MSI Z77A-GD65 Gaming Motherboard Review
Overview
Hardware: CPU & MotherboardsWHAT WE LIKED:
Great Aesthetic Appeal, Overclocking Stability, Feature Rich SoftwareWHAT WE DISLIKED:
The rear panel VGA connector may be a waste, but this is a minor gripe.Discuss in the Forum
Introduction
The Z77 Chipset has now been on the market for almost a year since its first debut. During its launch we saw several products from various manufactures that jumped into the pond to bring their latest and greatest at the time. Now that we have seen this platform and chipset mature a bit, many manufacturers have hit the drawing board and are trying to revamp new revisions to this already well bloomed platform. With that being said, today we are going to look at a new motherboard from MSI.
On the test bench today we have the MSI Z77A-GD65 Gaming Edition Motherboard for the Intel 1155 socket platform. We have seen the well matured version of the MSI Z77A-GD65 perform above the average standard and actually received our Editors Choice award during its initial release.
The new MSI Z77A-GD65 Gaming Edition has spruced up its aesthetic appeal but that’s not all. MSI has given this board a new set of software and hardware to meet the demands of today’s gamers. Let’s put it to the test and see if it lives up to its predecessor.
“Founded in August 1986, MSI has continued to uphold a business philosophy that stresses “Award-winning product quality and outstanding customer service.” MSI specializes in the design and manufacture of motherboards, graphics card, add-on cards, servers/workstations, iPC, barebones, communication devices, CE products, Notebooks, car infotainment products, and All-in-One PC. “Quality Products Create Faithful Customers” is a motto that guides all that we do at MSI. For this reason, MSI goes all out to be the best of the best in research and development.”
Looks like a really killer motherboard. Awesome review Kenny.
Thanks Eric, This was a real good board to use.. so far I am loving this board.
So which one would you choose? The GD65 Gaming or the MPower? Both reviews were very strong. Why would I choose one over the other?
Hey Jeffrey,
Thank you for reading the review. While both motherboards you mentioned are great options, to be honest, it comes down to what features you are going to be able to take advantage of. Both boards are capable of handing some nice overclocking, while the MPower is targeted more towards the overclock crowd the GD65 Gaming is also a strong contender in that arena. The GD65 does have some unique features like the Killer LAN port which allows you to optimize your internet traffic towards applications you will be using and the MPower features are also great.
I would put the 2 side by side and see which one has more features you will use and take advantage of. Also, if you are concerned with any aesthetics, pick the one that will suit what your looking to do. At the end of the day, both boards are very good.
If it were me, I personally like the GD65 Gaming more, due to a couple of reasons. 1. I am primary a gamer, so the gaming properties within the GD65 Gaming suits my needs more, not only that, but I prefer the aesthetics of the GD65 Gaming more then the MPower. Now only that, the GD65 is slightly cheaper with a great feature packed package. So unless you need all the the features the MPower has, I say the GD65 is great for the avg. user and I would use the money you saved toward other items such a better graphics card or a SSD to boost performance overall.
Thanks
Kenny
Really helpful answer. I’ve been looking for this type of review and comments to choose between both cards.
Awesome job, thank you !