Board Layout

So, on to the good part: the MEG X299 CREATION itself. The board features a black PCB with gray accent printing, while the heatsinks and I/O shield feature a silver pattern like shattering glass. The back of the MEG X299 CREATION is a nearly unbroken black with only the silver CPU socket, warnings against poor case standoff placement, and some certifications.


"CREATION" is printed on the I/O shield, and "MSI" on the chipset. "TURBO M.2" and "AUDIOBOOST" also make appearances, but overall, the branding is subtle to avoid contrasting with the bold print design.


The CPU socket has as much room as one could hope for on a board this feature-packed. I can certainly see why MSI opted for an E-ATX form factor here.


The eight steel-armored DDR4 DIMM slots bracket the large 2066 socket on either side, while the VRM sits immediately above it. Top center, almost inconspicuous against the rest of the board, the three 8-pin power connectors offer a quiet promise of this board going further than most can take it.


There are three M.2 slots on the MEG X299 CREATION, sitting within the gaps between each of the four PCIe x16 slots. The M.2 placement is standard, but the heatsink solution is not. The MEG X299 CREATION uses two large heatsinks to cover all three slots as well as the chipset. This means that these spaces all share cooling, but unless you run them all at the same time (say in a RAID configuration), this solution should provide improved individual cooling for each component when under load. This heatsink also lends to the MEG X299 CREATION's unique look with the chipset appearing to reach out towards the PCI slots.


Speaking of PCI express, the MEG X299 CREATION includes four metal-reinforced PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots and one PCI Express 3.0 x1 slot. The board features eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, all angled 90 degrees from the board, as well as a steel-armored U.2 port which supports PCI Express 3.0 (x4) NVME storage.


The rear I/O on the MEG X299 CREATION is pretty much as I would expect, which is to say excellent. While I would have liked more USB 3.1 Gen2 ports, the Thunderbolt M3 can help with that.

Notably, one of the RJ45 ports (the one on the left) is 2.5 Gigabit capable, so be sure to take advantage of it if your network is capable of greater than Gigabit speeds. There is no obvious marking on the board or the ports to denote which port is which; an omission MSI will hopefully correct for the next generation.

The full list includes:

• 1x "clear CMOS" button
• 1x "BIOS Flashback" button
• 2x Antenna ports
• 1x PS/2 keyboard and mouse combo connector
• 1x USB 2.0 Type-A ports
• 6x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports
• 1x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A ports
• 1x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C port
• 2x RJ-45 LAN ports
• 1x Optical SPDIF out port
• 5x 3.5 mm audio jacks

LAN on the MEG X299 CREATION is handled by an Intel I219-V Gigabit controller and a Realtek RTL8125-CG 2.5G controller, while the Wi-Fi is powered by an Intel Wireless-AC 9260.