Pros: -Matte Black design that will match with any color scheme in your case
-Fully functional BIOS on par with MSI's gaming series.
-Small, but very effective heat sinks on the VRMs
-Intel Nic
-M.2 slot at such a low price point
-Overclocking ability
-The price!

Cons: -Cheap looking Sata ports/ vertical sata ports (4 horizontal and two vertical)
-Lack of USB ports
-No numerical LED (The debug LED provided is very generic)

Other Thoughts: I actually did my research and read reviews on this board from 4 independent sites that I trust and they were all very positive. The board is well made with MSI's military class materials despite it being a budget productivity board. Installation was a breeze and I updated the BIOS to version 130 since the board shipped with the 110 version. I usually never use the CD to install drivers, but was forced to this time around due to the board shipping with no network driver installed, no biggie, but something like this could be an issue for people without access to an internal or external DVD drive.

The BIOS is well rounded with a ton of options, just like the MSI gaming series and that was a welcome plus. I was able to get my 6600K up to 4.6 GHz on 1.36v (safe for watercooling) with max core temp hitting 63 degrees. This board is very much intended to be used for overclocking. Understand that when you purchase. All in all one of the best value tech purchases I have ever made since I purchased it on sale during a Newegg sale for 119.00.

This is a great board to consider for those looking for a minimalistic looking mainboard that does not sacrifice on functionality. The vertical sata ports and the minimal amount of USB ports were not enough to remove an egg. I'm to the point in my building life where I don't need flashy gimmick colors and corny features. Thank you MSI for a "grown up" affordable product.

Edit: This motherboard just got better. After having trouble overclocking my RAM above 2666MHz it seems a recent BIOS update (140) has solved that issue. By increasing SA voltage, IO voltage and DIMM voltage I have a stable overclock of 3000MHz on my Hyper Fury X 16GB kit of RAM. Not to mention this motherboard is on sale again for the same price that I bought it with a rebate. Total price after rebate is 109.00. That's crazy. It's a steal.

Pros: Nice looking I love the "mystic" lights

Cons: The con I have is the board has a bad PCI-E slot

Other Thoughts: I got the board built the system seems like a good board especially for the price just mine shipped with a bad PCI-E slot so I cant use SLI and have to RMA the thing

Pros: Easy to use and install has so many connectors for add one this board is absolutely wonderful no problems installing custom fan and has great debugging led not only that the over clock genie that it comes with boosts my Intel 6700k to 4.40 ghz and my ram as well without and high temps I recommend this board to any first time users

Cons: Non

Pros: - Decent price for the features, bought this at $119.99 a few weeks ago
- Great documentation provided by MSI, explaining which RAM slots to use, how to connect audio connectors, thorough diagrams, etc.. (Very easy for new PC builders to understand)
- Military grade components
- Easy to navigate BIOS
- Love the simple matte-black finish. Looks great with Hyper X black memory and black graphics cards.
- Easy to setup. Had no problems connecting things. I am using an old case, a first gen Antec Sonota, so cable management wasn't going to be ideal, but thats on me for not going with a new case.
- Debug LEDs

Cons: Ive had my build running for over a week now, and I don't any issues with the board, but the one thing I did find a little odd was the SATA connectors on the board, some being mounted at 90 degrees while others at 180. Not really a con in the grand scheme of things, but for those who have builds using 3-4 SATA connections, it might get a little cumbersome.

Other Thoughts: Originally bought this board with the plan to get an i5-6600k and OC, but decided against it and got the i5-6500 instead. My build:
- MSI Z170A SLI Plus
- Intel Core i5-6500
- HyperX Fury DDR4 2133 16 GB
- Sapphire R9 380 4 GB OC w/backplate
- Western Digital 1 TB 7200 HDD

Pros: Great looks, great manual, booted first time, SLI, budget price

Cons: HD Audio was DOA. My front audio panel worked great on my last mobo from 2012. Tried everything, disabling headphones from settings and re-enabling, reinstalling drivers multiple times, making headphones the default, and unplugging/re-plugging the cable. Fan header locations also in awkward locations

Other Thoughts: When I contacted MSI customer support, the agent barely spoke English and couldn't understand me, nor I him. When he understood what the issue was, he didn't even try to troubleshoot, just told me to contact Newegg for a replacement. I will be giving it another try.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Ingrid,
Sorry to hear about your reported issue. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the product, please do not hesitate to contact us directly at usreview@msi.com or at our support direct number in California USA 626-271-1004 M-F 9AM to 6PM PST. and we will be more than happy to assist you, thank you.

Thanks for choosing MSI

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

Pros: Super easy setup, just enough in the UEFI to have fun with overclocking but not so many things I'll never use.
Flat black, No bells and whistles or bright LED's. Just 3 small LED's they are marked CPU, Dram and Video, if there is a fault that particular LED will light up. System booted first time and has been stable since. MSI makes good products my last MSI mobo lasted over 8 years and Now I'm using it in my cheapo HTPC build.

Cons: Cannot get the bios to beep when booting up, Tried 3 different plug in speakers that I know for a fact work. I tried putting it in upside down and right side up. Maybe I'm missing something in the bios ? Doubtful but maybe.

Other Thoughts: So far this mainboard runs flawless, very easy to overclock. I have it running @ 4.1 ghz on air and it hasn't gone above 36c under heavy load it idles between 22 and 25c

Pros: The design and appearance of the board
SLI
Price
Supports the new 6th gen Intel processor
DDR4

Cons: The sata ports sit in an upright position rather than off to the side, which makes it sorta awkward to plug them in
The ATX ports on the board are awful, took me a good time struggling to get it in without worrying about breaking anything...not that it mattered in the end.
It didn't have the little 2-digit led temp/debug code like my z97 gaming 5 did, I liked that I could see the temp of the board right there.

Other Thoughts: The board arrived to me dead....and upon further investigation, this board seems to have more trouble than the average bad egg. Getting a refund and going for something that costs a bit more. MSI? maybe. But I will not get this board again. And I suggest you steer clear of it as well, spend a few extra bucks and go with something that won't be broken out of the box.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,
Based on the symptom you reported, we suggest you checking following steps below since many reason can cause the situation like this,
1. Check and make sure that power are connected correctly and firmly (JPWR1 and JPWR2).
2. Clear CMOS with jumper or battery.
3. Check your other major hardware's (memory, video card, CPU and power supply) to ensure that they are not the cause of the issue.
4. 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, 6AM 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: + It works
+ Super Speed USB
+ SLI and Crossfire
+ Several on-board fan ports

Everyone likes a motherboard that works and this one does as well. It has a good price to upgrade from the LGA 1155.
I've never used, or heard of, Super Speed USB but this board has 2 SS-USB ports.
This motherboard does support SLI and Crossfire, although I haven't tried it out yet.
This motherboard has a lot of on-board fan ports which I prefer to use over molex connectors as molex connectors and I don't get along too well.

Cons: - Doesn't have any flashy design to it
- Doesn't have a lot of USB ports
- USB PORTS DON'T WORK OUT OF THE BOX!!!

There are a lot of boards out there that have some kind of design to them such as color coded RAM slots to help people understand which slots to plug their RAM into (provided they don't have 4 sticks). This motherboard is just 1 solid color although that's not a big deal for me, I know some people like a board with a graphical design to it.

This motherboard doesn't have a lot of USB ports so if someone needs several then you're going to need a case that has the extras you need or you'll find yourself looking for cards or other means of acquiring USB ports. In total this board has 2 USB 2.0 ports, 2 SS-USB ports, and 1 USB 3.1 Gen2 Type C port.

The biggest gripe I have for this board is it's lack of pre-installed drivers for the USB 2.0 ports. Out of the box my keyboard and mouse wouldn't communicate with this board. I spent several hours running through several possible fixes to this issue since my keyboard and mouse worked just fine in the BIOS screen but once any drivers were loaded my devices shut off. I did disable XHCI hand-off mode which allowed my devices to remain powered by the board (they stayed lit up) but neither would communicate with the motherboard. I contacted MSI support in hopes that I had missed something but the suggestions they gave me were of no help and were all things that I had tried already. In the end it was the PS/2 ports that saved the day. I contacted everyone that I knew in search of an old keyboard and mouse with these connections on them and finally found a pair. BUYER BEWARE! If you don't have a keyboard/mouse with PS/2 connections then you will NOT be able to do anything with this board!!!

Other Thoughts: Overall, I feel that I would have rather spent about $200 on a motherboard and grabbed one that worked out of the box. I've spent less on motherboards that worked out of the box and feel that there is no excuse for this issue to even be in existence with today's technology. If you have a keyboard/mouse with PS/2 ports and are on a budget then this board is for you. If you have a little extra cash in your pocket then save yourself the trouble and get a different board.

Pros: Easy to set up Bios is nice

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Black looks nice in case

Pros: full atx, dual 8x8 sli skylake chip support, good bang for the buck

Cons: the m.2 port could've been x4

Other Thoughts: would buy, it has bells and whistles you need to game, nice blk and metal look goes well with blue led fans not the traditional red/blk layout,