The X299M Gaming Pro Carbon AC from MSI is a high-end motherboard that comes with a few interesting features. Compared to the X299 Gaming Pro Carbon AC, the upcoming micro-ATX model is a bit smaller but still packs quite a few features. At a first glance the X299M Gaming Pro Carbon AC looks very similar to the bigger brother.



Looking for expansion slots we find three full-sized PCIe 3.0 x16 slots but only two of them come with metal reinforcements. The motherboard sports a black color scheme with probably several RGB LEDs. In our opinion the layout looks perfect for a compact gaming PC. On top of that, the motherboard comes with four DIMM slots.

Although this is a small board, there are still eight SATA ports and all of them have been angled. Apart from that you get two M.2 slots allowing the installation of differently sized SSDs. The first M.2 slot is placed in the middle of motherboard and is compatible with 2280 units, while the second one is in the upper area and it supports 22110 SSDs. Furthermore only one slot comes with M.2 Shield which should help to prevent thermal throttling of your SSD.

Like with the more expensive models there is also a plastic I/O cover, which received some carbon-like looking stickers and RGB backlight. We think it could be an interesting choice, since the price is most certainly going to be very competitive.Looking for expansion slots we find three full-sized PCIe 3.0 x16 slots but only two of them come with metal reinforcements. The motherboard sports a black color scheme with probably several RGB LEDs. In our opinion the layout looks perfect for a compact gaming PC. On top of that, the motherboard comes with four DIMM slots.

Although this is a small board, there are still eight SATA ports and all of them have been angled. Apart from that you get two M.2 slots allowing the installation of differently sized SSDs. The first M.2 slot is placed in the middle of motherboard and is compatible with 2280 units, while the second one is in the upper area and it supports 22110 SSDs. Furthermore only one slot comes with M.2 Shield which should help to prevent thermal throttling of your SSD.

Like with the more expensive models there is also a plastic I/O cover, which received some carbon-like looking stickers and RGB backlight. We think it could be an interesting choice, since the price is most certainly going to be very competitive.




Source: MSI