MSI MPG X870E Carbon Max WiFi Review

Conclusion

Conclusion

Even if the performance was average, the many elements that go into the MSI MPG X870E Carbon Max WiFi would leave us happy to own it as the foundation of our system.

We said earlier about how ‘right’ the Carbon Max looks to the naked eye. When you have seen as many motherboards as we have you notice the subtleties. With the Carbon Max they come in the form of straight lines. For example, often the capacitors around a CPU Socket are somewhat higgledy-piggledy. Here they are all in a straight line, even the two in the south west corner. That exacting straightness is everywhere. The fan headers are next to each other, but not shoulder to shoulder. It makes them easy to see, easy to install fans into, easy to route cables from.

That attention to detail is found throughout the design. The EZ PCIe release button makes removing your graphics card a breeze. Okay most people remove it once or twice, but we’re always swapping them around, and you appreciate a button like this. The M.2 slots have the toolless, one-hand locking mechanism. Even beneath the 24pin main ATX socket is MSIs EZ Conn design which let’s you install an AIO, even a non-MSI one, with the minimum of fuss. ARGB, fan and power all into the same header. Superb.

Aesthetics are great but performance is king. As you could see throughout our benchmark testing the MSI Carbon Max is supremely capable. The thick 8 layer PCB has 2oz copper traces for smoothest power delivery around the motherboard, and with a 110A Smart Power Stage at the heart of things it’s rewards just begging to be reaped. And it definitely lets us do so. A top three performer in almost every test, and yet still as cool as any other. High performance without getting toasty. Glorious stuff.

All that and we haven’t mentioned the plentiful connectivity found wherever you look. The smooth gradients on the lighting. Plenty of M.2 slots for even the most storage rich user. It’s spectacular in every department. Like the Z890 version before it, the MSI MPG X870E Carbon Max WiFi is a superstar and wins our OC3D Performance Award.

Discuss the MSI MPG X870E Carbon Max WiFi in our OC3D Forums.