MSI Z77A-G43 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Pros: I bought this board back in November to build a new gaming pc, also using an i5 3540 and a Radeon HD 7870. I haven't had any problems with it so far, but it's nothing special, like a sabertooth or other high-end board. Also, if I ever decide to upgrade, there is another PCI-E slot if I want to add another HD 7870 in Crossfire

Cons: This wasn't much of a problem for me, but there's no SLI support. Also, theres one PCI-E 3.0 and one 2.0. I don't see why there aren't two PCI-E 3.0s

Other Thoughts: Not a bad budget board that has the basics like PCI-E gen 3, SATA revision 3, USB 3, etc. If you want more, or a good overclocking board, you'll have to spend a bit more on a better board.

Pros: Great board when it works.

Cons: Finally got all my parts in to build my PC and what do you know.... Ram slots 3 and 4 are dead.. along with the ethernet jack... at first i thought i had gotten bad ram, but when i tested each ram stick individually they worked fine... i just hope it doesnt take long to get my replacement.

Other Thoughts: Hope the replacement works xD!

Build specs:
I3 3220
Asus GTX 550 Ti
2/4gb 1600mhz Crucial BallistiX
750W Antec high current
Corsair 600T mid case
500gb WD HD

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: Nice board. No frills - just what you need.
i3 3220, 2x8gb Crucial Balistix Sport 1333. Everything works fine. Z77 seems be a good chipset. i3's integrated graphics are fine. High speed SATA is great.

Cons: ClickBios II is a joke. It supposedly lets you enter the BIOS while in Windows. Takes forever to load and it's very slow. It's easier and faster to simply enter the BIOS on boot.

Other Thoughts: Cool little front panel leads doohicky lets you plug front panel pins into it and then just plug the doohicky into the MB. Clever.

Pros: It worked for just a hair over a year.

Cons: Apparently new memory makes this board die.

Other Thoughts: I had this board for a little over a year. 2 4gb sticks of GSkill Ripjaws X installed. I just installed 4 8gb sticks of more GSkill Ripjaws and motherboard doesn't post. It starts for a few seconds then shuts off. It will repeat this all by itself unless you cut the power from the rear of the PSU. Put BACK in the original sticks in the original modules and still nothing. One minute everything was running fine, no problem. Now, complete doo-doo.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

We apologize for the issues that you are having with this product.
Sometimes, installing new memory modules can create static that is damaging to electronic components on the motherboard.
You can try clearing the CMOS and see if it helps with the issue.

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: This is a very nice step up from what I got from HP. I originally had a stock computer from HP. I just recently started doing major upgrades. The mobo that they gave me was good but it was not what I needed. This mobo runs my new GTX 660 great as well as connecting with my new case.

Cons: The only con I can think of is that it can't SLI. It can Crossfire but it cannot SLI. Doesn't matter 1 660 is enough to play any game!

Pros: Functions accepts 3rd gen

Cons: You can overclock this board but you're gonna get auto settings... Multiplier you can change vcpu vdram? nope.. even if you change it will go into auto.
Not recommended for Overclockers or even beginners cause this board will make you rage. MSI and Asrock are off my list.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

We apologize for the issues that you are having with this product.
For your information, we are unaware of such issue, and please note that whenever a setting is changed then F10 needs to be pressed to save the changes.

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: Does everything I need it to do. Has room for additions and upgrades in the future. Higher end quality at a good price. Decent bios. No major problems.

Cons: I thought the bios was decent at best. Could definately be better. Plenty of options but little description of functions-Keep the manual handy.

The main thing I have against this board, and the reason I cant give it 4 stars(its clearly not a 5 star board), is the MSI Update program. This program sucks. Its suppose to install and update all your drivers and programs your board comes with, because if you install from the CD, everything is outdated and will barely work. So theoretically, you run this MSI Update program, and it downloads all the newest drivers and software for your board.

It does this. However, the interface is VERY bad. No help, descriptions, or explanations on anything. But by FAR the worst part, is the download speed. 4-5kb/second? Really!??! I can download from steam at 3 MB/s. This thing downloads at dial-up speeds. It takes hours for programs to download, if you can download them at all(the thing likes to crash, and freeze.)

Other Thoughts: The thing that stops the above con from being a deal breaker is the fact that you can go to their website(not the greatest of sites, but not terrible...I guess) and download everything manually, and install it yourself.

This is a decent board for the price-What sold me was the military grade components, and the warrentys on the capacitors and IC's. But my friend brought something to my attention-the caps have a 10 year guarrentee on them, but how many boards are you going to keep using for 10 years? I'm on a 2-3 year upgrade cycle myself(thats long for most people). So the marketing gimmick they used got me.

Overall not a bad board though. Probably would have went with an ASUS or a Gigabyte had I found one on sale, but MSI was cheapest, and it does what it says it does. Just nothing special.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

We apologize for the issues that you are having with this product.
The Etnernet Controller on this board is Realtek, you can try updating the driver on the OS through the URL below.
http://www.msi.com/product/mb/Z77A-G43.html#/?div=Driver&os=Win8%2064

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: Great motherboard with plenty of extra slots. Supports everything I need, and all for a great price!

Cons: Had some issues with cable routing, largely due to case/power supply though.

Pros: Installed into the standard case easily. Has all the standard connections. 8 GB Memory installed in the slots nicely as it wasn't necessary to push real hard. The i5 CPU installed nicely as well. System started up and ran perfectly on first boot. I had to reinstall Windows 7, which was expected. Windows saved my old stuff to a windows.old folder so nothing was lost. My system runs so good now! I would recommend this to everyone (and I am picky). The sound quality is top notch.

Cons: MSI's Live Update 5 program needs some work. I would have to open it, close it with task manager, then reopen it to get it to open. This happened after each update and reboot. It also doesn't tell you what some of the packages do, but does on others. Neither of these are game breakers, rather they are minor inconveniences.

Other Thoughts: I play World of Warcraft daily and the load screens are 2 to 8 seconds. A 100 man raid at Oondasta didn't lag me at all! I am very impressed.

Pros: The BIOS is pretty advanced and you can use a mouse which makes it easier imo. Also has pre-loaded settings like energy saving or overclock or standard which is nice.

Cons: Idk if this is actually a con or a pro but it loads so fast that you cant tell what the buttons are to load the BIOS or the boot set up screen so DEL is for BIOS and f11 is for the boot set up.