The MSI Gaming "x" (3,5,7,9 whatever) series is a new line and I am always a bit shy of the 1st stepping of a new MoBo line. When the GD65 came out the 1st stepping had an issue with the Killer network firmware (later fixed) but if ya waited for 2nd stepping, you didn't have to go thru that.....same with Asus Z87 boards, 1st stepping had issues with external drives not waking up after puter went to sleep.....that wasn't fixed till 2nd stepping so if ya got 1st stepping ya had to live with that.
Personally, I think the two best boards overall in the $150 to $200ish range are the GD65 and Asus Hero, but with the GD65 being $40-50 cheaper , having consistent $30 combo discounts with the new Intel 4690k/4790k and the Asus Z87/Z97 having a Bios Clock freeze bug that hasn't as yet been resolved, I been going exclusively with the GD65 in this segment.
As for the overclocking versus gaming is something the manufacturers clearly target features for I find that that has nothing to do with how well the boards overclock. For example an "overclocker's" board might have voltage points where ya can measure voltages with a meter or have a USB board right on the face to make it easier when breadboarding, are you actually going to use those things ? Competitive overlcockers yes, regular Joes who just wanna boost PC speed, not often going to use those features if ever so save the dough.
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