There is an M.2 port on this board which allows one to use a M.2 SSD for storage. These SSDs allow for faster read and write times over a SATA SSD (can be over 50% faster), which translates to faster boot and loading of games.
The networking built into this board allows for a smart filtering of traffic which can make for a better experience where latency is concerned. When gaming the board can differentiate between traffic for communication apps as well as connection to gaming servers over regular traffic that is at the time a game s being played low priority.
This is good for those that use a USB digital-to-analog converter for their sound system. Many motherboards have issue with outputting a constant voltage, which can cause issue with USB sound devices such as DACs. MSI has addressed this with this motherboard as it uses technology to output a constant 5v to each USB port.
While it may be difficult to tell from pictures, the color of the board is actually brown. For those that like to match the colors of their system this may be off-putting as this fact may not be realized until the board is in hand. It will also be difficult to match as Red and Brown is not the most common of color schemes for components.
If you do choose to use the M.2 slot on the board it will disable the #5 and #6 SATA ports on the board. This is something to consider if you want to use the M.2 but need more than 4 SATA ports.
Some users have reported audio static when using the onboard audio out. While this is not unheard of for onboard sound solutions, there may be better options out there if this is a concern.
There is a built in headphone amp as well as well shielded audio components overall. This shielding allows for protection from all of the electricity running through the board which can often lead to hissing in ones sound.
There is an M.2 port on this board which allows one to use a M.2 SSD for storage. These SSDs allow for faster read and write times over a SATA SSD (can be over 50% faster), which translates to faster boot and loading of games.
Many users reported issues with the K series Intel chips when they would clock up to their Turbo Boost range, sometimes causing crashes. The BIOS has been updated many times to address this issue, but still some quirks remain.
All of the ports and connections on the board are clearly labeled. The user manual also clearly defines every aspect of the board, which makes for an easier time when building ones system, especially if new to the whole ordeal. Some brands have manuals that read like Ikea instructions and poorly labeled boards, luckily this is not an issue here.
Gigabyte has created a method for dual BIOS support, so even if one install does go bad, the other install will still boot, which in turn should allow for a way to fix the badly flashed BIOS. Basically a a way to protect from bricking the board.
This board is able to use 3 way and 2 way Crossfire as well as 2 way SLI. It has 3 PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (one runs at x8, one runs at x4), 2x PCI-Express 2.0 x1 slots as well as 2x PCI slots. This gives many options not only for PCIe devices but GPUs in particular.
When using the 16x speed PCIe port for an installed graphics card, the graphics card will cover some of the SATA ports. While they are not unusable, they will need to be plugged in before the graphics card is installed. They will also be inaccessible after that point unless the GPU is taken out.
There is an M.2 port on this board which allows one to use a M.2 SSD for storage. These SSDs allow for faster read and write times over a SATA SSD (can be over 50% faster), which translates to faster boot and loading of games.
This board is able to use 3 way and 2 way Crossfire as well as 2 way SLI. It has 2 PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (one runs at x8), 1x PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot (runs at x4), 3x PCI-Express 2.0 x1 slots as well as 1x PCI slot. This gives many options not only for PCIe devices but GPUs in particular.
Many high end boards include a power button on the board in order to test it before assembling the whole PC in its case. That is not an option here, which can cause issue if something is faulty as everything will have to be torn down to return it.
When using the 16x speed PCIe port for an installed graphics card, the graphics card will cover some of the SATA ports. While they are not unusable, they will need to be plugged in before the graphics card is installed. They will also be inaccessible after that point unless the GPU is taken out.
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