Question MSI motherboards

[BoomerD]

In all my years of building PCs for myself and others, I've never used a MSI board. WAAAY back when, it seems like they just weren't considered to be quality. Nearly every rig I built was ASUS...with the odd ASRock thrown in when they were still a division of ASUS)

Nowadays, after doing several days of reading reviews and ratings, they seem to be leading the pack. (although their documentation suck when compared to ASUS and ASRock)

Am I reading things right? Is MSI now considered a "GOOD" brand? (looking at <$400 Z690 and Z790 DDR4 boards)

 

[kallisX]

MSI has a cool mascot

 

[amenx]

Currently having a crappy experience with MSI Z690 Edge DDR5 in that it takes a long time to boot. Only had it for a few days, but finding out its not just MSI but all DDR5 boards are having slow boot issues when OC'ing memory. It appears that the memory training phase is just extra long for DDR5 boards. Even after disabling it, still not as quick as I'd like.

 

[In2Photos]

Currently building my new PC and purchased the MSI B650 Edge WiFi model. I was also looking at the B650 Carbon, but decided to go with an all white theme and the Edge is the only board that fits the theme from MSI. I always build and test my systems outside of the case first and the MSI booted into the BIOS first time and everything was recognized. Hoping to finish up the build this week, but initial impressions are good.

Had a similar experience with my son's B550 Tomahawk last year. His PC has worked great. He did have some trouble with crashes while gaming for a brief time that was fixed with a BIOS update.

My daughter has a new Gigabyte B650 Arous Elite AX that took an hour to get to boot the first time, including a BIOS update and moving RAM around. I still don't know what fixed it, but its been OK since. She has random issues with the Ethernet not being recognized at boot. A reboot fixes the issue.

 

[igor_kavinski]

I always build and test my systems outside of the case first and the MSI booted into the BIOS first time and everything was recognized. Hoping to finish up the build this week, but initial impressions are good.

How long was your first boot time? And subsequent reboot times?

 

[In2Photos]

How long was your first boot time? And subsequent reboot times?

You probably saw my other post but first boot was about 30-40 seconds into the BIOS. I only did the one boot to make sure everything was good. Still putting everything into the case now. Had to do a few mods so it's taking longer than a traditional build.

 

[amenx]

I think I should add that I believe MSI boards are fine as a whole, but that currently issues some ppl are facing with them are not really MSI related, but Z690 platform/chipset/memory related which affects all other board brands as well (esp DDR5 boards). Just noticed another thread dealing with this.

Z690 MBs - Is There A General Problem?

 

[igor_kavinski]

You probably saw my other post but first boot was about 30-40 seconds into the BIOS.

Is your RAM kit on the QVL? Maybe the mobo takes longer with RAM kits not on the QVL?

 

[In2Photos]

Is your RAM kit on the QVL? Maybe the mobo takes longer with RAM kits not on the QVL?

Yes it is. I verified before I bought it. But that's a good point. My daughter's build used an EXPO kit, but it wasn't on Gigabyte's QVL now that I looked (can't believe I didn't check that on her build).

 

[amenx]

Solved my issues with the Z690 Edge board. Simply by trying different ram. Corsair Vengeance DDR5 (Samsung B-die) apparently has poor synergy with my board. Replaced it with Kingston Fury Beast 5600 (Hynix M-die) and it was a happy match. Glad the Corsair ram didnt work out, as the Hynix ram is apparently much better according to others.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Solved my issues with the Z690 Edge board. Simply by trying different ram. Corsair Vengeance DDR5 (Samsung B-die) apparently has poor synergy with my board. Replaced it with Kingston Fury Beast 5600 (Hynix M-die) and it was a happy match. Glad the Corsair ram didnt work out, as the Hynix ram is apparently much better according to others.

Corsair RAM has been on my avoid list for some time now (since 2019). Good to see that Kingston solved the issues for you, as it did for me too (though it was DDR3 for me).

 

[ScottAD]

I'm using a B550 now and it's been rock solid for me. Zero issues and I have the latest bios, I've updated it over time, never had an issue during each update.

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

I primarily stick with MSI motherboards - especially after I used one a few years back, and found that even if it had a newer processor installed than the current BIOS would support - it would STILL boot up and allow you to update the BIOS!
I remember getting 'stuck' a couple of times with a board that was old, & a cpu that was new, and it wouldn't boot - and I couldn't update the BIOS to support it... Hopefully all new boards support this by now.....

 

[BoomerD]

I primarily stick with MSI motherboards - especially after I used one a few years back, and found that even if it had a newer processor installed than the current BIOS would support - it would STILL boot up and allow you to update the BIOS!
I remember getting 'stuck' a couple of times with a board that was old, & a cpu that was new, and it wouldn't boot - and I couldn't update the BIOS to support it... Hopefully all new boards support this by now.....

It really depends on the CPU socket ..and if there's a BIOS update to support the newer CPU. The Z690 boards (most anyway) will support both 12th and 13th gen Intel processors, but will most likely need a BIOS update before supporting the 13th gen units. Easy enough if the board supports "BIOS flashing" without a CPU installed...but apparently, quite a few require a 12th gen CPU be installed first, then flash the BIOS, THEN you can install the newer CPU.

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

It really depends on the CPU socket ..and if there's a BIOS update to support the newer CPU. The Z690 boards (most anyway) will support both 12th and 13th gen Intel processors, but will most likely need a BIOS update before supporting the 13th gen units. Easy enough if the board supports "BIOS flashing" without a CPU installed...but apparently, quite a few require a 12th gen CPU be installed first, then flash the BIOS, THEN you can install the newer CPU.

And that is what's annoying - there should be a tiny arm processor installed or something, so it could at least boot up 'enough' so that you can then update the BIOS. I'm not sure exactly how MSI accomplished this, but they did, and I absolutely LOVED knowing I wouldn't get stuck being unable to boot or even update the BIOS any longer....

Imagine if cars were like this. You install a new alternator, only to have a message pop up that says it isn't supported by the current firmware. So, you have to find an old, working alternator to put back in so that you can update the firmware first..... then put the new alternator back in....
annoying as heck.....

 

[BoomerD]

And that is what's annoying - there should be a tiny arm processor installed or something, so it could at least boot up 'enough' so that you can then update the BIOS. I'm not sure exactly how MSI accomplished this, but they did, and I absolutely LOVED knowing I wouldn't get stuck being unable to boot or even update the BIOS any longer....

Imagine if cars were like this. You install a new alternator, only to have a message pop up that says it isn't supported by the current firmware. So, you have to find an old, working alternator to put back in so that you can update the firmware first..... then put the new alternator back in....
annoying as heck.....

MSI isn't the only ones doing this. MOST newer Z690 and Z790 boards have that feature...not sure about the other LGA1700 models.

 

[SamMaster]

I have an MSI x570 Tomahawk board and it's been running good for a few years. It has the notorious chipset fan that I never even noticed was there after installation. Once it had a drop of molten popcycle short a connexion on it, causing a shutdown. I just cleaned it, dried it and no issue since (been at least a year since then).

 

[Brainonska511]

I haven't used too many MSI things, but they've generally been fine for me. I had a board from them in the Sandy Bridge days that served me well for many years. Current machine is MSI B660 Tomahawk board, and so far it's been nice: good number of features, clean, easy-to-use bios, stable, and looks nice in a windowed case. I think this board would have been overpriced compared to other things in the same class of products, but Micro Center had a deal for processor + board, and my first choice board (an Asus Tuf H670) was sold out. The deal made the price a little more palatable.

I guess my only issue with MSI right now is my RX 6600: had to RMA this week because it was throwing random WHEA errors in games and in Furmark (within 5-10 seconds of starting the stress test). I'll see if they can fix the issue before I judge them further; maybe I got a bad card.