Layout

As we've already mentioned in the introduction the MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC motherboard comes with a great looking design. The PCB has a matte black finish and the heatsinks feature carbon-like looking covers. Apart from that the PCH received RGB backlight. The heatsinks have been shaped nicely and the whole product is really good looking. The layout has been well thought and there are plenty of useful features, like two headers to attach external USB 3.0 ports, six SATA 6Gbps ports (two straight) and two M.2 Gen 3 x4 slots. In addtion there is a plastic cover on the I/O ports.



The MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC comes with a digital 10 phase power design regarding the CPU. The CPU power design, which is controlled by an uP9508Q dual-loop multi-phase buck controller, which has 5 output phases. Each phase controller is being doubled by an uP1961S from uPI Semiconductor. Unfortunately we can't find any details on this chip. Furthermore there are 12 NTMFS4C024N and 10 NTMFS4C029N MOSFETs on the high- and low- side.



This board has been equipped with a total of four DIMM-slots. Officially supported is everything up to DDR4 4000 (O.C.). There is engough space between the DIMM-slots and the CPU socket which means that you wont encounter compatibility problems with big coolers even when you choose to install RAM with big heatspreaders. Also supported are Xtreme Memory Profiles (XMP) in version 2.0.



The PCH as well as the current converters are being held at adequate temperatures via passive heatsinks. The heatsink for the current converters are made from two aluminium blocks which are not linked with additional heatpipe. The PCH heatsinks are all quite simple and flat. The cooling blocks have been very well made and also they are perfetcly attached to the board to provide enough pressure on the components they have to cool. The aluminium blocks are entirely black with grey sheet metal covers, overall resembling a completly new design.

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 11 - SiSoft Sandra 1
Page 2 - Specs and Delivery	Page 12 - SiSoft Sandra 2
Page 3 - Features	Page 13 - UC Bench
Page 4 - Layout	Page 14 - Super Pi 1M
Page 5 - Connectors and I/O	Page 15 - Right Mark Audio Analyzer
Page 6 - BIOS	Page 16 - Crystal Disk Mark 5
Page 7 - Test setup	Page 17 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - Preview / Gallery	Page 18 - Performance Rating
Page 9 - 3D Mark	Page 19 - Price Comparison
Page 10 - Cinebench R15	Page 20 - Conclusion