them all.

Other Thoughts: Worried about the RMA process, can't really afford to buy another MoBo at the moment, so this MoBo may have just given me a very expensive paperweight for a PC, until I can get the MoBo replaced.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

We apologize for the issues that you are having with this product.

Please kindly visit the URL below to set up a RMA with the following information.
http://service.msicomputer.com/msi_user/rma_form_new.aspx

1. Full name (first, and last)
2. Telephone #
3. Physical address
4. Email address
5. Serial number (located on the box, or underneath the motherboard, eg 601-xxxx-xxxBxxxxxxxxxx)
6. Symptoms you are having onto the Special Remark section (as detailed as possible)

Once your information and warranty coverage are verified then we can proceed with this RMA for you.
Our turn-around time is typically two weeks and our system will notify you automatically at every stage of your RMA process.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the product, received the unit back from RMA but are still having issues, please do not hesitate to contact us directly at usreview@msi.com and we will be more than happy to assist you, thank you.

Best Regards,
MSI Review Team | usreview@msi.com

Pros: + When it works, it works.
+ Great OC functionality.

Cons: - SATA ports are a pain to work with.
- Initial setup a year ago involved the dreaded infinite boot cycle problem very common with this board. It disappeared randomly, but was a huge headache.
- A year after, while swapping out the CPU it reboot cycles (no video, POST) after 5 secs turning it on.

Other Thoughts: MSI clearly cannot guarantee the longevity and stability of this board. I will avoid it the next time I make a motherboard purchase.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

We apologize for the issues that you are having with this product.

Please kindly visit the URL below to set up a RMA with the following information.
http://service.msicomputer.com/msi_user/rma_form_new.aspx

1. Full name (first, and last)
2. Telephone #
3. Physical address
4. Email address
5. Serial number (located on the box, or underneath the motherboard, eg 601-xxxx-xxxBxxxxxxxxxx)
6. Symptoms you are having onto the Special Remark section (as detailed as possible)

Once your information and warranty coverage are verified then we can proceed with this RMA for you.
Our turn-around time is typically two weeks and our system will notify you automatically at every stage of your RMA process.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the product, received the unit back from RMA but are still having issues, please do not hesitate to contact us directly at usreview@msi.com and we will be more than happy to assist you, thank you.

Best Regards,
MSI Review Team | usreview@msi.com

Pros: This motherboard not only looks great, it also has amazing functionality that makes this an amazing mobo for the money. The materials are very high quality, and the "Military Class III" isn't something that's just dubbed for looks. This motherboard has many different expansion capabilities which are very useful for many people. Overclocking with the OC Genie II is great, very fast, and efficient, and the BIOS is beautiful, easy to navigate, and is very refined.

Cons: One PCI-e slot on the motherboard is obstructed by the rear I/O ports. The RAM slots are quite close to the CPU mount, so you might want to look for a low profile version if you're planning to use an aftermarket HSF.

Pros: Worked for five months (minus the software, the software was non-responsive).

Cons: All the USB ports failed at the 4 month mark. Terrible software that in many cases didn't work at all.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

We apologize for the issues that you are having with this product.
Please verify USB function by inserting any USB device into the system, and tap on DEL to enter BIOS setup to verify if it's detected or not.
If your USB device cannot be detected at all in the BIOS setup, then we will process a RMA for you.

If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with our tech support team directly at 626.271.1004 for assistance during regular business hours from M to F, 9am to 6pm Pacific Time.
Or you can email us at usreview@msi.com, thank you.

Best Regards,
MSI Review Team | usreview@msi.com

Pros: It works like a MOBO should
OC Genie works VERY WELL
I love that it comes with nice case-cable pin organizer things, makes building that much easier.
Is very nice looking blue scheme
Plenty of case-fan connectors
4 SATA 2 ports
Multiple PCI slots

Cons: Minor complaints that don't dock an egg but should be noted.
The uppermost heatsink is tall and will be very close the the top fans of a small case
Bright blinking CPU phase 4 blue LED are bit too bright
Only 2 SATA 3 ports
Enabling OC Genie changed my boot order so watch that!

Other Thoughts: To be honest I don't know much about motherboards but I needed an ATX board to slap a 3570k in. Was easy to build and went together very nicely.

Pros: It's working fine!

Cons: The board is a little crooked looking, but works.

Other Thoughts: Took me forever to try to get the CD driver working. Eventually, somehow I got the network to work (the network driver was not working so I could not update anything) and after that, just downloaded LiveUpdate5 from MSI website and it installed everything for me.

Pros: It works

Cons: None