MSI X99A XPOWER Gaming Titanium Review

Up Close

If you read our review of the Z170 Titanium then the X99 will look very familiar. The benefits of modern chipsets meaning that you can almost design the PCB separately from the socket and Intel chip and then just plug the relevant pieces in. We thought that the Z170 Titanium was gorgeous and the X99 doesn’t change that opinion. In a world largely made up of black PCBs, with the occasional white model, having a silver one is a brave step but one that has definitely come off.

      

In keeping with the silver theme of the Titanium, the heatsinks and covers are all also in that lovely shiny shade. Unlike many of the latest motherboards we’ve seen there isn’t any lighting on the board, which might disappoint those of you who prefer your systems to be replicas of the Blackpool Illuminations, but with the neutral silver we don’t mind it too much. After all, only white would really work unless you went for something searingly neon and bright. Subtlety is the key with the Titanium sleek and mercurial. 

      

All of the slots have metal bracing on them to both improve the ruggedness of the Titanium whilst also giving the board a more harmonious look than you’d get from simple black plastics. Speaking of plastics the cover for the IO portion and sound elements is disappointingly plastic. Given the Titanium name and that lofty price point we were hoping for something a little better. Heatsink design is definitely an area that MSI have weakened on from their early Dragon Gaming successes.

      

Whatever you might feel about the looks there is no doubt that the hardware is up to snuff. U.2 sockets, M.2 options, masses of USB, wherever you look there are high-bandwidth technologies, guaranteeing that your system will perform as smoothly as it looks.