MICRO CENTER CPU AIO Combo - Ultra 7 265K Desktop Processor 20 cores up to 5.5 GHz with MAG CORELIQUID A13 360 CPU Liquid Cooler, Black

This combo pack was a great idea from Micro Center. The MSI motherboard works prefectly with the Intel Core Ultra series 2 CPU chips. I was looking for a motherboard that would give me more USB Type-C ports as that seems to be the way of the near future of components (external drives, mice, keyboards, etc.). This one gives me 3 on the board plus the 1 on the front. The speed of the system with this motherboard are impressive. It is compatible with my short and wide case. The pin bend on the motherboard doesn't seem to be much of an issue. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is pretty fast and has handled my dozens of tabs of Chrome and the gaming all at the same time and with the AIO liquid cooler installed, it runs at a decent 110 to 135 degrees Fahrenheit. There are no issues there. It can handle gaming without lag. With both, if you don't have a dedicated GPU, this CPU chip has the ability to use the motherboards built in HDMI port. I've tested it when in BIOS and it does indeed work well. I know, with my GPU and AIO L.C. all installed, the picture isn't completely displaying the motherboard, but, it does display the case it is in and the fit inside of it. OVERALL: Both were east to install and seems to be a great value.

Super nice has a lot of slots for extra hard drives you can’t beat the value of the stuff you get in the bundle either. It functions just how it should and was super easy to install has held up to all the games I’ve thrown at it so far.

Great combo, Great performance. Always a fan of MSI MB's. Did have issues loading windows 11 but after updating BIOS all installed fine. The only minus is the easy M.2 plastic locking clips, they are not so easy, in fact mine partially broke. Its OK now but when I change or update my main NVME drive it will most likely break. Will need to acquire a few I think.

With any PC build, you expect a certain amount of fiddling but getting this board up and running was a whole day affair that spilled into the next day. If you're not running windows, you won't be prepared for all the nonsense you have to deal with. First of all, their choice to put in a Realtek 5G ethernet is probably the worst decision ever. This ethernet adapter isn't supported in any current Ubuntu versions. Supposedly it will be supported in kernel 6.15 but that doesn't really even matter. I use PXE boot for all my systems, as its much more convenient to boot systems over the network to install OS, perform system rescue, repartition boot disks or whatever. The rub is, your hardware needs to have wide compatibility so that the PXE boot actually works. If your PXE boot image doesn't support the ethernet adapter in the system, the boot fails. None of my PXE boot images work with this adapter. Also, a word of wisdom to any vendor trying to make 5gb ethernet happen. 5gb ethernet isn't happening, it's just not a compelling enough reason to upgrade switches and other infrastructure. 10g, 25g, 100g, 400 & 800, these are all happening. 5gb isn't happening. Horrible decision to include this barely supported ethernet on this motherboard. Since PXE wasn't working, I had to resort to using USB to boot and install an OS. That was another adventure that I care not to ever live again. I tried multiple USB sticks, 3.0, 2.0 and even a really old 1.0 USB stick. No matter what I tried, I wasn't able to boot from USB and install an OS until upgraded the firmware on the motherboard. Every now and then I get some electronic device that you can't even use until you upgrade the firmware and I must say it's an annoyance at the highest level. I should not need to upgrade the firmware just to get the thing up and running. After upgrading the firmware, I did find the magic combination of USB stick and USB port on the rear panel. I was able to get the OS installed. There are a few nice things on the board, the design of the M.2 slots and heatsinks is nice. The ejector button for the GPU slot is a nice touch too. I always feel like I'm going to break the GPU, wrestling it out of the slot on some motherboards (especially when it's super cramped in there and you can't reach the release). With those M.2 heatsinks though, there is a downside. If you have a GPU that pushes the size limit, it will sit right on top of the M.2 heatsinks. I have the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Workstation Edition and it smacks right into the heatsinks. I have no idea if the card is seated in the slot all the way because the shroud is sitting right on the heatsinks, the card can't be physically pushed in any further because it's already sitting on the heatsinks. There's also no way to see the slot from either side because the heatsinks and shroud are blocking the view. The 256GB of Crucial DDR5 seems to be working fine, I tried the easy option for clocking the memory but it didn't work so I just put it back to the default. The Crucial NVMEs seem to be working fine and cool too. For the cooler I went with the Be quiet Dark Rock Pro 5. It's enormous but seems to be keeping the CPU cooled. I'd recommend you buy your own thermal paste. The board seems fast so that's also a plus. Once I finally sorted out the issues, it seems stable enough too. I won't be returning it but I also will never buy another MSI Motherboard and I'll be sure to tell everyone I know to also stay far away from these motherboards.

Design of the motherboard is nice. I like the no screw M.2 slot and the placement of the headers especially for the AIO are convienent. I like the coloor and the overall work. Would recommend!

So far so good. Only had it 2 days though so will see how it holds up. Replaced a z490 computer that died on me. First time building a computer in about 15 - 20 years. Boy has technology changed. Loved how the motherboard was designed and ease of install. I recommend getting the PDF for the motherboard online and have it on your phone while installing (helped me tremendously). Also take your time! Hardest part for me was making sure all the power cables and motherboard cables were connected to the correct spots. Also I bought a Fractal case XL. Made install way easier with alot of room and good cable management included with case.

Why did you pick this product vs others?: It was a steal! The CPU alone is $200. Motherboard is $300. Performance: Very high performance.

going good so far