MSI X99A Gaming 7 Motherboard Review

Whenever you find a motherboard with SATA Express you will likely find an onboard M.2 slot.  On the X99A Gaming 7 this slot is located at the 5th PCI Express slot and is configured to support three standard sized M.2 cards.  Keep in mind using the M.2 slot will disable the onboard SATA Express and might explain why it was separated from the main SATA connection block.

At the bottom of the motherboard under the PCI Express slots you’ll find three benchtop buttons including the typical Power and Reset.  The third button is OC Genie and with a press of the button it will automatically overclock the system.  Of course your mileage will vary depending on component quality but the process is super simple.  If you are interested in overclocking do mess around with the OC Genie and then try a few manual overclocks on your own.  You might be surprised at the results.

The audio module found on the X99A Gaming 7 is very unique in that it features the Audio Boost 2 design and occupies a section of the motherboard that is electrically separated from the rest of the main PCB.  You can see this separation in the PCB layers where the board is devoid of color.  

To further illustrate that the layers are completely separate on the reverse side of the motherboard you'll find a series of white LEDs that light up and shine thru the PCB layers when the system is powered on.

The Audio Boost 2 design comes with a built-in headphone amplifier allowing you to get better quality sound from studio grade headgear which would normally require specialized sound cards.

One of the benefits to upgrading to a specialized motherboard is that not only do you get more features onboard but also in-box.  The MSI X99A Gaming 7 comes with a number of accessories including what you see below.

Maybe one of the coolest included items that serves very little "real" purpose is this really cool door hanger.  One side it says "I’m Sorry Busy Gaming " while the other says "I’m Not Here ".  I might have to keep that one out just for fun.

Along with the door hanger you get the normal manuals and driver disks to help you get up and running.