The Threadripper setup is often beyond reach to most people but if you ever do come this path, you’ll need a good board like the MSI X399 Gaming Pro Carbon AC here.
The board is beautiful, it even comes with carbon fiber-like surface on the heatsinks around the board. The board is stunningly beautiful.
On the upper corner here is where I find it interesting, the X399 Gaming Pro Carbon AC does’t have any form of cover after the I/O area but what it has are the 3 power connectors – 2x for 8-pin EPS12V and 1x 8-pin PCI-E, and as you can see they’re all located within that area.
On the other side there’s just the ATX12V connector and 2 main SATA ports. One thing to note is that the MSI X399 Gaming Pro Carbon AC comes with 13-phase power design.
Moving further down is where things get interesting – it comes with Debug LED, POWER ON and RESET button, and even a knob for overclocking purpose. The forward facing USB 3.0 ports (2 of them) and SATA ports are along that corner.
Moving up a litle there’s 3x M.2 slots that comes with M.2 shield. Not only that, the X399 Gaming Pro Carbon AC comes with 6x PCI-E slots of which 4 are reinforced full sized PCI-E x16 slots with 2x PCI-E x1 slots.
Basically you can use a board like this making a 6 GPU mining rig. That aside the X399 Gaming Pro Carbon AC comes with Audio Boost IV sound system from MSI.
At the rear, a hose of connectors –
– 1 x Clear CMOS button
– 1 x BIOS FLASHBACK+ button
– 1 x PS/2 keyboard/ mouse combo port
– 2 x USB 2.0 Type-A ports
(1 x BIOS FLASHBACK+ port)
– 8 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports
– 1 x LAN (RJ45) port
– 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A port
– 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C port
– 5 x OFC audio jacks
– 1 x Optical S/PDIF OUT connector
The board doesn’t come with Wi-Fi connectivity on the I/O but MSI does provide a Wi-Fi add on card. 🙂 What I like about it is the Clear CMOS and BIOS Flashback button, just be careful not to touch them by mistake. 😀
User Experience
While the official product page did highlight features like overclocking. The board does indeed come with overclocking features, it is primarily a gaming oriented board and even the product page says “A GAMERS’ BIOS” when it comes to describing the BIOS.
MSI’s UEFI is one that I don’t like when it comes to overclocking, you still get things done if need but I must say it’s not as good as ASUS or ASRock on that aspect.
The MSI X399 Gaming Pro Carbon AC comes also with 3D PRINTING & MODDING support, meaning you are able to print your own customized parts to improve the experience. The product page mentioned components like personalized covers, SLI bridge, M.2 fan stand, cable cover and VGA support but it’s too bad they do not provide any download.
The Verdict
The MSI X399 Gaming Pro Carbon AC Motherboard is a premium priced board coming in at RM 1,700 but considering it’s a TR4 socket board, somes with Wi-Fi add on and many goodies on it – I’d say the board is excellent. It’s definitely a far better experience compared to my MSI X370 Xpower Gaming Titanium of which I find rather disappointing.
It might not have the best overclocking settings in the UEFI but it’s enough for most people, the board is worth your consideration even if you do not intend to overclock. Good looks and great features, what more could one ask for?
