MSI Z270 Gaming PLUS, Intel Z270 motherboard socket 1151 [7A75-001R]

The chipsets of the 200 series "Union Point" have a maximum of 24 PCIe Express 3.0 lanes and generally bring more HSIO lanes (High Speed I / O) with which more internal connections (eg SATA or PCIe- Slots) can be used simultaneously. As a Z270 motherboard, the MSI Z270 Gaming PLUS allows the overclocking of K-series CPUs, which have a freely selectable multiplier.

The features of the MSI Z270 Gaming PLUS at a glance:

2 x PCIe (3.0) x16 (x16 / x8) & 4x PCIe (3.0) x1
8 × USB 3.0 / 6 × USB 2.0
1 × M.2 (PCIe 3.0 x4) / 6 × SATA 6G
Supports max. 64 GB DDR4 RAM up to 3.800 MHz
Integrated red LED lighting
The MSI Z270 Gaming PLUS in detail

The MSI Z270 Gaming PLUS is a very well-equipped ATX motherboard with Intel's Z270 chipset for Intel's 6000 and 7000 series processors. The black board has two PCIe x16 slots, one of which is connected to the chipset with full 16 lanes, while the other PCIe-x16 slots are electrically connected to eight data lines. The board also has four PCIe x1 slots and supports AMD's CrossFireX technology for plug and expansion cards.

The mainboard has four DIMM slots for DDR4 memory in fast dual-channel mode. Up to 64 GB of RAM are included in the total of the four memory banks, and depending on the processor, the board supports a memory clock of either 2.133 MHz (with Skylake CPU) or 2.400 MHz (with Kaby Lake CPU), overclocking also using memory modules up to 3,800 MHz Can be.

For the connection of data carriers, the board provides an M.2 slot for particularly fast NVMe M.2 SSDs as well as six SATA-6G connectors for 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch hard disks and SSDs (Including RAID support). The M.2 port is connected to the chipset via four PCIe lanes in the 3.0 standard and, combined with the NVMe protocol, allows a data transfer rate of just under 4 GB / s. Thus, M.2 PCIe SSDs are up to eight times faster than SATA 6G SSDs! The special features of the MSI Z270 Gaming PLUS include a stylish LED lighting in red.

If no graphics card is available, the integrated graphics processor of a Skylake or Kaby Lake CPU can be used to connect monitors directly to the back of the motherboard - three connectors are available with DVI-D, VGA and DisplayPort. Internally, the mainboard additionally provides five 4-pin headers for PWM fans as well as XMP support and convinces with various overclocking features. For input devices and other gaming peripherals, the I / O panel also has four USB 3.0 ports and two USB 2.0 ports.

Technical details:

Format: ATX
Chipset: Intel Z270 ("Union Point")
Socket: 1151 (for Intel CPUs of the 6th and 7th core generation ("Skylake" / "Kaby Lake")
RAM: 4 × DDR4 (Skylake: DDR4-2.133, Kaby Lake: DDR4-2,400, OC max. 3800 MHz)
Dual-Channel
Slots (physical):
1 × PCIe 3.0 x16
1 × PCIe 3.0 x16 (electrical x8)
Compatible multi-VGA configurations: 2-Way-CrossFireX (Quad-GPU)
4 × PCIe 3.0 x1
Internal connections:
6 × SATA 6G
1 × M.2 (PCIe 3.0 x4)
4 × USB 3.0 (two headers)
4 × USB 2.0 (two header)
5 × fan (4-pin PWM)
1 × Pump connection (4-pin)
1 × front panel audio connector
2 × front panel connector
1 × TPM Module Connector
1 × chassis intrusion connector
1 × serial port connector
1 × parallel port connector
1 × clear CMOS jumper
External connections:
1 × PS / 2 combo port (keyboard / mouse)
4 × USB 3.0
2 × USB 2.0
1 × Gigabit LAN (Intel I219-V)
1 × DVI-D
1 × DisplayPort
1 × VGA
6 × audio (Realtek ALC892, 7.1 sound)
Power supply:
1 × 24-pin ATX12V
1 × 8-pin ATX12V