Introduction

Intel's Z270 chipset has some interesting CPUs to go along with it, and it seems many have the potential to reach 5 GHz for daily use, something many enthusiasts have only dreamed of until now. Of course, you do need that capable board to match that overly capable CPU, and MSI's Z270 GAMING PRO CARBON is fortunately more than just one of those boards.

The motherboard is one of the most important parts - if not the most important - of any PC build. It lays the foundation for the feature set on offer, provides the majority of the connectivity, and has all the slots for all the other hardware you plan to use. Everything else plugs into your motherboard, so its importance cannot be denied. Careful consideration must be given to ensure you get exactly what you are looking for, and if you are a slightly more discriminate buyer, the "carbon" moniker after the "GAMING PRO" bit should hint at something. Something decidedly exciting.

If you are into high-end cars that have prices in the six-figure range, you'll be more than aware of the fact that a full carbon version of any car is highly desirable and commands a price premium that will leave most wallets on life support. MSI, on the other hand, does not do so; you'll get this tweaked version of MSI's GAMING PRO motherboard for just a few dollars more. So what does MSI's CARBON mean, exactly? Let's find out.

Specifications

Packaging and Contents

For me, what's on a box matters in a big way. I mean, it's something you throw away or toss into a closet, but is also the first thing you see when you actually buy a product. You bought it because of what's inside, but what's outside, if done right, simply validates your purchase. If you know what's inside this box, then the outsides of the MSI Z270 GAMING PRO CARBON box are perfectly matched to the board contained within. At least on the front. The rear is in information-overload mode and burns my eyes.


So you flip open the lid and find the MSI Z270 GAMING PRO CARBON up top, but obviously that's here, what else can we find? What goodies does this board come with? A picture is below:


There are just enough accessories in the box. Actually, I would have preferred to find a NVIDIA SLI HB bridge here rather than the now-outdated flexible one included with the MSI Z270 GAMING PRO CARBON.

• Quick installation guide, support CD, I/O shield
• 4x SATA cables
• 1x Flexible SLI bridge
• 2x MSI cable labels
• 2x RGB LED connection cables

Board Layout

Gaming. Pro. Carbon. These words set certain expectations for me with the MSI Z270 GAMING PRO CARBON, and at first look, my expectations are met. Front and rear, there is no doubt this is a high-end motherboard. Looking at the rear of the board, you can easily see the race track that surrounds the socket. This is actually printed both front and rear, but there is other stuff in the way of seeing the full image on the front of the board.


The socket area seems a bit busy, but has adequate clearance for nearly any cooler. The memory slots are metal reinforced to strengthen the slot and help eliminate EMI that might otherwise affect memory overclocking. There are actual clips at either end of these memory sockets, too (I personally do not like the clip-less slot ends many boards use. Want to push 3600 MHz DDR4 8 GB DIMMs in all slots? I can confirm this is done easily.


The main PCIe slots intended for GPUs get metal reinforcement like the memory slots do, for the same reasons, while there is an additional "normal" x16-length slot on the bottom, along with three PCIe x1 slots in the middle, here and there. Next to the chipset cooler are just four SATA ports (more are located elsewhere).


The MSI Z270 GAMING PRO CARBON is outfitted with two M.2 slots. The upper slot is a fairly standard 32 Gb/s port, ready for NVME devices, while the bottom slot is a bit different. Yes, that is a metal plate covering it.


You have to remove the screw to open it, and under it is another standard 32 Gb/s port, and the underside of the metal cover has a thermal pad which is in theory there to aid in keeping the drive cooler. There have been rather mixed reviews about this that I have seen, but my 256 GB Samsung 950 PRO drive did seem to appreciate it being there, though any performance differences were negligible under normal use. You can RAID both of these M.2 ports together, along with any add-in U.2 or PCIe-SSD, using the BIOS's built-in utility in any mad mix of these drive types you might like.


The board's bottom edge has all sorts of different pin headers and such on it, including two additional SATA ports, bringing the total support here up to six SATA-based devices.


The rear I/O section of the board is pretty standard; USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and USB 3.1 plugs are all here, along with a DVI port and an HDMI port. Audio ports include an optical audio plug, and a PS/2 combo port and a LAN port round out the connectivity here. Overly vocal LAN users rejoice! I found an Intel-made LAN chip here on the MSI GAMING PRO CARBON, so no worries need be expressed about that stuff!