Stefan Mileschin

MSI is ready with its Gaming series socket LGA1150 motherboards based on Intel Z97 Express chipset, which are ready for Core "Haswell" refresh processors. The series includes three boards in the ATX form-factor, the Z97 Gaming 9 AC, Z97 Gaming 7, and Z97 Gaming 3; and one in the mini-ITX form-factor, the Z97 Gaming. The Z97 Gaming 9 AC is loaded with features, including a 12-phase CPU VRM, four DDR3 DIMM slots, three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x16/NC/NC or x8/x8/NC or x8/x4/x4), eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, a PCI-Express x2 M.2 slot, Killer E2200 NIC, 802.11 ac WLAN, and more.

Next up, is the Z97 Gaming 7, which offers the same 12-phase CPU VRM as the Z97 Gaming 9 AC, same three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots, four PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and an identical storage connectivity. The Z97 Gaming 3 is the most affordable of the lot, with a 6-phase CPU VRM, one PCI-Express 3.0 x16, a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x4), two PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and three PCI; six SATA 6 Gb/s, one M.2, and Killer E2200 NIC. Lastly, there's the Z97 Gaming ITX, which offers a decent 6-phase VRM, single PCI-Express 3.0 x16, 802.11 ac networking, Killer E2200 NIC, and AudioBoost audio. The three should launch in the run up to the mid-May release of Intel's new processors.

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