system components

Intel Z97, LGA1150, 4 x DIMM DDR3, PCIe, Gigabit LAN, WLAN 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.1, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, USB 3.1, Optical S/PDIF out, DisplayPort, HDMI, PS/2, ATX - Supports 4th and 5th Gen Intel® Core™ / Pentium® / Celeron® processors for LGA 1150 socket;
- Supports DDR3-3300(OC) Memory;
- USB 3.1: Delivering speeds up to 10Gb/s, USB 3.1 offers performance twice as fast as a regular USB 3.0 connection;
- ACK: Use Killer DoubleShot Pro to combine Killer WIFI with Killer LAN for the best online gaming experience;
- M.2 + USB 3.1 + SATA 6Gb/s;
- Xtreme Audio DAC: Experience the Purest Sound Quality;
- Audio Boost 2: Reward Your Ears with True Quality;
- USB Audio Power: Serve Stable 5V Power & Better Signal Transmission over USB;
- XSplit Gamecaster: Show off Your Skills and Achievements;
- Guard-Pro: Improved Protection and Power Efficiency;
- Gaming App: Boost Your Frame Rate;
- OC Genie 4: Overclock in 1 Second;
- Click BIOS 4: Easily Fine-tune Your System;
- Multi-GPU: NVIDIA SLI & AMD CrossFire Support;
- Sound Blaster Cinema 2: Realistic Surround Sound Experience;
- Gaming Device Port: Optimized with Triple Gold-plating for High Polling Rate Gaming Devices.

Let the games begin
MSI® GAMING motherboards are designed to provide gamers with best-in-class features and technology. Backed by the imposing looks of MSI's Dragon, each motherboard is an engineering masterpiece tailored to gaming perfection.

The best gaming weapons at hand
- Amazing sound with Audio Boost 2, powered by Creative Sound Blaster Cinema 2;
- USB Audio Power;
- The highest frag and the lowest lag with Killer™ E2200 Game Networking;
- Push your SSD to the limit with M.2 & SATA Express;
- Show off your gaming skills to the world with XSplit Gamecaster;
- SteamOS ready out of the box;
- Military Class 4 components;
- Super stable with Guard-Pro;
- Specialized production lines just for GAMING motherboards;
- OC Genie 4;
- Gaming Device Port;
- Boost your FPS with the MSI GAMING APP;
- Click BIOS 4 (click here to visit our dedicated BIOS page);
- Optimized for multiple graphics cards (SLI & CrossFire certified);
- Take control with Command Center & Live Update 6;
- OC Essentials.

MSI USB 3.1 2X FASTER
USB 3.1 allows for speeds up to 10 Gbps, doubling the speed compared to USB 3.0 and 20x faster than legacy USB 2.0. USB 3.1 is even faster than SATAIII! Transferring your favorite games, music and movies over USB has never been faster.

Feature
- 2X faster than USB 3.0;
- 20x faster than USB 2.0;
- Up to 10Gbps data transfer bandwidth;
- Boost transfer rate between your PC and external storage devices.

Killer™ DOUBLESHOT PRO
Killer™ DoubleShot Pro combines Killer Ethernet and WiFi adapters, built for superior online traffic speeds and low latency. Advanced Stream Detect™ automatically classifies and prioritizes the latency-sensitive applications for online games.

Lowest latency, fastest speeds
Enjoy the best possible online gaming experience. Wireless AC Killer has 2.9x times faster data throughput compared to traditional Wireless-N solutions. The biggest advantage is lower latency when gaming. Killer WI-FI has up to 3.5x times lower latency than other WI-FI solutions.

Team up Killer LAN with Killer WiFi
Introducing world's first Killer LAN & Wireless gaming connection on a motherboard, the Z97A GAMING 9 ACK offers unmatched gaming performance. Smart teaming combines both LAN & Wireless for the best possible gaming experience. The Killer Network Manager decides which apps runs on which connection for gaming traffic optimization. Truly unique is using Killer LAN and Killer WIFI combined for insane networking speeds.

World's best onboard Hi-Fi GAMING audio
Having superior sound quality while gaming is the decisive factor between a kill or be killed. The MSI Z97A GAMING 9 ACK motherboard comes with a premium hi-fi sound card, delivering studio-grade audio quality, onboard! This high-end dedicated onboard sound card delivers 120dB SNR 192 kHz/32-bit of purest sound quality and delivers a breathtaking, never heard before, gaming sound experience that gives you the upper hand on your opponent.

Xtreme Audio DAC is not just a selection of the best hi-fi components but chosen, set up and tuned by professionals for a breathtaking clear, warmer, and more balanced sound output, reaching up to professional studio-grade quality. Experience the thrill of game changing sound quality with Xtreme Audio DAC.

C-Media CM6631A High Definition Audio Processor
The heart of Xtreme Audio DAC is powered by a C-Media CM6631A High Definition Audio Processor. Offering ultra-realistic High Definition Audio Playback and Recording at 192 kHz / 32-bit up to 120dB SNR. Extremely popular with audiophiles and regarded as one of the most renowned audio protocols for bit-perfection, the C-Media processor is controlled by a ASIO 2.2 driver, supporting variable bit depth, sample rate, multi-channel operation and synchronization. With the support of ASIO 2.2 you will experience breathtaking clean sound quality like never before, approaching 100% bit-perfection of the original audio source.

Wolfson WM8741 DAC
Ultra-low distortion ensures a perfect, realistic display of sound. Supporting the C-Media CM6631A HD audio processor is a Wolfson WM8741 DAC which combines an exceptional signal to noise ratio with Wolfson's low out-of-band noise, world-class linearity and a unique combination of programmable advanced digital filters. WM8741 shapes the audio to the ideal listening conditions recreating the optimal natural analogue sound.

Texas Instruments TPA6120A2 & dual OPA1652 amplifiers
Experience ultra realistic and pure sound without any additional amplification from inferior devices. A high-quality TI TPA6120A2 dedicated headphone amplifier, supported by a pair of TI OPA1652 amplifiers, 1 per channel, makes sure you get the best sound quality at an amazing dynamic range with ultra-low distortion, less than 0.001%. The TI TPA6120A2 dedicated headphone amplifier is optimized for professional headphones up to 600Ω.

Cirrus Logic CS5346 ADC
Crystal clear speech under the most extreme gaming conditions. Your gaming companion won't miss a word, even on a sound overloaded battlefield. For high quality analog input processing you can trust on a studio-grade Cirrus Logic CS5346 processor.

Professional audio isolation and EMI shielding
Protecting the pure audio signal. Xtreme Audio DAC is designed as a stand-alone sound card by physically isolating the circuitry from the rest of the motherboard. Ultra-low interference results in a crisp clear sound experience where the sound is processed without the hazard of being bent by other components.

Nichicon Acoustic Series audio capacitors
Specially designed for audio purposes, the Nichicon Japanese Acoustic Series, high quality audio capacitors are highly recommended by audio enthusiasts. Providing the highest possible audio signal filtering and delivering a warm and more balanced sound level, they are key in delivering high fidelity crystal clear sound.

Anti popcorn-noise relay
Xtreme Audio DAC features an anti-popcorn-noise solution. This relay removes the popping sound when turning your system on or off or plugging audio devices in and out.

Dragon Armor
Much like the design of the I/O Cover, this awesome looking piece of protective shield helps to keep the audio signal pure, preventing interference from other components. This is extremely important when demanding high quality sound.

Protected I/O cover
A black design I/O Cover with GAMING 9 imprinted doesn't only look cool, but it also protects against Electro Magnetic Interference. Making sure whatever device you connect, you will always receive a pure signal.

Reward your ears with true quality
Get ready for ear-drum shattering sound, with MSI Audio Boost 2! With Audio Boost 2 we're delivering the highest audio quality with the use of Creative Sound Blaster Cinema 2 so you can enjoy crystal clear sound and music through 8-channel HD Audio.

Isolated Audio PCB
With traditional onboard audio the signal is distorted by electromagnetic signals from the rest of the PCB. Audio Boost 2 acts like a dedicated soundcard by physically isolating the audio circuitry which is separated by a red LED path. Less interference gives you a more clear audio signal.

Direct Audio Power
Enjoy a heavy caliber audio experience with Direct Audio Power. A dedicated power input to Audio Boost 2 allows for a more powerful and stable power delivery, resulting in a more explosive and pure sound experience.

Creative Sound Blaster Cinema 2
Thanks to Creative Sound Blaster Cinema 2, you're getting amazing surround sound with just stereo headphones or speakers.
Creative Sound Blaster Cinema 2 enables you to clearly hear specific sounds in gaming environments. Hear your enemies perfectly, make your ears a decisive tool to finish on top.

EMI Shielding
To shield the audio core from EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) caused by other add-in cards the audio chip is protected by a high-grade EMI cover with backlight illumination.

Dual Headhpone Amplifiers
Prepare for an eargasm. The built-in dual headphone amplifier rewards your high quality headphone with the most amazing studio level sound quality up to 600Ω delivered from your gaming PC.

Tired of having to connect your headset in difficult to reach places? MSI GAMING motherboards are designed to be easy to use, featuring front & rear audio outputs fueled by Audio Boost 2.
Dual Headhpone Amplifiers

High Quality Audio Capacitors
With the use of professional Nichicon Japanese capacitors, specially designed for audio purposes, MSI GAMING motherboards provide the highest possible audio signal filtering. Delivering high fidelity crystal clear sound with exceptional acoustics and realism.

- Acoustic series;
- Lower Tolerance;
- Lower Dielectric Absorption;
- Lower ESR;
- Lower Leakage Current;
- Higher Stability;

Golden Audio Connectors
With golden audio connectors you get the best possible signal output with less chance of distortion.

- Up to 600Ω crystal clear sound with exceptional acoustics;
- Dedicated amplified output (red) optimized for studio-grade headgear;
- Superb signal conductivity and will not wear over time.

USB Audio Power
When connecting multiple USB devices, most motherboards will be unable to deliver a strong 5V power signal to all USB ports. This is highly noticeable with high-quality external USB DACs where sound quality degrades as the motherboard is unable to deliver a perfect USB signal.

Only MSI USB Audio Power continuously delivers a stable 5V to the USB ports on motherboards, making sure you can continue to enjoy the crystal clear audio standard you expect.

Benefits
- Enhances USB Audio Quality;
- Stable 5V Power & Better Signal Transmission over USB.


Killer™ E2200 Game Networking
Kill your lag!
The Killer™ E2200 Intelligent Networking Platform is built for maximum networking performance for online games and high-quality streaming media. Featuring Advanced Stream Detect™, Killer E2200 automatically detects and accelerates game traffic ahead of other network traffic for smoother, stutter-free in-game performance and the competitive edge. With this exclusive, automatic traffic prioritization, games and real-time chat get priority over low-level system chatter, giving you the lowest latency for game data on the most controllable network hardware available.

Push your SSD to the limit
Enjoy a blazing fast system boot up and insanely fast loading of applications and games with selected MSI motherboards. We offer the next generation of high speed storage support through M.2 and SATA Express. M.2 and SATA Express transfer data through a PCI Express 2.0 x2 interface up to 10 Gb/s, making it 67% faster than SATA 3.0 solutions.

Faster storage solutions with M.2
M.2 is the successor to mSATA, offering a 67% performance increase up to 10 Gb/s. M.2 is packed in a small form factor and is compatible with 3 different sizes to fit most storage solutions.

Flexible fast storage with SATA Express
SATA Express introduces a new solution in high speed storage through PCI Express, providing more bandwidth for the latest generation SSDs. We offer flexible solutions with a M.2 to SATA Express converter for more convenience.

Want to show off your skills or just make a fun GAMING video for your friends?
XSplit Gamecaster & Broadcaster V2 lets you easily record your gaming moments and broadcast your live gameplay sessions to Twitch, YouTube, UStream and more.

It's simple, easy to use and ideal for sharing your gameplay with friends, family or the world - Or for capturing those perfect gaming moments, just for the heck of it.

So what are you waiting for? Join the revolution and start streaming and recording with XSplit Gamecaster today.

SteamOS support out of the box
MSI is committed to PC Gaming and that is why MSI GAMING motherboards support SteamOS by default. Because of this, MSI works close with numerous tier #1 system integrators that released their popular SteamBOX PC's.

Military Class 4 components
Military Class 4 is the next step in high quality components. The Super Ferrite Choke and Dark CAP will make sure that your PC runs more stable under extreme gaming conditions.

Hi-c CAP
A Hi-c CAP is a very small, but super-efficient capacitor. Besides ensuring enough spacing around a CPU socket to install large coolers, it also allows for 93% energy efficiency. Thanks to Hi-c CAP`s MSI mainboards are the most energy efficient in the market.

Super Ferrite Choke
Super Ferrite Choke uses a Ferrite core that is Super-Permeable. This allows the Super Ferrite Choke to run at a 35 degree Celsius lower temperature, have a 30% higher current capacity, a 20% improvement in power efficiency and better overclocking power stability.

Dark CAP
With their aluminum core design, Dark CAP`s has been a staple in high-end design mainboard designs and provides lower Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR) as well as its over-10-year lifespan.

Circuit Protection
Carefully selected materials, multiple PCB layers and shielding result in the best circuit protection for our GAMING motherboards.

ECO Power
With MSI ECO Center you can physically cut the power to unused chips to save up to 29% power usage.

Humidity Protection
10% Reduction in moisture absorption helps prevent "Conductive Anodic Filament". Untreated PCB's can have 10x higher failure rate.

High Temperature Protection
All key components used in MSI motherboards have all passed military testing ensuring stable operation in the harshest environments.

ESD Protection
Each and every I/O port is protected against the hazards of Electro Static Discharge.

EMI Protection
All MSI motherboards comply with stringent American FCC regulations and reduce the impact of Electromagnetic Interference.

Focus on quality
We put extra effort in increasing customer satisfaction. Our RMA rate has drastically decreased in the last few years.
To achieve the highest quality the MSI GAMING motherboards are developed by our most senior engineers on the most advanced production lines.

We are continuously improving our customer services, so in case you might run into a problem you can be assured we offer a fast response to your questions and hand you in depth information on the subject.

Gaming Device Port
MSI Gaming Device Port is optimized to deliver the best connectivity for high end gaming mice to fully utilize it's speed. This results in a much faster and smoother mouse response in games.

Gaming benefits
- More responsive;
- Smoother gameplay;
- Faster reactions.

Technical benefits
- 3x more gold than regular connectors;
- 10x longer lifetime when plugging/un-plugging;
- Prevents oxidation.

OC Genie 4
OC Genie is the world's first built-in hardware overclocking technology on motherboards. With this one-second overclocking option we're giving you even more performance. Just hit the button and your PC gets another adrenalin shot. Delivering up to 20% of free extra performance for the CPU, memory and iGPU.

BOOST YOUR FRAME RATE
Outperform your competition with the MSI GAMING APP which allows simultaneous control of both your Motherboard and Graphics Card's overclocking.

Simply select your preferred mode with the click of a button:
- Silent;
- Gaming;
- OC.

This allows you to tune the system to your pleasure without any technical knowledge of overclocking.

Click BIOS 4
The MSI Click BIOS 4 is the latest UEFI BIOS with optimizations for Windows 8. Not only that it also reacts faster, runs smoother and has better mouse support. And this all comes with many cool features. Click on the button on the right to visit our dedicated BIOS page and learn more.

Optimized for multiple graphics cards
Get up to 3 PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots, with optimal placement for better fitting and airflow. That way, you can enjoy the best graphics at the highest framerate jumping off from your screen when running a NVIDIA® SLI™ or AMD CrossFire™ gaming setup.

Software

Live Update 6
MSI Live Update is renewed! Our popular software automatically downloads and installs the latest drivers, BIOS and software. Rest assured while your system is always configured using the latest software so you get the maximum performance and stability.

Command Center
MSI's Command Center software is a very powerful tool to push your motherboard to the max. With a very intuitive touch ready interface, Command Center allows users to tune settings to increase system stability, maximize overclocking performance and adjust cooling features.

Unlimited RAMDisk
MSI Command Center integrates an unlimited RAMdisk. With a RAMdisk you can create a virtual drive from your system memory enabling speeds 20x faster than a modern SSD.

- Speed up system performance;
- Load complete game images;
- Speed up games, apps and browser.

Super charger
With MSI Super Charger you can simply deliver more power than regular USB chargers to your smartphone, tablet, USB game controller or portable console.
This allows you to quickly charge these devices for use when you're not gaming on your PC, eliminating the need for wall power sockets.

USB Redrivers
USB 3.0 signal integrity suffers with longer cable length. The special USB 3.0 Redrivers on GAMING motherboards, connected to the internal USB 3.0 ports, enable you to use longer USB 3.0 cables, especially in larger chassis.

Smart Fan Control
Smart Fan Control gives you complete control of all your fans on the motherboard, convenient for gamers and overclockers;

- Users can real-time monitor the status of the fans;
- Set profiles;
- Record fan speed, voltage and temperate status into a log file.

Dragon Heatsink
With an awesome product comes an inspiring heatsink! Styled after the iconic MSI GAMING Dragon. The heatsink is oversized to provide the best thermal transfer and heat dissipation to enable your PC to just game 24 hours per day.

OC Essentials
A small set of tools that are essential to get the best performance out of your motherboard.

- Increase stability;
- Assist in trouble shooting;
- Allow you to keep your complete system in check;
- Allow for simple management.

This way you can keep your mind on gaming and be confident that you have the tools to maximize your performance.

Connectivity
Be sure to take full advantage of all the GAMING weapons by connecting your devices to the optimized ports.

Audio Boost 2
- 30µg Gold plated Audio Connectors;
- Amplified Audio.

USB Audio Power
- Optimized stable 5V USB ports;
- Best sound quality for external DACs.

Gaming Device Port
- Optimized for high-rate gaming keyboards and mice;
- Triple gold plating for extended lifetime.

Triple gold plated PS/2 and USB ports
- 10x longer lifetime when plugging/un-plugging;
- Prevents oxydation.