MSI X299 SLI PLUS

[cadaveca]

MSI has gone and stripped "GAMING" and "X-POWER" from its motherboard, and what's left is what we've got to look at today. MSI's X299 SLI PLUS is exactly what its name says it is and not much more... or is it more than anyone could have hoped for?

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[Chaitanya]

Another Con would be snake oil M.2 shield still present on the board.

 

[Dimi]

$229.99 on Amazon right now!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072MHRV47/?tag=tec06d-20

I have it in my wishlist, i will probably buy it later this year.

 

[cadaveca]

Another Con would be snake oil M.2 shield still present on the board.

I did test with 256 GB Samsung 950 Pro, and it does lower temps by a few degrees on that drive. I have noticed that it is the 512 GB drive that people report runs hotter. I am not the only reviewer to find it works, too; @EarthDog did as well

$229.99 on Amazon right now!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072MHRV47/?tag=tec06d-20

I have it in my wishlist, i will probably buy it later this year.

It's made it's way into my personal rig. I really like this board.

 

[EarthDog]

Truth! It dropped a few C in my test environment!

 

[cadaveca]

Yeh, and they do come off very easy, too, so I don't understand the complaints, personally.

 

[EarthDog]

...too easily.

 

[springs113]

Good job as always Dave, MSI is ok but I have been trekking away from them lately. I find their software not as user friendly as Asus or even what it used to be. Don't get me wrong they have improved but not in the direction that I like.

 

[Chaitanya]

Yeh, and they do come off very easy, too, so I don't understand the complaints, personally.

Problem is that M.2 shield is a thin sheet of Aluminium(not even copper) and it won't take too long for it to reach thermal equilibrium. Also with X299 both Gigabyte and Asus introduced their own M.2 heatsinks which are much larger and finned unlike thin sheet of metal that MSI advertises to cool M.2 SSD.

 

[VulkanBros]

Problem is that M.2 shield is a thin sheet of Aluminium(not even copper) and it won't take too long for it to reach thermal equilibrium. Also with X299 both Gigabyte and Asus introduced their own M.2 heatsinks which are much larger and finned unlike thin sheet of metal that MSI advertises to cool M.2 SSD.

EKWB EK-M.2 NVMe nickel heatsink - best investment in HDD cooler I have made for long time - lowered the temp with 10 degrees Celsius on my Samsung 960 EVO

 

[noel_fs]

63.2°C i dont belive that HAHAHAHAHA

 

[Vego]

i got one, loses U.2 after sleep, neet to reboot to use the drive again

 

[cadaveca]

63.2°C i dont belive that HAHAHAHAHA

Meh, measured with IR thermometer, so of course it's not exact internal MOSFET temps, but its accurate.

You'll note I do not report CPU temperatures. those are scary, but safe. Somewhat

i got one, loses U.2 after sleep, neet to reboot to use the drive again

Hmmm, that's odd. Have you submitted a ticket to them?

Problem is that M.2 shield is a thin sheet of Aluminium(not even copper) and it won't take too long for it to reach thermal equilibrium. Also with X299 both Gigabyte and Asus introduced their own M.2 heatsinks which are much larger and finned unlike thin sheet of metal that MSI advertises to cool M.2 SSD.

I hear what you are saying, but MSI was the first to offer such added cooling, when many people said it did nothing and wasn't needed. Today we have many options for M.2 coolers. I'm not going to knock them for being the first out of the gate. Frankly I think it's pathetic that some of these drives need additional cooling under high loads.

 

[claylomax]

Hi Dave, would you say that the Tomahawk is similar to this (options and power phases) just a bit fancier and the next step is the Gaming Pro Carbon? It would go with an i7 7800x
Thanks.

 

[uuuaaaaaa]

Is MSI still using Nikos mosfets for the major vrms?

 

[cadaveca]

Hi Dave, would you say that the Tomahawk is similar to this (options and power phases) just a bit fancier and the next step is the Gaming Pro Carbon? It would go with an i7 7800x
Thanks.

You'd have to really explain to me the differences between these three boards for me to be able to understand that question. Like, OK, there are some minor differences, but you need to ask yourself if you want to pay for that difference. I don't think you need to.

Is MSI still using Nikos mosfets for the major vrms?

I do not know, to be honest. Why are you asking?

 

[Dimi]

I might actually wait for micro atx boards, don't feel like getting a new case. Any chance you would review the upcoming EVGA X299 Micro Cadaveca?

 

[cadaveca]

I might actually wait for micro atx boards, don't feel like getting a new case. Any chance you would review the upcoming EVGA X299 Micro Cadaveca?

No idea. I'd say not likely at this point. So... much... new... stuff... no way it can all be done by me.

 

[R-T-B]

I do not know, to be honest. Why are you asking?

Probably because they'd be incredibly weak if applied here. I doubt they are though. They were borderline for old AMD builds. X299 would never accept them.

 

[cadaveca]

Probably because they'd be incredibly weak if applied here. I doubt they are though. They were borderline for old AMD builds. X299 would never accept them.

This is really an entry-level X299 board. That's part of why it is rated highly; for entry-level the feature set is pretty solid for the asking price.

There is critical attention being put on the VRM design for this platform because I think some certain board makers might have forgotten to read the design documents and see the basic spec for 300W. People are complaining about paste TIM and shoddy VRMs and most missed that super-important part of this platform since day one. A board MUST be capable of that power usage, FOR STOCK!!!

This isn't your kid's mainstream platform boys and girls, where everything is simply, and you love the trees and your PC only pulls 150W at load and 25W while you stalk the people around on facebook and twitter. This platform is going to kick your ass if you don't know what you are doing, and that goes for the hardware makers AND the end user.


I am loving all the "Intel sent me 7820X and I don't know why". I'm using mine right now, and I think I know why.


I mean, I could pull the board out of my system and check if it was really important, and that's why I'm asking; like is it worth my effort?

 

[R-T-B]

There is critical attention being put on the VRM design for this platform because I think some certain board makers might have forgotten to read the design documents and see the basic spec for 300W. People are complaining about paste TIM and shoddy VRMs and most missed that super-important part of this platform since day one. A board MUST be capable of that power usage, FOR STOCK!!!

Which is precisely why a VRM built around Nikos would be pretty dangerous here. My understanding is that design struggles to deliver around 200W... But I'm no board expert, only what I've been told. Rumormill, you know...

 

[cadaveca]

Which is precisely why a VRM built around Nikos would be pretty dangerous here. My understanding is that design struggles to deliver around 200W... But I'm no board expert, only what I've been told. Rumormill, you know...

Well, I was definitely pushing more than 200W daily, not much to report. I did swap to 7820X now though, power draw is just under 190W @ 4.5 GHz on all cores & 3600 MHz memory.

I'm gonna swap to 7740X in a day or two, so I'll check when I do, I guess.

 

[uuuaaaaaa]

I do not know, to be honest. Why are you asking?

Well nikos mosfets are the worst and cheapest in the industry, they are very inefficient, put out a ton of heat and hummm, have a tendency to blow when you push them, (thermal runaway due to inefficiency and heat). They are using them in pretty much every Ryzen motherboard, even the X370 Titanium.

 

[Vego]

Hmmm, that's odd. Have you submitted a ticket to them?

nope, its MSI...
i bought it only to have something to play with till the extreme from asus or ftw-k from EVGA comes out