Overclockers have always been demanding of motherboards, but it’s hard to find fault with the hero of the review. The MSI MPG X870E CARBON WIFI is a real dream motherboard for enthusiasts and fans of computer components who are not satisfied with just using their PCs. This is a device for tech gurus who regularly tinker with the software and hardware of their system. Technically, the board is almost without flaws, but does it justify its considerable cost?
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| Technical characteristics | |
| Format | ATX |
| Socket | AMD AM5 |
| Chipset | X870E |
| Power supply phases | 18+2+1 |
| RAM | 4 x DDR5 |
| Max. amount of RAM | 256 GB |
| Max. frequency of RAM | 8400 MHz |
| Video outputs | 1 x HDMI 2.1 |
| 2 x USB4 alt DP 1.4 | |
| LAN controller | 1 x RTL8125BG 2.5 Gbps |
| 1 x RTL8125BG 5 Gbps | |
| Wireless interfaces | Wi-Fi 7 802.11be |
| Bluetooth 5.4 | |
| PCI-E x16 connectors | 2 x v5.0 |
| 1 x v4.0 | |
| M2 connectors | 2 x v5.0 |
| 2 x v4.0 | |
| Total PCI-E lines | 44 |
| SATA connectors | 4 x 6Gbps |
| USB (front panel) | 4 x USB A 2.0 |
| 4 x USB A 5Gbps | |
| 1 x USB C 20Gbps | |
| USB (rear panel) | 9 x USB A 10Gbps |
| 2 x USB C 10Gbps | |
| 2 x USB C 40Gbps | |
| Total USB connectors | 22 |
| Sound | 7.1 Realtek ALC4080 |
| Illumination | 3 x ARGB LED |
| 1 x RGB LED | |
| Processor power supply | 8 + 8 pin |
| Power supply for coolers | 7 x 4 pin |
| Dimensions | 244×305 mm |
| Additionally | Digital display |
| MSI EZ M.2 SSD radiators | |
| EZ M.2 mounts | |
| Internal keys | |
| Front panel extension | |
| MSI EZ Conn cable | |
| Thermal pads 7W/mK | |
The MSI MPG X870E CARBON WIFI motherboard was tested in a computer with the following components:
In addition to the motherboard, the box contains many accessories inside: EZ Conn cable for MSI cooling systems, front panel extension cable, 2 SATA cables, ARGB splitter, M.2 SSD screws and hex key, flash drive, cable stickers, paper documentation.
The front panel extension has proven to be useful when connecting small cables to individual «bayonets». PC enthusiasts often recall this unpleasant experience, and connecting a single cable like USB is much easier. Detailed instructions need to be downloaded to your smartphone by scanning the QR code on the motherboard box.
Despite its full-size (ATX format) dimensions, MSI MPG X870E CARBON WIFI is densely packed with SMD components, some of which are on the back. Huge radiators cover almost the entire area of the motherboard. Their main advantage is not a large dissipation area, but the proprietary MSI EZ M.2 mount.
The radiator can be removed without screws by pressing the spring. This technology is not new and has been used in other MSI motherboards before, but not for all radiators at the same time – a large metal plate in the lower part simultaneously covers as many as three M.2 drives. A little to the right is another smaller backlit radiator. The cooling of the power supply area (18+2+1 phases) also has a backlit MSI logo.
The mechanism of connecting the video card is no less interesting because now a button is used to fix the graphics adapter, not a plastic clip (which regularly comes off when you pull out the video card). There are two 8+8 pin power connectors for the processor, and at the bottom of the motherboard there is another 8 pin connector, but this time for the GPU cable, not the CPU. This additional power is used for PCI-E slots.
In total, the motherboard has two chipsets, 22 USB, 44 PCI-E lines, four SATA 3.0, two LANs (one of which is 5 Gbps), four RAM slots, seven fan slots and four RGB/ARGB backlight slots. All interfaces are high-speed and state-of-the-art: Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 7 (which is not yet in use anywhere, future-proof, so to speak), two Thunderbolt 4 (40 Gbps) — what more could you ask for?
Having a modern PCI-E 5.0 x16 is also important because when all the drive slots are filled, the bit depth can drop from x16 to x8, and the bandwidth of PCI-E 5.0 x8 is equal to PCI-E 4.0 x16. Of course, a lot also depends on the processor. For example, models with the G prefix (8300G, 8600G, 8700G) have serious limitations, so you need to find out the exact data for the selected CPU on the website manufacturer.
Additionally, it is worth noting the internal power and reset buttons. The digital LED indicator shows POST codes, which will definitely come in handy for a potential owner of a «overclocker» motherboard. The «reboot» button on the front panel of the chassis can be programmed to perform another action. For example, to turn off the backlight, boot in safe mode, or maximize fan speed.
So, we have a board with a high-quality audio card, top-end network interfaces, including two LANs, a USB carriage, and many internal connectors for cooling systems, case fans, and other components typical of modern high-end computers.
The BIOS in this model is new and slightly different from the usual MSI Click BIOS. The design of the main page has become more convenient and now allows you to overclock components without diving deep into the detailed settings of the motherboard.
MSI MPG X870E CARBON WIFI allows you to set XMP profiles for RAM, as well as overclock memory using MSI Memory Try It right on the main page. Here you can also select the AMD Precision Boost Overdrive profile, adjust the fan speed curve, view system information, and more.
In the advanced mode, MSI MPG X870E CARBON WIFI reveals itself to the fullest, allowing you to play with the system components as you wish. The flagship chipset does not limit the user, who will get everything that can be theoretically obtained from the AM5 platform, including the whims of the most demanding overclocking enthusiasts.
For the full operation of MSI MPG X870E CARBON WIFI, it is recommended to use the proprietary MSI Center program. The utility allows you to control the RGB backlight, displays system information, gives you access to fan control without having to enter the BIOS, and much more.
System bootup is not too long, but not too fast in the background ASRock A620M (10-14 seconds). It takes about 30 seconds from the moment you press the power button to the Windows desktop. If you pull out the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX video card (running on the iGPU), then this time can be reduced to 23-25 seconds. Lowering the frequency of the RAM has little effect on the boot speed.
We tested the motherboard with the fastest 16-core processor AMD Ryzen 9 9950X with a TDP of 230 watts. You can overclock it for higher power consumption with the MSI MEG S360 SRO, but you will have to buy liquid metal for this. Unfortunately, it is much more difficult to remove heat from AMD AM5 than from Intel LGA1700, so we did not manage to get the conditional «6000 MHz for all cores».
With overclocking, we managed to raise the frequency from 5100 MHz to 5350-5400 MHz without changing the voltage. Not a bad result, which added 3-5% of performance. At least this trend can be observed in Cinebench 2024. For the core, the increase in some benchmarks was even greater — up to 8%.
At the same time, the motherboard didn’t heat up too much — the Aida 64 sensors show only 45-46 °C. The pyrometer could not catch a point with a temperature of more than 50 °C, and the average value was only 42-45 °C. The radiators are only slightly warm in the hottest spots, i.e. in the power supply area. There is a reserve for a considerable overclocking. The system’s idle power consumption is 90-95 watts, which is a lot, but it’s quite normal for a PC with six fans, four drives, a flagship processor, and an RX 7900 XTX graphics card.
When playing with the CPU settings, you need to be careful and not too impudent. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X processor is already pretty much «overclocked» from the factory, so you won’t be able to reduce the voltage on it much. Even with the recommended AMD PBO Enchanted profiles, you can get blue screens, system reboots, unstable operation of some programs, errors in benchmarks, etc.
The only drawback of large radiators is the heat from the video card. When the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is running, it transfers a lot of heat to the lower radiators for the drives. That’s why, as you can see from the screenshots, the temperature of the additional 4 TB SSD was always within 40-45°C without the disk itself being loaded.
MSI MPG X870E CARBON WIFI has two M.2 PCI-E 5.0 and two M.2 PCI-E 4.0 connectors. During testing, we used the popular Kingston KC3000, so we relied on its capabilities, not the motherboard. Some brand new PCI-E 5.0 flagship would fit here, like MSI M580 FROZR. What the owner of a $500 board will definitely be interested in.
The Kingston Fury Beast DDR5 RGB RAM with 6800 MT/s and CL34 performs well with the factory XMP profile, but this is far from the limit. We managed to overclock the RAM to 7800 MT/s, and then to 8000 MT/s. The read speed in the Aida 64 test still did not exceed 100 GB/s, but the results are still excellent compared to other AM5 systems.
It’s important to remember that unlike Intel, AMD Ryzen AM5 processors are not very sensitive to an increase in RAM frequency. For comfortable work and high performance in games, 5600-6000 MT/s is enough, but this board is not about classic use, but overclocking, which is why it provides such an overclocking space. It’s a kind of fetish for enthusiasts, which is hard to understand for typical users.
There was no wow effect after the MSI MPG B650 CARBON WIFI, but there were a few pleasant moments. Only an enthusiast who uses many drives, several video cards, etc. can truly feel all the advantages of the MSI MPG X870E CARBON WIFI, but even an ordinary user can see some advantages.
The Wi-Fi antenna is very well implemented and connects without scrolling on the thread. In addition, the Bluetooth signal is more stable: where (in the opposite part of the house) the B650 CARBON starts «catching» the signal with interruptions, the review hero was stable.
Installing/removing SSDs was no less pleasant. The ergonomics of the radiators are excellent, as they can be removed with your bare hands, literally without any screwdrivers. The drives are also fixed without screws. Since I often «spin up computers» for reviews, all these time-saving features are quite relevant.
Personally, I liked the better BIOS with a more functional EZ-mode, as well as the ability to overclock the RAM to previously unseen (on AM5) frequencies. Of course, all these reasons are not enough to change the mid-range B650 to the flagship X870E, which would be done only by a true techno-fan obsessed with upgrades.
Pros MSI MPG X870E CARBON WIFI They ask for almost 22,000 hryvnias. The price is considerable, because this is just the beginning of sales. There are a lot of competitors in this price segment, including the previous generation X670E, but let’s consider only the latest X870/X870E analogs. Note that some manufacturers have not yet had time to bring their X870E models, so there will be repetitions of brands among the competitors.
Gigabyte X870E AORUS ELITE WIFI7 has a 20-phase power supply and good overclocking potential. Although this model is inferior in many ways to the hero of the review, it costs 17,000 UAH.
Strict, serious, stylish motherboard Asus ProArt X870E-Creator WiFi is designed for workstations. The only caveat is that it supports 192 GB of RAM, not 256 GB. The price is 24000 UAH.
Asus ROG STRIX X870E-E GAMING WIFI has as many as five drive slots, three of which are PCI-E 5.0. It’s a great card for those who like to get the most out of their PC. The price is 25000 hryvnias.
Affordable alternative MSI MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI based on the pre-top chipset is not much inferior to its older brother CARBON. A good choice with an excellent price/performance ratio. The price is 14000 UAH.
