Conclusion
We have added the third major manufacturer to our tests of X370 boards – MSI. The X370 Pro Carbon is about thirty euros cheaper than its opponents from Gigabyte and Asus, so it will be interesting to watch how these savings are reflected in overall quality and design. We don’t want to give away too much, but we can say that it is definitely worth checking.
Conclusion
Things that made X370 Gaming Pro Carbon cost less than Asus ROG X370-F Gaming and Gigabyte Aorus AX370 Gaming 5 are nothing dramatic. Compared to Asus, it is lacking RAM overclocking over 3200 MHz, depth of UEFI settings, and luxury VRM. Gigabyte has better dual BIOS, the pair of RJ-45, better audio codecs, more external buttons, and other small things.
However, Pro Carbon differs by more efficient voltage regulation. It provides better consumption (by -12 – -15 W) with the same processor performance (with RGB turned off). If you choose to set the voltage manually, this difference is gone (obviously), and we have measured 210 W with both configurations after overclocking to 3.95 GHz. What’s interesting is that MSI board needs a significantly higher Vcore. Gigabyte board could handle R7 1800X with 1.3185 V, and Pro Carbon needed 1.3500 V. This is something that is MSI often criticized for, but we would like to say something more about it. Yes, the voltage is higher, but the current is lower. Sure, the lifespan is reduced by higher voltage, but the real TPD is basically the same (per the unit of power/performance).
The design and implementation of cooling is one of the more concerning drawbacks of this board. The heat loss of VRM is a bit better than with Aorus AX370 G5, but the heatsink surface is way hotter. That means that airflow cannot take the heat away efficiently. PCH heatsinks look better on the eye, they have some ribs, and they have better design than those of Asus X370-F, but the chipset reached the highest temperatures anyway. It doesn’t matter that much if you stay below 50 °C, but the potential of the used material was not fully exploited, again. Very dry and firm thermal compound is probably to blame.
MSI X370 Gaming Pro Carbon is a decent motherboard that will not be a limitation for any regular gaming computer or a workstation. It also allows to use two SSD (M.2). A good deal for 150€.
| MSI X370 Gaming Pro Carbon |
| + well balanced components |
| + quite good for casual overclocking |
| + a decent product for a decent price |
| + rich fan control options |
| + effective automatic Vcore regulation with processor in the default state |
| + a mobile app for monitoring and adjustments |
| + the first PCIe ×16 slot is further away from the socket |
| + intuitive interface (UEFI/Command Center) |
| + two M.2 slots |
| – VRM cooling |
| – the Asus board has more options for overclocking |
| – no BIOS backup |
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- Contents
- Parameters and details
- Fan control options
- Test procedures
- Reports from internal sensors (chipset, VRM, …)
- Circuit heating – stock + same OC
- Gallery of thermal images
- Consumption – stock + same OC
- Conclusion
