Welcome the Big Daddy of X299 boards from MSI
Today we look at the new MSI MEG X299 Creation motherboard. X299 may be a bit long in the tooth for some, but with the recent refresh for Basin Falls, I think some new boards were necessary. The first showing of X299 boards were received with questionable fanfare as enthusiasts were finding VRM limits on the high core count or HCC CPUs. basically from the 10 core and up many found that the VRM’s simply were not always up to the task especially for content creators or professionals looking for the constantly loaded workstation-level performance.
MSI took this quite seriously and went back to the drawing board for what we have in front of us today. The MSI MEG X299 Creation board has been re-engineered to have a stout VRM and quite A LOT of features for creatives.
Here we see the MSI MEG X299 Creation
This entry into the X299 market space is quite high on the price list. So now we must assess the feature ste it contains and does it merit that value.
- MSI MEG X299 Creation $599.99
$599.99 may seem like a hard pill to swallow but for those looking to push an HCC chip with stability and having a board built to meet the needs of a chip of this caliber, it is really a lot more reasonable for the right user. We will also take a look at the features and included additions to help see if this augments the higher price tag and helps make it a bit more palatable.
Now let’s look at the specs.
| CPU |
- Supports Intel® Core™ X-Series Processor Family for LGA2066 Socket
|
| Chipset |
- Intel® X299 Chipset
|
| Memory |
- 8 x DDR4 memory slots, support up to 128GB
- Quad channel memory architecture with the CPU that supports up to 4-channels DDR42
- X-series processor support DDR4 4200(OC)/ 4100(OC)/ 4000(OC)/ 3800(OC)/ 3733(OC)/ 3600(OC)/ 3466(OC)/ 3400(OC)/ 3333(OC)/ 3200(OC)/ 3000(OC)/ 2933(OC)/ 2800(OC)/ 2666/ 2400/ 2133 MHz1
- Dual channel memory architecture with the CPU that supports up to 2-channels DDR42
- X-series processor support DDR4 4133(OC)/ 4000(OC)/ 3866(OC)/ 3800(OC)/ 3733(OC)/ 3600(OC)/ 3466(OC)/ 3400(OC)/ 3333(OC)/ 3200(OC)/ 3000(OC)/ 2933(OC)/ 2800(OC)/ 2666/ 2400/ 2133 MHz1
- Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
|
| Audio |
-
Realtek® ALC1220 Codecs
- 7.1-Channel High Definition Audio
- Supports S/PDIF output
|
| LAN |
- 1 x Intel I219-V Gigabit LAN controller
- 1 x Realtek RTL8125-CG 2.5G LAN controller
|
| Wireless Communication module |
Intel® Wireless-AC 92601
- Supports 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, MU-MIMO Rx, 2.4GHz/ 5GHz (160MHz) up to 1.73Gbps
- Supports Bluetooth® 2.1, 2.1+EDR, 3.0,4.0, 5
- Only support windows 10 64-bit
|
| Expansion Slots |
- 4 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots
- Support x16/x0/x16/x8, x8/x8/x16/x8 mode with the 44-lane CPU.1
- Support x16/x0/x8/x4, x8/x8/x8/x4 mode with the 28-lane CPU.1
- Support x8/x0/x4/x4 mode with the 16-lane CPU.1
- 1 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slot
|
| Storage Interface |
Intel® X299 Chipset
- 8 x SATA 6Gb/s ports1,2
- 3 x M.2 slots (Key M)
- M2_1 & M2_2 support up to PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA 6Gb/s, 2242/ 2260/ 2280/ 22110 storage devices
- M2_3 supports up to PCIe 3.0 x4, 2242/ 2260/ 2280 storage devices3
- Intel® Optane™ Memory Ready for M2_1, M2_2 slots4
- 1 x U.2 port
- Supports PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe storage
- The SATA1 connector will be unavailable when a SATA M.2 SSD has been installed in the M.2_1 slot.
- The SATA2 connector will be unavailable when a SATA M.2 SSD has been installed in the M.2_2 slot.
- M2_3 slot and PCIe slots share the bandwidth.
- Before using Intel® Optane™ memory modules, please ensure that you have updated the drivers and BIOS to the latest version from MSI website.
|
| RAID Support |
Intel® X299 Chipset
- Supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10 for SATA storage devices
- Supports RAID 0, RAID 1 for M.2 PCIe storage devices
|
| Multi-Graphics Technology |
- Supports NVIDIA® SLI™ Technology
- Supports AMD CrossFire™ Technology
|
| USB |
Intel® X299 Chipset
- 4 x USB 3.1 Gen1 (SuperSpeed USB) ports available through the internal USB connectors
- 6 x USB 2.0 (High-speed USB) ports(2 ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB connectors)
ASMedia® ASM3142 Chipset
- 3 x USB 3.1 Gen2 (SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps) ports (1 Type-C and 1 Type-A port on the back panel, 1 Type-C internal connector)
ASMedia® ASM1074 Chipset
- 6 x USB 3.1 Gen1 (SuperSpeed USB) ports on the back panel
|
| Internal I/O Connectors |
- 1 24-pin ATX main power connector
- 3x 8-pin ATX 12V power connectors
- 1x flat 4-pin ATX 12V power connector1
- 8x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
- 1x U.2 port
- 2x USB 2.0 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 2.0 ports)
- 2x USB 3.1 Gen1 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 3.1 Gen1 ports)
- 1x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C port
- 1x 4-pin CPU fan connector
- 1x 4-pin Water Pump connector
- 4x 4-pin system fan connectors
- 2x 4-pin extend system fan connectors
- 1x 3-pin Water Flow connector
- 1x Front panel audio connector
- 2x System panel connectors
- 1x TPM module connector
- 1x Chassis Intrusion connector
- 1x 2-pin Thermal Sensors connector
- 1x Virtual RAID on CPU connector
- 1x Thunderbolt Add-on Card Connector
- Provides additional power to PCIe x16 slots
|
| Back Panel Connectors |
- Clear CMOS Button
- PS/2 Port
- USB 3.1 Gen1 Ports
- 2.5G LAN Port
- Intel® LAN Ports
- Intel® WiFi/ Bluetooth Module
- HD Audio Connectors
- BIOS FLASHBACK+
- USB 2.0 Ports
- USB 3.1 Gen1 Ports
- Intel Turbo USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type A + C
- Optical S/PDIF-Out
|
| Operating System |
- Support for Windows® 10 64-bit
|
| Form Factor |
- 10.7 in. x 12 in. (27.2 cm x 30.4 cm)
- E-ATX Form Factor
|
I add this as a service so you do not need to visit the manufacturer site for the full spec loadout and if you have any questions on it, it should all be roughly handled up there or at least for the most part.
Read on and let’s dive in.
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