Introduction

MSI X99A GAMING PRO CARBON - that's certainly a mouthful, but it should get the point of what this product really is about across easily; Intel's X99 Express chipset tailored around gaming at the pro level with a "carbon" aesthetic. However, that's not all that's here on this product from MSI.

This is yet another motherboard review I'm doing with some borrowed hardware. The last motherboard I covered used a borrowed CPU I had very little time with, but this time, I had more time with the CPU. I asked MSI for a loaner chip, and they provided me with another retail Core i7-6950X CPU sample to test with. MSI was just as eager as Gigabyte to provide me with a CPU, and they know I prefer retail samples, not ES chips, so I have to take this moment to thank MSI for going out of their way to get me the CPU used in this review. It's greatly appreciated. Now, back to the item at hand...

High-end gaming rigs have a set need of undeniable features. We need extreme component quality, useful features, excellent power delivery, decent bundled software, and perfectly provided accessories. We need ideal slot layouts, great BIOSes and an ease of use and implementation that doesn't take to reading a book (or university classes) to comprehend. In order for such a product to cater to absolutely everyone, we need a simple aesthetic that is also over-the-top flashy. MSI's X99A GAMING PRO CARBON puts a tick in all of those boxes, and in a way I have longed to have in my own gaming rig. I've been a multi-GPU user for most of the past decade, and I need a HEDT system to meet my everyday compute needs, but few boards out there meet my specific needs so well as the X99A GAMING PRO CARBON does. Intel LAN? Yup. PCIe Gen3 x4 M.3 slot? Yup. USB 3.1 Type-C? Again, yup. For those of you looking for easy clocking, there's even the Game Boost knob to increase CPU clocks with just a flick of the wrist!

Specifications