MSI MPG X570 Gaming Pro Carbon WiFi Review

MSI MPG X570 Gaming Pro Carbon WiFi Review

Introduction

Please note this review was written prior to the AGESA 7B93v13 BIOS update. Our graphs have been updated to reflect the new results, but the text remains the same as the fast single threaded stock performance affects so few of our results and none of our overall opinion.

Microstar International have been producing some extremely consistent motherboards in recent times since they introduced their Dragon onto their product ranges. They have two distinct areas to their models, the affordable ones which give you all that you need for a simple setup and their premium range under the MEG banner, stretching all the way up to the Godlike.

If you can’t quite squeeze up to that end of the price spectrum, but want something with a little more show to go along with the go then their Carbon range sits right in the price sweet spot for the demands of an average user.

That doesn’t mean that the Carbon is scrimping in any area though. We still have the MSI Fusion RGB lighting, heat spreaders on all the M.2 ports, braced PCI Express 4.0 slots and lots of connectors for fans and AIOs to ensure that you have the maximum flexibility in how you wish to cool your new 3rd Generation Ryzen CPU.

Technical Specifications

Such has been the roaring success of AMDs revised approach with the AM4 socket it is already on its third generation of processors with the Ryzen which has, as we’ve seen in our recent reviews, really nailed the performance and price combination perfectly. With an updated chipset there are two big headline elements to the X570.

The PCI Express 4.0 specification has finally broken cover into the mainstream. To make fullest use of it you need to go with a new CPU too rather than bring your Ryzen 2 or 1 along to the party, but we think most people will go all in on the new system. If you do then you’ll find yourself blessed with double the bandwidth of the PCI Express 3.0. That’s 64 Gb/s fact fans. What this means is that you no longer need to balance the performance of your graphics card with your M.2 drive and both should run at their fullest capability at all times. This has the side benefit that the 3.2 GB/s M.2 drives that are currently making everyone’s jaw drop will soon be replaced by models that are twice as fast. We can’t imagine the benefits that will bring to our systems in responsiveness. Even our ageing and thus bloated Windows 10 installation could be loaded in its entirety in 4 seconds. If you get a big enough drive you could load even AAA games in the blink of an eye. We foresee a time very soon where the main thing that keeps you hanging around is waiting for the system to keep up rather than waiting for the data to stream.

The second big transition is from USB 3.1 to USB 3.2 Gen2 in the majority of places. Now we know that USB 3.2 Gen2 is just a rebranded USB 3.1 Gen2, but where it scores on the X570 is that more of the ports are the full speed 10 Gbps offering rather than the slower Gen1 USB 3.1 that formed the large part of the earlier generation.

MSI MPG X570 Gaming Pro Carbon WiFi Preview  
 

Keeping your hardware cool is the key to both the longevity of it, and also to unlocking the maximum performance. Why would you buy a set of expensive components only to have their performance throttled by heat issues. To this end the MPG Carbon manages to blend high performance cooling with the possibility for low noise when things aren’t being taxed. The fan headers have the ability to turn fans off when they aren’t needed, which is a technology we first saw on graphics cards and definitely comes in useful if you’re sensitive to fan noise. The chipset has to provide the bandwidth for the PCI Express 4.0 which naturally will bring some heat to the party and the fan and heat sink combination should help keep things frosty.

MSI MPG X570 Gaming Pro Carbon WiFi Review

The unquestioned area of the performance that dominates the metaphorical skyline like a colossus is the huge bandwidth available in every area of the X570 Carbon Pro. Whether you want heavy wireless throughput, fast USB transfers, or just blistering storage speeds, in every regard the X570 has you covered.

MSI MPG X570 Gaming Pro Carbon WiFi Review Â