![msi z97 gaming 7 turn off overclocking msi z97 gaming 7 turn off overclocking](https://cdn.wccftech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/MSI-Z97-Gaming-7-Motherboards.jpg)
The software solutions that existed were simply boring and uninspired or not entirely useful.Ī lot has changed since then. Part of the reason behind this was that at the time, few vendors gave anyone a great reason to check it out. When I took a look at MSI’s Z77A-GD55 two-years-ago, I didn’t pay any attention to the software. A Look at the Software: MSI Command Center I don’t find it extremely intuitive at all times, but it’s certainly easy to look at and has a load of functionality. While I still prefer the more traditional EFI layout that ASUS has been implementing on its boards, MSI has done a fine job here. Feeling seriously lazy and don’t want to look behind the PC? Simply load up Board Explorer and it will tell you if you have a USB port free! Hovering over the back I/O panel will reveal the same sort of information. Hovering over the SATA ports, for example, will tell you which ports are occupied, and which drives are installed where. Here’s where things go from informative to downright useful. You can see an example of this in the shot below. Hover over the CPU, for example, and it will tell you what model is installed. Hovering over any of these areas will reveal information about it. Here, you can see an overview of the board, with some areas highlighted red. As simple as it might sound, this is a feature I think all motherboards should have, because it’s informative. I admit that ultimately, I prefer to use an external fan controller to manage fan speeds, but this is an excellent feature for those wanting a more hands-off approach.īoard Explorer isn’t a brand-new feature, but it’s not one I’ve talked about before, so I’d like to do it here. Plus, all the while you’re doing this, you can monitor voltages at the bottom. With this implementation, whenever you click on a plot marker, it zooms in like this to let you fine-tune things easier. As it happens, MSI has the exact same feature, and in some ways (definitely not aesthetically), it’s a little neater. In my look at ASUS’ Z97I-PLUS, I was impressed by an EFI feature that allowed you to adjust or create new fan profiles with a graphical chart. I am not entirely sure that many people will make use of this feature, but it’s a cool one to see included. You could also try overclocking the memory by choosing CL10 Performance and if that doesn’t work, maybe CL10 Compatibility will. If you’re using a kit of CAS 11 memory, for example, you’d want to choose “CL11 Performance”. I blame the lack on some quirk about the RAM I was using, but it’s still unusual.Ī standout feature in this list is called Memory Try It! with it, you can select a target CAS latency and let the board adjust micro-timings to optimize the RAM as much as possible. For some reason, I didn’t have an XMP option available to me, despite the kit of RAM I used having four profiles normally you would see one.
![msi z97 gaming 7 turn off overclocking msi z97 gaming 7 turn off overclocking](https://assets.hardwarezone.com/img/2013/03/z77a-g45gaming.jpg)
Alternatively, you can simply use the mouse to get to those sections faster, which is what I did.Īn example of the menu system can be seen below, and it looks quite good overall, with clear text and simple navigation. It’s on this screen that I find navigation a little complicated using the arrows to get from one side to the next, while in a menu, requires a couple of hits of the Esc key to hit the home screen, at which point you can select the other options. At times, the right pane will disappear to make way for expanded sections, but for the most part, you’ll be looking at the center of the screen most often.įrom this screen, you can enable MSI’s OC Genie overclocking tool, adjust the bootloader sequence, and get simple temperature information, as well as see the CPU and DRAM frequency. The shot above is the screen you’ll see as soon as you enter the EFI, and as the following screenshots will highlight, most of the UI elements have static locations, regardless of what section you’re in. MSI’s EFI beats the pants off of GIGABYTE’s solution, though, mostly because I consider that one to be an eyesore. That said, I don’t really care for it as much as ASUS’ solution, mostly because I don’t like the layout of the options and sections ASUS’ implementation is more straight-forward. Not much has changed with MSI’s EFIs over the past couple of years, but it’s been refined enough where I consider what’s here to be quite good. I’ve added information about that at the end of this page. In that review, I forgot to take a look at the ECO Power feature of the software, as it wasn’t a part of the main software suite. Please note that most of the information on this page was carried over from my review of MSI’s Z97I Gaming AC, as the EFI and software package is identical.