Introduction

It seems that quite a few new Intel Z77 Express board products have been released recently, with nearly every board manufacturer sending me a new model within the past few weeks. Not to be outdone by the others, MSI contacted me recently to inform me that they had a new product I was sure to like. Not one to judge hardware before it's in my hands, I eagerly awaited the board's arrival on my doorstep. MSI told me they'd be sending me a Big Bang Z77 MPower board, a board designed to overclock the pants off your CPU.

Specifications
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| MANUFACTURER: | MSI |
| MODEL: | Big Bang Z77 MPower |
| CPU SUPPORT: | 2nd & 3rd Gen Intel Core i3/i5/i7 processor family for the LGA 1155 Socket |
| POWER DESIGN: | CPU Power: 16 Phases PCH Power: 1 Phase Memory Power: 2 Phase |
| CHIPSET: | Intel Z77 Express |
| INTEGRATED GRAPHICS: | Dependant on installed CPU |
| MEMORY: | 4 x DIMM, Max. 32 GB, DDR3 1066 to DDR3 3000+ |
| BIOS: | Dual AMI EFI BIOS with dual 64 Mb Flash ROMs |
| SLOTS: | 3 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (x16/x0/x0 or x8/x8/x0 or x8/x4/x4) 4 x PCIe 2.0 x1 slots |
| HDD CONNECTIVITY: | 2 x SATA 6.0 Gb/s (Intel Z77) 4 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s (Intel Z77) |
| NETWORKING: | Realtek RTL8111E PCIe Gigabit LAN |
| PORTS: | 10 x USB 2.0 ports (4 at back panel, 6 at front panel) 8 x USB 3.0 ports (6 at back panel, 2 at front panel) 1 x RJ45 LAN connectors 1 x Audio port with 6 audio jacks 1 x SPDIF Output(Optical) 1 x HDMI port 1 x Displayport 1 x CMOS Clear button |
| AUDIO: | Realtek ALC898 HD CODEC |
| FAN HEADERS: | 5 x 4-pin PWM |
| FORM FACTOR: | ATX Form Factor (305 mm x 245 mm) |
| EXCLUSIVE FEATURES: |
|
