MSI Z97I Gaming AC and R9 270X Gaming ITX review - Introduction

Z97I Gaming AC with R9-270X Gaming ITX - We shall call them  .. mini me

We review, test and benchmark the MSI Z97I Gaming AC motherboard and Radeon R9 270X Gaming ITX - You betta pick up magnifying glass alright as this will be among the smallest fully fetched Z97 motherboard you will lay your eyes on. The Z97I Gaming AC is made on a Mini-ITX form factor, that means you can seat a processor as powerful as the Core i7 4790K into this motherboard that is 17x17 CM. It still has a fully fetched PCIe x16 slot, KillerNIC Gigabit Ethernet, WIFI, USB 3.0 and heck even four SATA 6 Gbps ports. To make things even tastier we pair it with a Radeon R9 270X Gaming ITX graphics card. And the combination is just really good.

Intel released their series 9 chipsets, amongst them will be low-end and high-end desktop solutions. For the consumers and readers of Guru3D, H97 and Z97 will be the two most interesting ones. For the HTPC end of things H97 is the most appealing as tweaking options are stripped away with a lower price-tag. For the more hardcore gamers and PC aficionados, the Z97 is the most interesting. Z97 by itself as a chipset is nothing special. HOWEVER we have plenty to look at as the motherboard manufacturers went totally nuts and started redesigning their motherboards, added new features and made them extraordinarily cool. You'll spot new redesigns build on the DNA of Z87 yet improved massively. Cool looks, features like AC WIFI, M2 SSDs and Sata Express will bring some very interesting features onto the market. So if (at the time) you didn't upgrade to Z87, now might be a good time. 

Now then -- 17x17 CM gets you all this:

• Suports 4th Gen Intel Core/Pentium/Celeron processors for LGA 1150 socket
• Supports DDR3-3200(OC) Memory
• USB 3.0 + SATA 6Gb/s
• Military Class Essentials: Total Protection for Military Class Motherboards
• 4K UHD Support: Ultra-high Definition Visual Experience
• 2 Digital Display Outputs: DisplayPort/HDMI Support
• PCI Express Gen 3: World's 1st PCI Express Gen 3 Motherboard Brand
• USB Audio Power: A Break Through in USB Audio Quality
• Command Center: Control & Customize Your PC Settings
• Fast Boot: Quickly Boot Up & Enter OS in A Few Seconds
• Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.0 

The Z97I Gaming AC also comes equipped with the good stuff like Killer LAN, 802.11ac and Audio Boost. The MSI Z97I has a 6-phase VRM with cooling, one full PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot, 24-pin and an 8-pin power connector, two full-size DDR3 DIMM memory slots, 8-channel audio, 802.11 ac/b/g/n WiDI, WiFi, and Bluetooth 4.0. The Z97I has CPU overclocking support. As for video connectivity, MSI settled for DisplayPort and HDMI as well as 8-channel audio coming from a Realtek ALC 1150 codec. This Haswell-ready mainboard has six USB 3.0 ports and six  USB 2.0 connectors. 

MSI also submitted their latest Radeon R9 270X Gaming ITX graphics card that we'll have a peek at as well. It comes with MSI's RADAX fan which is a Hybrid design fan that boosts lower noise and up to 30 °C lower temperatures compared to any other card in its class. Both motherboard and graphics card offer very balanced performance. Not thenm as small as this stuff is, we have a lot to look at.