MSI
Intel Z97 Socket LGA1150 ATX Motherboard (Z97 GAMING 9 AC)

Z97 GAMING 9 AC

• Supports 4th and 5th Gen Intel® Core™ / Pentium® / Celeron® processors for LGA 1150 socket
• Supports DDR3-3300(OC) Memory
• M.2 + USB 3.0 + SATA 6Gb/s
• Xtreme Audio DAC: Experience the Purest Sound Quality
• Audio Boost 2: Reward Your Ears with True Quality
• Killer Ethernet: Kill Your Lag
• USB Audio Power: Surve 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
• Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, Intel® Wireless Display

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 Xtreme Audio DAC and 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

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 Z97 GAMING 9 AC 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.

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.