Msi z370 review: Entry Level Business (And Pleasure)

MSI Z370-A Pro OverviewVisual InspectionBIOS and SoftwareBoard FeaturesSystem PerformanceCPU Performance: Short FormGaming PerformanceOverclocking with the i7-8700KFinal Words and Conclusion

The MSI Z370-A Pro is an inexpensive motherboard from MSI’s ‘Pro’ series of boards. The Pro series boards are designed for content creators and professionals who can use the horsepower of the high-end Coffee-Lake CPUs and require reliability and performance. The Z370-A Pro, at $110, in this review strives to accomplish fitting in here with its complement of features, as well as supporting overclocking to get the most out of the installed processor.

MSI Z370-A Pro Overview

The Z370-A Pro comes from a family of 13 different motherboards in MSI’s Z370 lineup. Within that lineup are boards from its various categories from Enthusiast Gaming, Performance Gaming, and Arsenal Gaming, and the Pro series, all designed to offer users different feature sets and aesthetics. The Z370-A Pro is the cheapest of the line up, and is not intended to be an RGB light show and meant to impress with flare and substance, but meant for business users who want or need high performance and use the latest Intel Coffee Lake processors like the i7-8700K and do not want to pay more than needed for features that may not be used. 

We inferred the board wouldn’t win any beauty contests with its plain black/dark brown theme, but it isn’t intended to either. Fancy heatsinks and RGB LEDs do add to the cost of the board which are features that are not likely to be on the top of the list for professional users. Typically they are looking for a reliable system which is able to get the job done and quickly, without breaking the budget.  

AnandTech Intel Z370 Motherboard and CPU Coverage

• The Anandtech Coffee Lake Review: Initial Numbers on the Core i7-8700K and Core i5-8400
• Analyzing Z370 for Intel’s 8th Generation Coffee Lake: A Quick Look at 50+ Motherboards
• The Intel Core i7-8086K Review

Buy MSI Z370-A Pro on Amazon.com

In our performance testing, the MSI Z370-A Pro performed well overall with results being competitive. Highlights include the power consumption, which was on the lighter side for both idle and load testing, and the board hasa pretty quick boot time. Other results were on par with other datasets so there is nothing holding the board back for our testing. 

For overclocking, the $110 motherboard was able to reach 5.1 GHz. As is the case with overclocking this CPU, we are limited by the cooling and not the motherboard. The OC Genie 4 one-touch button raised both the all core CPU speed by 100 MHz, and the single core speed by 100 MHz as well, yielding 4. 4 GHz and 4.8 GHz clocks. The voltage used was higher than needed for the clocks, but it did not surpass our cooling capabilities which we have seen in the past from almost all boards. 

On the storage side of things, the MSI Z370-A Pro gives users the full complement of six SATA ports and has one M.2 slot for high-speed storage. Network duties are handled by a single Realtek LAN controller — Wi-Fi is not available. For USB connectivity, there are a total of six ports on the back (four USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0) along with internal headers for a total of 14 possible USB ports (eight USB 3.0 and six USB 2.0). Missing is USB 3.1 support which if needed will have to come from an add-in card. 

The board includes a total of six PCIe slots, two full-length, and four x1 size slots. The first full-length slot is CPU connected while the second (and x1 slots) are fed from the PCH. The board is able to support Crossfire only with MSI saying in their literature the Pro series boards are optimized by phyiscal layout and power design for cryptocurrency mining including additional BIOS options said to ensure a stable system for long mining sessions.  

The rear IO consists of three video outputs (VGA, DVI-D, and a full size DisplayPort) a PS/2 mouse/keyboard combo port, four USB 3.0 ports, Two USB 2.0 ports, the LAN port, and 6-plug audio stack. 

^ — 3rd party seller

*It should be noted that from this point on in our Z370 motherboard reviews, we are using Windows 10 RS3 with the Spectre/Meltdown patches as well as other script adjustments.

Information on Intel’s Coffee-Lake CPU Desktop Processors

One important piece of information to note: technically these processors use the LGA1151 socket, also used by 6th and 7th Generation processors using the Z170 and Z270 chipsets. But due to several (albeit minor) difference in the pin-layout of these two sets of processors, the 8th Generation Coffee Lake will only work in Z370 boards and are not cross-compatible. Back in October 2017, Ian Cutress reviewed a couple of processors (i7-8700K and i5-8400) in the Coffee Lake lineup — details on the rest of the product stack are listed below.

Buy Intel Core i7-8086K on Amazon.com

The MSI Z370-A Pro Review

In this review, we have the following pages:

1. Overview
2. Visual Inspection
3. BIOS and Software
4. Board Features
5. System Performance
6. CPU Performance
7. Gaming Performance
8. Overclocking Performance
9. Conclusions

Visual Inspection
MSI Z370-A Pro OverviewVisual InspectionBIOS and SoftwareBoard FeaturesSystem PerformanceCPU Performance: Short FormGaming PerformanceOverclocking with the i7-8700KFinal Words and Conclusion

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MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC Motherboard Review — Tom’s Hardware

Early Verdict

Enhanced features give the Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC a little more value than its most closely priced competitor.

Pros

• +

  Good CPU overclocking

• +

  Good voltage regulator cooling

• +

  Improved value feature set

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Features & Layout

What does $200 get you? By way of comparison, the number of added features is akin to the $180 boards of yesteryear and the $160 boards of Tom’s Hardware’s earliest days. We find a reasonably oversized voltage regulator, a few high-end codecs, and a couple extra controllers. In the case of MSI’s Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC, those controllers are USB 3.1 Gen2 and Wi-Fi.

Unlike most competing boards, the Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC’s Wi-Fi comes on a PCIe/USB to M.2 Key-E adapter card. The module is worth over $20, and adapter cards with the module are generally priced a few dollars higher, yet the Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC costs only $10 more than its non-Wi-Fi version: Could this be the starting point of good value?

Specifications

Around back we find a classic PS/2 port for legacy mice and keyboards, two USB 2.0 ports, a DisplayPort 1.2 connector with a meager 24 Hz refresh rate at 4096X2304, USB 3.1 Gen2 ports in Type A and Type-C versions fed by a dual-lane PCIe 3.0 controller, four SATA 3.0 ports (MSI calls these 3.1 Gen1), an HDMI 1.4 output with a still-meager 30 Hz refresh rate at 4096×2160, five analog audio jacks, and a digital optical audio output. Meager 4K refresh rates for on-board video shouldn’t bother gamers, because that target market uses graphics cards.

Since you are using graphics cards, you’ll be pleased to see that the two CPU-fed PCIe slots are reinforced to reduce the chance of damage that often occurs when moving around a PC with extra heavy graphics coolers. Spaced three slots apart to make room for large card coolers, these two slots switch from x16/x0 mode to x8/x8 modes when a card is detected in the second metal-shrouded slot.

A third x16-length slot is fed with four lanes from the PCH. Though technically compatible with 3-way CrossFireX, we prefer to have all of our graphics cards on the same controller. The Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC also has three PCIe x1 slots, and this is where we question the inclusion of the Wi-Fi adapter card: If the two graphics cards you’re using are more than 40mm thick, you probably won’t have a place to put it. If your card thicknesses are 40mm or less, you’re stuck sticking the adapter in either the black x16-legth slot or middle x1 slot. Putting it in the middle x1 slot means wrapping its USB cable over the top of the second card to a header on the board’s bottom edge. Meanwhile, the top x1 slot will be covered up by all but the thinnest of graphics cards, which causes us to question its dedicated resource.

The only reason we’d need to question the implementation of a dedicated resource to a slot we can’t use would be if the board had a resource shortage, and here’s the shocker: All feature-packed Z370 boards have resource shortages. In this case, the lower M.2 slot steals two HSIO resources from SATA and transfers them to PCIe, unless the M.2 card is SATA, in which case it steals only one port. On the other hand, the upper M.2 slot is fully provisioned for PCIe, stealing a SATA lane only when the M.2 drive is SATA.

The upper M.2 slot also has MSI’s M.2 shield heat spreader, which helps to hide those ugly M.2 drives. That part is also removable, just in case the M.2 drive you’re using isn’t ugly.

Four SATA ports and a USB 3.0 header point forward along the front edge, in front of the cards. A second USB 3.0 header is found next to the main power jack, and uses a perpendicular connector since it’s not in the way of any cards. Similarly, the two other SATA ports along the board’s bottom edge are perpendicular, because you’re probably not going to use that bottom slot for a graphics card.

The bottom edge also contains, back-to-front, a front-panel audio, RGB LED, PWM-style fan, TPM, LED power indicator, PC Speaker, Front-panel button, two USB 2.0, and Rainbow LED headers. In the midst of those headers is a demo button for on-board RGB LEDs and a jumper to change the function of the demo button.

A second standard RGB LED header is found next to the EPS12V connector, and a special Corsair LED strip connector is located near the top front corner. Many readers have asked us not to talk about RGB connectors in terms of value, but other readers will certainly be able to appreciate the breadth of connectivity.

The Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC includes six four-pin PWM fan headers, and all six have voltage control modes available. In addition to automatic detection, the board provides the ability to manually force the alternative fan control method.

The Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon is packed with cables: Though SATA is limited to one straight and one right-angle cable, it also includes an 80cm RGB splitter cable, an 80cm Rainbow LED extension cable, a 50cm Corsair HD RGB LED extension cable, and a USB cable for the M.2-based Wi-Fi module.  Buyers also get an HB-SLI Bridge, the Wi-Fi adapter card with installed module, two Wi-Fi antennas (the Brits will hate me for that), an I/O shield, a sheet of cable labels, a quick install guide, a full user manual, and a driver/application disc.

MORE: Best Motherboards

MORE: How To Choose A Motherboard

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Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom’s Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.

MSI Z370 TOMAHAWK board review: the end justifies the means

All Coffee Lake motherboards are now based on the Intel Z370. When building a new PC with 8th generation Core chips, you need to choose one of the models on the top chipset. In the five months since the announcement of the new platform, manufacturers have prepared many devices with different functionality, equipment and their own unique features. Today we are focusing on a full-size model with a militant but concise name — MSI Z370 TOMAHAWK.

Zmist

• 1 Delivery set
• 2 Design and layout
• 3 In progress

Delivery set

The board comes with a user manual, a CD with drivers and software, instructions for the rear wall of the case, a blank , a pair of SATA interface cables and an extension cable for connecting an external RGB strip.

Design and layout

MSI Z370 TOMAHAWK conforms to the ATX format and measures 304x243mm. There is a decorative white color on the black printed circuit board. Elements of the cooling system, as well as a plastic protective cover in the area of ​​the interface panel, are made in graphite color. In general, the design is discreet without bright contrasting elements. Something immediately suggests that developers will visually «get» with the help of additional lighting.

The board is naturally based on the Intel Z370 chipset and supports all Coffee Lake processors. Recall that now this family includes Core i7/i5/i3 models. Soon the range of Core i5 chips will expand, and the most affordable CPUs with the 8th generation Core architecture — Celeron G4xxx and Pentium Gold G5xxx will be added.

The power subsystem uses a 10-phase power conditioning circuit. The uP9598Q PWM controller is used, so obviously the developer uses an architecture with doubling the power phases. Elements QN3107 and QN3103 are used as power assemblies. For additional cooling, the MOSFET is equipped with medium-sized radiator blocks, which are fixed with screws. In general, judging by the element base, VRM will allow you to experiment within reasonable limits with overclocking 6-core chips. One 8-pin connector is provided for connecting additional power.

The MSI Z370 TOMAHAWK has 4 memory slots for up to 64 GB of RAM. For DIMM slots, there is a double-sided locking mechanism for the brackets. Declared support for modes up to DDR4-4000. In the endless list of tested and validated memory kits on the manufacturer’s website, there are as many as 825 positions. When sorted by operating frequency, DDR4-4000 sets are in the top.
Recall that officially support for DDR4-2400/2666 memory is indicated for Coffee Lake processors, but boards based on Intel Z370 allow you to use noticeably faster kits or experiment with overclocking existing modules.

The model offers six expansion slots — three full-format PCI Express x16 and the same number of compact PCI Express x1. The board does not allow splitting the processor lanes of the PCI Express 3. 0 bus, which determines the modes of operation of the presented slots. The first full-length PCI Express slot always works in x16 mode. The connector has a metal sheathing for mechanical reinforcement, it is recommended to use it for installing a video card.

The second full-size slot is serviced by the chipset and can work in up to x4 mode (depending on the drive configuration). The bottom PCI-E x16 slot is allocated one PCI-E 3.0 lane, so despite the dimensions, the slot is designed for expansion cards that have enough bandwidth up to 1 GB / s.
Impossibility to split processor lines in x8+x8 proportions automatically excludes SLI support. This is not a big loss for a platform of this class, especially considering the cost of current video cards with NVIDIA chips, which, in principle, can be used in pairs (GeForce GTX 1070 and higher). There are no problems with CrossFireX configurations. The board allows you to install two graphics adapters with AMD chips. A combination of x16+x4 slots is enough to synchronize a pair of video cards, the only question is the overall efficiency of such a bundle.

The board has six 4-pin fan connectors. All connectors use independent control channels using pulse modulation (PWM) or changing the supply voltage (DC). In this case, automatic detection of the adjustment method is not provided. When connecting fans, you must select the control mode (PWM / DC) in the BIOS. Initially, the CPU cooler and CBO pump connectors are set to PWM mode, while the rest are set to DC.

The Command Center application only monitors two temperature values ​​- the overall temperature of the board and the temperature of the processor.

Interestingly, the BIOS also provides monitoring of the sensor located in the area of ​​the VRM elements, and utilities such as AIDA64 or HWiNFO64 allow you to fix the heating of the chipset. If these figures can be obtained, it would be nice to be able to adjust the cooling system based on these data. Perhaps the manufacturer will open this possibility in the future.

Mid-range motherboards do not indulge in an abundance of additional controls. Often these are already the delights of top models. In this case, the price is important and the overpayment for options that are very likely not to be used at all is simply inappropriate. From the useful «special stages» available, we single out a set of signal LEDs EZ Debug LED, which allow us to identify the problem node in express mode at the stage of system boot.

course

UI/UX Design

REGISTER!

But without which it is no longer possible to imagine any motherboard, it is without additional lighting. Here it is also in abundance. RGB LEDs are installed along the PCB perimeter with a greater concentration in the area of ​​​​the sound subsystem. All LEDs are located on the reverse side of the printed circuit board, so the overall intensity of the glow is relatively small.

The chipset heatsink is highlighted separately.

If you want to fill the space inside the system unit with additional light or bring the illumination outside, then the board has one 4-pin connector for connecting an external LED strip.

Strings of 5050 RGB elements with a supply voltage of 12 V are supported. Recall that an 80 cm extension cable is supplied with the board in case the lights are brought out. You don’t have to lose the useful length of the LED strip.

The Mystic Light app is used to set up the lighting system. There are four independent zones — perimeter lighting, chipset heatsink, audio subsystem and a channel for an external RGB tape.

More than a dozen different modes are available. MSI’s proprietary Mystic Light Sync technology is also supported to synchronize the lighting of various platform components and peripherals.

The board offers interesting possibilities for setting up the storage subsystem. The model is equipped with six SATA ports (right edge of the PCB) and a pair of M.2 (22110+2280). Both M.2 connectors allow you to use both PCI-E drives and SATA.

The Intel Z370 chipset offers a total of 6 SATA channels, which should be considered when planning your storage system. For example, if you use two SATA drives in M.2 format, then the corresponding number of available individual ports will be deactivated. It is unlikely that such a scheme will be useful in practice, but in this case it is possible. Often, if the board has two M.2 ports, only one of them can install a SATA drive. It also supports a configuration with two such devices. Not that this is an advantage, but rather a feature of a particular model.

When equipping the board with high-speed SSDs with data transfer over PCI-E, it is better to start with M.2, located in the central part of the board (M2_1). If the second port (M2_2) is occupied by such a drive, the middle full-format PCI-E expansion slot operating in x4 mode will be deactivated. Both M.2 slots can also «charge» Intel Optane accelerators, if there is a place for them in your system.

MSI Z370 TOMAHAWK received an additional USB 3.1 Gen2 controller. The board is equipped with an ASMedia ASM3142 chip, offering two ports with a throughput of up to 10 Gb / s. In this case, both connectors are displayed on the interface panel. One connector looks like USB Type-A, the second is a compact symmetrical USB Type-C.

As for USB 3.0, or as manufacturers like to call it USB 3.1 Gen1, here the developers rely on the capabilities of the Intel Z370. Four corresponding ports are located on the outer panel, two internal connectors allow you to bring four more USB 3.0 to the case wall. In all cases, direct chipset links are used without additional splitter hubs.
Speaking of USB 2.0, two corresponding ports are routed to the interface panel, while a pair of internal headers potentially give four more corresponding ports.

The Intel i219-V gigabit controller is responsible for the board’s network capabilities, unlocking the potential of the chipset.

The audio subsystem uses an 8-channel Realtek ALC892 chip. The audio path area is separated from the main PCB array, and specialized Japanese capacitances from Chemicon are used in the circuit.

Formally, the top-end Realtek codec would not interfere here, although fans of crystal clear sound will prefer a discrete solution anyway.

Minimum additional elements on the back of the PCB. Here you can clearly see the insulating path that separates the audio path, as well as the fixing screws for all elements of the cooling system and even the decorative cover over the interface panel.

The interface panel itself houses a combo PS/2, two USB 2.0 ports, four USB 3.0 ports, as well as a pair of high-speed USB 3.1 Gen2 (Type-A + Type-C) and an Ethernet socket. Note that the manufacturer does not color-code the internal inserts to highlight the 10-gigabit USB ports.
DVI-D and full-length HDMI video outputs are provided for connecting display devices. To adjust the acoustics on the panel there is an extended block with five 3.5 mm connectors and digital optical S / PDIF.

In progress

We are already familiar with the capabilities of MSI’s proprietary UEFI shell. Click BIOS 5 has a peculiar layout. In the basic EZ Mode, basic settings can be made with just one mouse. Advanced opens all available options.

Key system settings are located in the OC section. At first glance, a large endless “sheet” of parameters is actually well structured, so you won’t have to look for the right option for a long time. In addition, the section can be presented in two modes — Normal and Expert. In the first, a list of the most relevant parameters is initially opened, in the second, a complete list of options is available.

The processor supply voltage is regulated in the range of 0.6-1.55 V in 0.005 V increments. According to the developers, the value of 1.36 V is already critical. After exceeding this threshold, the indicator turns red. The stated limits used once again demonstrate that the board does not pretend to be a platform for serious overclocking experiments. Although for overclocking with air or liquid cooling systems, even such values ​​\u200b\u200bare enough in excess.

The voltage on the memory modules varies within 0.6-2.2 V in 0.01 V increments. After exceeding 1.4 V, the indicator lights up red. Note that in the Normal settings mode, in the DRAM configuration tab, the key parameters of the modules are initially highlighted, while the sub-timings and additional settings are collapsed and arranged into separate groups.

For simple overclocking of processors with unlocked multipliers, the manufacturer offers the Game Boost mechanism, which can be activated either programmatically in one of the Command Center application tabs or in the BIOS shell. In the case of the Core i7-8700K, the increase in frequencies was minimal.

Under load on all computing units, the processor worked at 4400 MHz instead of the standard 4300 MHz for this mode. An additional 100 MHz will not make a difference, although they are given free of charge, and without any threat in terms of stability or overheating. Obviously, the manufacturer decided to offer the owners a «tit in hand» and the easiest way to go beyond regular conventions, and those who want more can only roll up their sleeves and try overclocking happiness in manual mode.

Our copy of the chip takes 5000 MHz at 1.35 V, although the internal thermal interface of the processor does not allow efficient cooling of the chip in this mode.
After overclocking with increasing voltage, we also measured the temperature readings of the power block. The radiator on the elements installed along the interface panel, after a half-hour AIDA64 stress test, warmed up to 50-52C. Actual MOSFET temperatures will obviously be 10-15C higher, that is, quite within the standard limits.

Motherboards based on the Intel Z370 chipset allow the use of high-speed memory modules, deviating significantly from the officially supported modes. In addition, it is possible to experiment with overclocking. The standard DDR4-2666 HyperX Fury test kit (HX426C15FBK2/16) expectedly took the DDR4-3100 bar, which is typical for our kit. In addition, during the preparation of the material, we also had a set of even faster memory G.Skill FlareX F4-3200C14D-16GFX (2 × 16 GB, CL14, DDR4-3200).

We managed to get stable operation of the kit in the DDR4-3500 (16-18-18-38) mode by increasing the supply voltage from 1.35 to 1.4 V.

With the increase in the effective frequency, the memory bandwidth also increased. About 50 GB / s in dual-channel mode — numbers that are even pleasing to the eye.

4.5

ITC.UA score

Pros:
Balance of characteristics; power subsystem with cooling of MOSFET elements; Intel network controller; USB 3.1 Gen2 support; six connectors for connecting fans; two M.2 connectors; additional RGB lighting

Cons:
No SLI support; not a top audio codec; nuances of temperature monitoring

Conclusion:
MSI Z370 TOMAHAWK is an effective weapon in the manufacturer’s arsenal in case you need to attract the attention of a rational owner of Coffee Lake. The model as a whole is well balanced for its price. The board differs from the most affordable devices based on the Intel Z370 by an improved VRM unit with cooling of all power elements, the presence of a USB 3. 1 Gen2 controller, a pair of universal M.2, an Intel network chip and a full-fledged panel with optical S / PDIF for connecting multi-channel acoustics. Even with the advent of affordable boards for Coffee Lake, models based on the Intel Z370 will remain in demand. After all, only they allow you to overclock processors and not be limited to regular modes for RAM modules. And it’s good when the additional payment for extended functionality remains within reason.

Specifications

MSI Z370 Krait Gaming motherboard review: mid-range «on steroids» boards, including MSI, have prepared just a scattering of different models.

Among the 13 available MSI motherboards based on the Z370, it is not so easy to immediately catch the differences when we are talking about models that are close in class.

The MSI Z370 Krait Gaming board in question is assigned by the manufacturer to the proprietary Performance Gaming line, the devices of which are positioned above Arsenal Gaming and below Enthusiast Gaming. It turns out that, relatively speaking, this is the middle class.

It should be noted that the Z370 Krait Gaming within the Performance Gaming line itself, among other motherboards based on the Z370, is almost at the top. Cooler than her only Z370 Gaming PRO Carbon.

The top two video card slots are reinforced with metal plates. On powerful boards, this solution is increasingly common. Manufacturers claim that this helps to avoid damage to the slot if a heavy video card is skewed (during transportation or under other circumstances)

The board’s exterior color scheme is a play on the colors of the Krait snake. By the way, with this design, the MSI Z370 Krait Gaming will go well with both white and black cases.

Pretty massive heatsinks of the power subsystem (by the way, a scheme with a number of phases of 10 + 1 is used) are placed in such a way that they do not interfere if a large processor cooler is installed.

A large number of full-size PCI Express slots allows the board to work with several video cards at once. 2-Way NVIDIA SLI and 3-Way AMD CrossFire modes are supported.

Note that only the top slot supports 16 PCI Express lanes. The middle one supports a maximum of eight, and the bottom one supports four lines. The top two work from the controller in the processor, and the bottom one — from the controller in the chipset.

Complementing the set of traditional expansion slots are three PCI-E x1.

Six SATA ports for internal storage. You can also connect two SSDs to the board at once — M.2 drives, one up to 110mm long and the other up to 80mm.

High-speed USB 3.1 Gen2 USB ports are implemented by soldering an additional controller on the MSI Z370 Krait Gaming board

Due to the ASMedia ASM3142 additional controller, the manufacturer has added a couple more to the set of USB ports provided by the Z370 chipset. They are characterized by support for increased data transfer rates (USB 3. 1 Gen2), and one of them is presented in the form of a trendy USB Type-C connector.

As far as audio preparation is concerned, everything is going well, as expected. A number of interesting solutions are used, which, however, are no longer unique for today.

The area with audio components on the board is isolated, also electrically. Special high quality «audio» capacitors are used. The tracks associated with the right and left audio channels are separated into different layers of the board, the audio connectors are gold-plated.

The audio path is isolated on the board to avoid interference. This solution is found everywhere on motherboards today

Please note that Z370 Krait Gaming has a Realtek ALC1220 audio chip installed, while simpler motherboards MSI Z 370 use Realtek ALC0180. The Z370 Krait Gaming is also distinguished by the presence of a separate audio amplifier, which, among other things, is designed to work with high-impedance headphones .