MSI Z97M Gaming LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: This board works flawless . installed a 64 Gb M.2 card for OS boot . win8.1 boots in under 8 sec . used the CD. for drivers and zero problems used msi update no problems. and wow it even had a SLI bridge connecter. Board is packed with features and looks great too. I have a plexi side panel to see in. On board LED shows cpu temp. OC GENIE button pushed CPU from 3.4 to 4.1GHZ with no issues. easy to setup and connect. temps 38C AT IDLE 54C when gaming. runs at 28C @ 3.4 ghz
Frame rates when gaming went over 220fps on ultra settings. Using just one video card gave me avg. 120fps.

Cons: none yet

Overall Review: CPU I-5 4670 3.4GHZ OC TO 4.1GHZ
EVGA 760GTX 2 GB SLI
MY DIGITAL 64GB M.2 HYDRID DISK
OZC VERTEX 240 GB SATA
WD 1 TB HDD
CORSAIR H50 block cooler
EVGA 850 WATT GOLD PS
GSKILL SNIPER 8GB X2
APEVIA-X HERMES CASE W 5 FANS
WIN 8.1 64BIT no crashes or hang ups
msi benchmark utility fun!!

Pros: Numerous features in a small package. The SB audio tweaks sound nice and subtle without being gimmicky. The build quality is nice. Installation was relatively easy. Which was nice because I had to RMA one board.

Cons: The audio on my first board died after about 1 week of use. After the RMA I did another fresh win 7 install, making it 3 or 4 after all of the sound problem troubleshooting. Their software is just a flaky mess. My day job is writing software and I'd fear that I'd be fired for letting this out the door. At the bare minimum their assortment of utilities should be able to install the drivers for the motherboard components. My USB3 ports still don't work. Half of their utilities refuse to even launch anymore. But the system is stable now. After all of that hassle I'm reluctant to bother with overclocking.

Overall Review: Pick something else unless there is something here you feel is a must-have.