MSI Z97 MPower MAX AC Motherboard Review

UEFI Overview and Overclocking

Before we dive into the UEFI’s overclocking features, let’s see the rest of the settings available.  The main screen layout is similar to the one introduced with the Z87 Mpower MAX and has the same color theme. The center now has the OC series logo and several new features are visible such as the addition of the single-click XMP on the OC Genie button and Favorites button on the upper right hand. The boot device priority can be changed by dragging and dropping the icon in descending order with the highest priority on the left side. At any time, users can hit F12 to take a screenshot and save it to a plugged-in FAT16 or FAT32 USB drive.

The first group of options is the Settings menu which contain the bulk of the motherboard’s functions including control for peripherals, subsystems, booting, security, and power management. A useful newly added feature when saving is the “Change Settings Info” that displays what changes were made before saving. There is also a new Last Known Good Config feature which sets the system settings automatically to the last successful boot state and also displays a failure analysis window to inform the user what settings caused the failure.

A built-in BIOS flashing utility is also available in the UEFI allowing users to not only update their BIOS from a USB drive, but save the current BIOS to disk as well. The update file must be placed on the root of the USB drive or else M-Flash will not be able to read it.

On the other side of the screen are three more sets of functions, beginning with the OC Profile which allows users to save up to six different profile settings on the board itself while profiles can be saved to a USB and loaded from ROM or USB as well. A new feature added to the Mpower MAX’s Click BIOS 4 is the info tab beside the help tab on the right side which displays core and essential voltages while browsing the UEFI.

Under the Overclocking Profile is the Hardware Monitor where users can access comprehensive fan control options, set fan curves, and monitor voltages. There is also a new OC Profile preview under the Overclocking profile setting accessoible by pressing F8/F9.

The last option is the Board Explorer which provides a graphical overview of what components of the motherboard is plugged in and being used.

Since things can get complicated with trying to navigate the UEFI nested options, especially when you start overclocking, MSI has added a favorites function which allows users to save a set of their favorite option in multiple profiles. This is different from the OC Profile section in that users can change the options.

Now on to overclocking…a few notes about the Intel Core i7-4770K CPU before proceeding, just in case you are not familiar with Intel Haswell CPUs:

• A retail Intel Core i7-4770K CPU was used for this review. Unlike engineering samples which are handpicked and overclock further with less voltage, a retail Intel Core i7-4770K shows a more realistic overclocking experience.
• Voltages over 1.3V when pushing the frequency to 4.5GHz is usually too hot for normal air coolers. If you can hit 4.5GHz before needing 1.3Vcore, then you have a good chip. If you can’t, you will most likely need a custom water loop or better to get a higher OC.
• Each retail i7-4770K is WILDLY varying in their overclocking success and voltage requirements. Much more so than any other previous Intel processor. On air, most motherboards will pretty much reach that CPU’s thermal limit before it can realize its OC potential. Unless a motherboard’s VR is really inadequate, the same chip will OC on air on a budget Z87/Z97 LGA1150 board as it would on a high-end one. The CPU lottery is really crucial when it comes to getting a successful high overclock on air with an unlocked Haswell processsor.

Overclocking is possible through the UEFI, through XTU or through Command Center. It is completely up to the user. XTU and Command Center have the advantage of having all the overclocking options right on the desktop but Command Center is the more comprehensive of the two. OC Genie is also a time saving auto-overclocking feature for those who want to get a good overclock without wanting to spend hours trying to find which settings works. Gear 1 is basically worthless to anyone but those who have an entry level cooler and are too afraid to adjust any setting, but Gear 2 OC Genie is very capable as we saw with the Command Center. Here are the settings which Gear 2 OC Genie used:

To manually overclock, simply go to the OC option page which contains every single overclocking option for the Z97 MPower MAX AC motherboard board. A new tweak that MSI did was to provide an option for “simple” and “advanced” OC page. Simple mode removes functions set under the nested CPU settings but Advanced gives overclockers the option to adjust these on the same page without moving out of the main OC section. There is also an Extreme OC setup which is disabled by default but optimizes the BIOS settings for sub-zero overclockers.

The page displays the CPU frequency OC settings first at the top, then the CPU BCLK setting then the DRAM setting, then the Voltage setting and at the very bottom you can find the CPU features sub-menu for disabling or enabling key CPU features that could affect overclocking.

DRAM Frequency range goes as high as 3200MHz. XMP profile can be loaded as well. Two new features added to the DRAM section is the Load Memory Preset and “Memory Try It!” function. Load Memory Preset has several settings tailored for popular DDR3 overclocking such as PSC and Hynix MFR memory chip-based modules. Memory Try It! is an auto-overclock semi-preset that detects which OC setting your installed memory module can run

Load Line Calibration and Phase control is classified under DigitALL Power sub-menu. Here users can adjust protection settings, Vdroop offset, CPU and DRAM phase control, and switching frequencies.