Pros: - Design looks cool
- Easy to setup

Cons: - none

Other Thoughts: I was hesitant on getting this because of some of the reviews but it fits my build perfectly so I decided to take the plunge. I had no issues whatsoever and it was a very easy setup.

Pros: -Sexy
-Love the game boost for easy overclocking

Cons: -Seems to be finicky about ram from what I've read up on. Thought I was having issues, too, but some testing from a friend and the issues were gone. Not sure if it was related to the motherboard or other hardware.

Other Thoughts: Bought this for my first build after a friend helped me pick out my hardware. Everything went into it fine and I love the way the board looks. The red and black theme is very attractive so much so that I even bought a case with a window so I can look at it. I made sure to look over the board carefully since other reviewers had to send it back from defects but I had none. First time build, first install, everything booted up perfectly... other than a small ram issue that may or may not have been related to the motherboard I haven't had any problems. The bios features are easy to configure and the game boost option is convenient for those of us that do not know anything about overclocking. It takes my i5 6600k 3.5 to an easy 4.1.

Pros: I purchased this board upgrading from an FX-8350. This is an excellent board and so far I haven't had any issues. The design of the board looks really nice especially when it comes to the port layouts. It overclocks nicely for the price also, I'm currently at 4.6 GHz with a 6600K. It's not the best overclock but it still counts for something. I will definitely update this review if something fails. Until then, all is well.

Cons: The BIOS screen uses a low resolution image that stretches across the screen.

Other Thoughts: I will also point out the ideal OS for when installing this motherboard is Windows 10. I noticed in some reviews, people gave this motherboard 1 egg, while complaining about how the input devices shut off during the installation. There's only one reason for this, you're installing W7. There are options specifically inside the advanced BIOS settings that MUST be turned on in order to proceed with the installation. This motherboard works differently, some settings are not natively supported on W7 that Windows 10 includes.

Settings for windows 7 installation.

XHCI Mode Disabled - The on-board USB 3.0 port function like a 2.0 port

and

Windows 7 Installation - enabled

Pros: Nice BIOS

Cons: It says that my thermal throttling is 100%. When my cpu temp is just fine now because of this problem my cpu frequency is at 0.80 and doesn't move.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear customer,
Based on the symptom you reported, we suggest you checking following steps
Please kindly see the following FAQ link and can help you solve the issue, https://service.msicomputer.com/msi_user/support/TechFAQdetail.aspx?formid=3265. Thanks!
If you need further assistant, Please do not hesitate to contact us directly by email at usreview@msi.com or by phone at 626.271.1004 M-F, 9AM to 6PM PST. We will be more than happy to assist you.

Thanks for choosing MSI

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

Pros: This board is very feature rich for it's price point and has more than enough SATA ports which is a plus. I love the design and appearance of the board which goes great with my system. Finally, it booted up at the first time for me.

Cons: Let me just say that isn't really a con, but more of a personal preference: The audio seems like a bit of a downgrade from the MSI Gaming 970 motherboard that I had before. I'm unsure if it's because the sound effect software is Nahimic instead of Sound Blaster Cinema. I didn't really color much of my audio with either of them, but my 5.1 and headset both felt more immersive with the 970s audio. Nothing to subtract an egg over, but I will miss how things sounded before.
EDIT: I'm subtracting an egg after finding out that Nahimic was causing GTA V to crash. Apparently it can cause other programs to crash as well. I had no idea this was the issue. I did a clean install of Windows 10 and installed GTA V again, which takes ages over a 6mbps connection, before stumbling upon a post in a forum stating that some audio programs can interfere with GTA V launching. I should take away 2 eggs since I wasted my entire weekend which also happened to be my birthday trying to fix this.

Other Thoughts: With my experience so far I would recommend this board to anyone looking for a mid-range Z170A. UNINSTALL NAHIMIC.

Pros: - Matte black finish is very professional and clean looking.
- Metal reinforced PCI-e slots.
- Red LED's on the board look great and add extra character.
- BIOS was very easy to use and was well organized.
- Power regulation for the CPU/RAM is really easy to control and was very solid.

Cons: - front panel header wasn't labeled, had to consult the manual for proper pin placement (not a big deal, didn't dock any eggs).
- DVI output doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, I mean I get it, the Skylake processors have a graphics controller integrated, but the Z170 solution isn't that great without dedicated graphics cards (again, opinion, not docking any eggs).

Other Thoughts: This is a really good board, especially for someone who was trying to upgrade to Skylake on a budget. I was able to take my i5 6600k to 4.8 right out of the box and didn't have a problem with voltages either. The board looks great in the case and has a very rigid and "solid" feel to it. The construction is very good and I did like the metal PCI-e slots even though I don't plan on tearing out graphics cards for fun. This is a really great board and for what I got it for I feel like I definitely got a great deal.

Pros: works as expected/ hoped. I'm set for a while..

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: I recommend

Pros: This is my first "gaming" motherboard and I have to say I have been very impressed with the features and utilities. I've had it up and running for a week and it's been smooth sailing. Things I really like:
- Best IO shield. It has a cushioned pad instead of those annoying metal prongs that other plates have. Install was a breeze thanks to this.
- Very nice utility set, both in BIOS options and software utilities in Windows. Being able to use your mouse in BIOS is very convenient.
- Looks very cool when running. I really like the red light set into the board itself.
- Great audio. I really feel like I'm getting the full value out of my nice headphones. The bass is killer compared to sound off my last board!
- FANTASTIC manual. Much more in depth than my last motherboard.

Cons: Only con is that it dropped in price $40 a week after I bought it! I'm still very happy with the board even at the price I paid and would buy it again.

Other Thoughts: This is my first MSI product and I'm impressed. I'm eyeing a graphics card upgrade and I'm seriously considering the options from MSI given my experience with this board.

Pros: Has all the bells and whistles i needed and then some at a good price.

Cons: none, again looks great, I honestly can't complain about this mobo

Pros: Very nice mother board, love the amount of SATA ports and USB 3.0, the USB 3.1 ports and USB C port. I know they aren't in wide use now but it future proofs the motherboard for a few years.
Big beautiful heat sinks. MSI Dragon Logo
Lots of SATA ports
Separated Audio card.
The code LED is very useful. When I initially ran the computer and got an error code. Which I had read somewhere meant that there was an issue with the RAM, I took them out and put them back in and the computer started posting.
The temperature right on the mother board is very convenient.

Cons: Gave me problems with installing windows 7 but after a day I realized that it had a windows 7 compatibility mode in the BIOS.

Other Thoughts: BIOS loading picture is a grainy, would have liked to see a wicked MSI dragon without the mess.