MSI MPG X870E CARBON WIFI Motherboard Review – A New Carbon Vinyl

MSI MPG X870E CARBON WIFI - Unboxing & Close Up Inspection

The MSI MPG X870E Carbon WiFi motherboard comes in a standard cardboard package. The front features a picture of the motherboard & this is an MPG product which refers to MSI Performance Gaming. The packaging also lists down a few features such as 40G USB ports, 5G LAN, WIFI7, and support for PCIe 5.0 (GPU/NVMe), DDR5 & Overclocking.

The backside of the package lists the specifications and special features of the motherboard such as the 18+2+1 Duet Rail power system, the premium thermal design, and the EZ M.2 Shield Frozr II SSD heatsinks, EZ PCIe release, Lightning Gen5 slots, USB 40G, WIFI7 with Bluetooth 5.4 and dual LAN.

Inside the package is another box that contains the accessories and is located right below the box holder for the board itself. You get a Quick Installation Guide, a Cable Sticker sheet, a Shot Out Flyer, an EZ Wi-Fi Antenna, an EZ M.2 Clip II, an EZ M.2 Clip II Remover, 1 to 3 EZ Conn-Cable (V2), a USB Drive, two SATA Cables, ARGB Extension cable, 1 to 2 RGB Extension Cable, and an EZ Front Panel cable.

With all the accessories done, it's time to put that box aside and take the motherboard out of its package.

The MSI MPG X870E Carbon WIFI motherboard is a standard ATX offering that measures 243.84 x 304.8 mm. The motherboard carries a black color scheme with a few silver and grey accents on the heatsinks, mainly to mark the different logos. The overall theme is very nice and looks great for an all-black PC build.

MSI has gone with a very premium design for its latest X870E Carbon WIFI design which comes with various heatsinks and covers, some of which feature RGB-lit illumination and the overall theme of the board is very much inclined towards the gaming audiences.

The board uses the LGA 1718 socket to support AMD Ryzen "AM5" processors. The socket works with Ryzen 7000, Ryzen 8000G, and Ryzen 9000 CPUs and will also support future generations of AM5 Ryzen chips that are supported by the platform.

Next to the socket are four DDR5 DIMM slots that can support up to 192 GB of dual-channel (24/48 GB modules) memory.

These slots are rated to support XMP profiles up to 8400 MT/s (OC Plus). Each slot is labeled, making it easier to install DIMMs in the proper orientation. DDR5 memory comes with a different latch position so forcing a DDR4 module into a DDR5 slot will cause permanent damage. Each slot is also combined with a reinforced design to make sure signal integrity remains good while keeping the slots durable for long-term usage. The full QVL list can be found here. There are at least 9 kits rated at DDR5-8400 which are supported by the motherboard.

Furthermore, MSI also lists support for CUDIMM memory but only in Clock Driver bypass mode which is essentially going to run the CUDIMM as a standard UDIMM. Manual overclocking will be available on CUDIMM modules after a restart but certain CPUs may fail to boot with this type of memory installed and MSI is working towards a new BIOS to improve compatibility for CUDIMM & CPUs.

The MSI MPG X870E Carbon WIFI motherboard features an 18+2+1 (VCore/ VccGT/VccAUX)  phase Duet Rail power delivery that utilizes the Renesas RAA 229620 PWM controller & R2209004 HBD  S2408E2W (110A) stages for the VCore.

2 of 9

The VRMs and power delivery solution are scattered around the AM5 socket. The board uses an 8-layer NPG-170D server-grade PCB with 2oz Thickened copper.

The VRMs receive ample cooling from the Frozr Thermal solution. These include an extended heat sink, M.2 Shield Frozr, and Enlarged PCH heatsinks.

The CPU is supplied power through an 8+8 pin power connector configuration. This will feed the CPU with up to 300 Watts of power. The AMD Ryzen 9000 CPUs are very power-hungry with the maximum target power going above 220W for the flagship Ryzen 9 9950X CPU.

Coming to the Frozr heatsink solution, we first have the extended heatsink which makes use of two aluminum blocks with a series of fins that are stacked on top of each other. The heatsink features a heat pipe solution that connects the MOS heatsinks, offering a larger surface for thermal dissipation.

Underneath the VRM heatsink are 7W/mK Thermal pads which transfer heat from the VRMs to the heatsink. A single 3-pin header powers the RGB lighting on the IO cover.

Expansion slots include three PCI Express x16 (1 x Gen 5.0 x16/8 / 1x Gen 5.0 x4 / 1x Gen 4.0x4) and four M.2 slots. The first and second Gen5 slots share bandwidth with the second M.2 slot so keep that in mind when installing a Gen5 SSD into the slot.

• PCI_E1 Gen PCIe 5.0 supports up to x16 (From CPU)
• PCI_E2 Gen PCIe 5.0 supports up to x4 (From CPU)
• PCI_E3 Gen PCIe 4.0 supports up to x4 (From Chipset)

The motherboard utilizes a full metallic slot and the MSI also features its EZ PCIE release mechanism which provides for a seamless removal of graphics cards. Just push the EZ release button and you can remove the graphics card with ease.

2 of 9

The motherboard also has a vast array of M.2 slots, all of which are featured under dedicated M.2 Frozr heatsinks.

One of the larger heatsinks also works as a cover plate for the motherboard's lower portion. It has the MPG logo on it and underneath, you can find dual-sided thermal pads. You need to remove the plastic sticker from the thermal pads before installing a new SSD for proper heat transfer. The whole cover is easy to remove thanks to the EZ M.2 mechanism. You have to push the metal bracket inwards and the whole panel will pop out. It's also fairly easy to install back as the latches have magnetic locks that secure the panel in place.

The primary M.2 Shield Frozr heatsink is the bigger one and provides better cooling to a Gen5 M.2 SSD. This has the same latching mechanism as the M.2 SSDs but the heatsink also features a 4-pin connector that powers the RGB on the "CARBON" logo at the front.

Following is the full list of M.2 ports and their details on the MSI MPG X870E Carbon WIFI motherboard:

• M.2_1 Source (From CPU) supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4, supports 2280/2260 devices
• M.2_2 Source (From CPU) supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4, supports 2280/2260 devices
• M.2_3 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4, supports 22110/2280 devices
• M.2_4 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4, supports 2280/2260 devices

The X870E PCH is housed beneath a large heatsink with the MPG logo etched over it. This has a reflective touch which looks nice.

The motherboard offers two RGB accent zones. First is the I/O cover which has the "Dragon" logo, and the second is the M.2 SSD cover which has the "Carbon" logo. These can be turned off or can be customized using MSI's Mystic Light software through its MSI Center application.

Storage options include four SATA III ports rated to operate at 6 GB/s. These can support 4 different storage devices at once. There are also 3 USB 3.2 front panel connectors (1 x Gen 2x2 + 4 x Gen 1). 4 USB 2.0 front panel connectors are also included.

MSI uses a 7.1 CH HD audio design with the latest Realtek ALC4080 CODEC.

There is a large selection of connectors on the motherboard and one of the highlights is the 8-pin power connector for PCIe Gen5 ports which should provide additional power when running multi-GPU solutions for AI purposes. This PEG connector can offer up to 150W of power through the PCIe slots and can also increase the maximum excursion rating by 2.5x.

Other than that, you get Power On/Off, Reset buttons, an LED On/Off Switch, an EZ DEBUG LED, an EZ Digi-DEBUG LED with temperature monitoring, and a range of fan/RGB headers.

2 of 9

The full list of connectors on the motherboard is listed as follows.

• 1x Power Connector(ATX_PWR)
• 2x Power Connector(CPU_PWR)
• 1x Power Connector(PCIE_PWR 8pin)
• 1x CPU Fan
• 1x Combo Fan (Pump_Sys Fan)
• 5x System Fan
• 1x EZ Conn-header (JAF_2)
• 2x Front Panel (JFP)
• 1x Chassis Intrusion (JCI)
• 1x Front Audio (JAUD)
• 1x Thermal Sensor connectors(T_SEN)
• 3x Addressable V2 RGB LED connector (JARGB_V2)
• 1x RGB LED connector(JRGB)
• 4x USB 2.0 ports
• 4x USB 5Gbps Type A ports
• 1x USB 20Gbps Type C ports

MSI is using the latest WIFI 7 Module to power wireless connectivity and Bluetooth 5.4. In terms of Ethernet, there are two LAN ports with one powered by the 5GbE RTL8126 controller and the other powered by the 2.5 GbE RTL8125 controller.

The motherboard comes with the following I/O connectors:

• USB 10Gbps Type-A
• Flash BIOS Button
• Clear CMOS Button
• Smart Button
• 2.5G LAN
• 5G LAN
• Audio Connectors
• HDMI
• USB 40Gbps Type-C
• USB 10Gbps Type-C
• USB 10Gbps Type-A
• USB 10Gbps Type-C
• Wi-Fi / Bluetooth
• Optical S/PDIF Out

MSI is also using a stacked PCB layout for the IO ports which houses additional Marvell USB4 controllers. These controllers have their dedicated heatsink.