MSI PERFORMANCE GAMING X399 GAMING PRO CARBON AC sTR4 AMD X399 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: A lot of potential - 3xM.2, 8xSATA, 6xPCIE, 10xUSB3 on the back!

Cons: After a half an year since released, this motherboard still does not work smoothly/stable.

Overall Review: My server configuration: - MSI X399 Gaming Pro Carbon, BIOS 1.68 Beta (to support M.2 RAID0) - AMD Ryzen ThreadRipper 1950X 16-core - G.Skill TridentZ 3200 4 x 16GB First, after 3 months of the M.2 RAID0 released by AMD, the latest BIOS 1.60 still does not support it. I found leaked BIOS 1.63b, 1.66b and 1.68b somehow supporting the M.2 RAID0 though it is flaky. To make the M.2 RAID0 working you need to switch the SATA controller to the RAID mode, too. But this is not enough - you need to switch the OS mode to Windows-10 thus forcing the UEFI boot mode so no legacy boot from CD/DVD/USB and legacy OS'es after that. And then every other reboot be prepared to get stuck with the status code A0 - I believe the motherboard cannot initialize the M.2 RAID0. I found a way to pass the A0 by switching the SATA back to the AHCI and then to the RAID, and switch the OS mode to ALL and then back to Windows-10 - then it will possibly init the M.2 RAID. And this is just in case you are lucky to get to the BIOS configuration which is not always possible. If it is possible to get to the BIOS configuration then I just load my previously saved overclock profile thus re-init the BIOS settings. If it is not possible (very often) then the only quick way is to either remove 3 RAM sticks out of 4 (which does not always help) or restore the BIOS from the USB flash formatted as FAT32 (not FAT/FAT16/FAT12!) using the FlashBack feature and then load your previously saved overclock profile. In general, be prepared to restore the BIOS and its settings every reboot because it will most possibly get stuck with the status code 94 - usually there is no way to to pass this code using RESET button or switching off the power supply. Sometimes you can get to the BIOS after the status code 94 by pressing the motherboard switch off for 4 seconds but sometimes only the FlashBack helps. My everyday stuck status codes are 54, 55, 62, 64, 94, A0, C3 - only 1 time out of 10 I get a success with the reboot. Overclocking is way more complicated than making the M.2 RAID working! Be prepared to get stuck with various status codes - the "lovely" ones are 54 and 55 after any insignificant change in the BIOS settings! After that there is no way to get back to the BIOS configuration! You either remove all the memory but one, on hope it will boot to the BIOS configuration (assuming you have configured BIOS to go to the configuration on the memory amount changed), or use the FlashBack which will reset the settings, and then restore your settings from the overclock profile. The CMOS reset does not work at all once you stuck with a status code - you cannot clear it neither by shorting the predefined pins on the motherboard for 10 seconds, nor by pressing the CLEAR button on the back for 10 seconds (sure, after switching the power supply and waiting for all the lights went down). So usually only the FlashBack feature works to load the same BIOS again and again (thus wearing the BIOS PROM), or sometimes by removing all the memory but one (thus wearing the memory slots). So until there will be a stable BIOS released, please prepare a FAT32 flash drive with your BIOS version, and save your BIOS configuration to the overclock profile after each change - there will be no way to get to the BIOS configuration in case of any error status code. Well, you may probably have a success with this motherboard if you just put a less cores CPU, slow RAM, 1 HDD and planning no overclocking - then the default BIOS would probably work for you. But this is overclockers motherboard! Sad. Also please note, the Corsair H100i v2 does not work with my hardware configuration (see the config above) - the Corsairlink.Service consumes 30-50 new handles every second and does not release them thus making the computer responding very slow in just few hours followed by the Windows-10 crash after the CorsairLink.Service allocated 1,000,000 handles. As a solution, the Corsair's technical support requires to run CCleaner Registry Clean even on a fresh Windows-10 installation. Well, running CCleaner Registry Cleanup twice on a fresh Windows-10 installation before the CorsairLink installation and then twice after the CorsairLink installation does not help - every developer knows the root cause of this issue but the Corsair technical support keeps requesting to run CCleaner again and again for 10 days since December 19 as "the only way to get the CorsairLink working". So please do not use the CorsairLink on similar configuration (at least with the CorsairLink versions 4.9.3.24, 4.9.3.25, 4.9.3.28 I've tried) to avoid your Windows-10 crash and slowness. I would give Enermax TR4 a try - it does not require any software at all to work, and its pump and fan speed is configurable directly from the BIOS not by an application, and also it fully covers the AMD Ryzen ThreadRipper surface not just 50% or so thus giving a better overclocking potential - I will probably go this way and dump the Corsair H100i.

Pros: Works great with AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X CPU running Windows 7 64-bit OS. Great memory compatibility and stable operation with MSI version 1.7 BIOS and G.SKILL TridentZ F4-4000C18Q-32GTZ DDR4 RAM. Can use all four sticks for 32GB of quad-channel memory. Runs cool and quiet after tuning the fans. Noctua NH-U14S-TR4-SP3 AMD TR4 CPU Cooler keeps my Threadripper at 39 degrees C during low usage, and below 61 degrees C under full load. Wireless network card, rear shroud, and M.2 heat spreaders do not have to be installed for mainboard to work.

Cons: MSI Command Center software has a cumbersome GUI layout. The fan tuning function in MSI Command Center does not take into account fan location and airflow direction. Fans must be manually tuned in the BIOS. No way to turn off LEDS in the BIOS. MSI Mystic Light software must be installed to turn off the LEDS. Even though the splash screen is disabled in the BIOS, it shows up when password booting is enabled. No way to disable or customize splash screen when password booting is enabled.

Overall Review: My computer is entirely air cooled, with no water cooling. Removed rear shroud and M.2 heat spreaders to allow air to reach surface mount components on mainboard. The build quality of the mainboard is top notch. My issues are with the BIOS and MSI's utility software, which can be fixed via updates from MSI.

Pros: Great board if I can get it to install...

Cons: - I'm having problems installing Windows 7. I've unplugged everything. It would BSOD right after the windows logo disappears and tries to load the setup interface. IRQL less not equal error, points to pci.sys. I'm downloading Windows 10 right now to see if that works. Possible Memory incompatibility, the exact memory model number isn't on the QVL list. CMD32GX4M2B3000C15 I'll update this review later.

Pros: Looks nice. Sturdy Construction.

Cons: After installing 2 x GTX1080 video cards in a SLI setup. I now can not access either one of the remaining 16 lane slots, or single lane slots. The design of this board was not well though out. The shorter M.2 slots with the single lane PCI-E slots end up sitting under the video cards. While the longer M.2 slot is exposed. They should have put the shorter slot in the middle which would have allowed access to at least one of the Single lane PCI-E slots. So basically if you plan on running 2 larger video cards in SLI You can forget adding any additional cards like WIFI or RAID.

Overall Review: I am in the middle of building this system right now, haven't even powered it up yet, so I can't comment on the performance. Not happy as I was planning on setting up a RAID 5 Array using a PCI-E card, might have to settle for the onboard raid 10. Just wanted to bring this to everyone's attention. I might update this review later once i get the system built.

Pros: love msi, been using them for years. great features,

Cons: could not get my m2 drive to work or boot. rma, used my Samsung ssd. now no issues

Pros: Running RAM in XMP level 2 (3200), and a Threadripper 1950X CPU OC'd at 3.9 GHz on all cores while solely using an active cooling solution (Noctua)! With 2x GC in Crossfire, I also have 2x SSD in RAID0 for the OS, 2xM.2 Samsung NVME in RAID0 for the applications, library files and Windows swap file, and 2x Crucial 1TB SSD in RAID0 for user's documents and production files. This board rocks!

Cons: BIOS update is touchy : the only method that works is via BIOS flashback using a max 2GB Fat32 USB stick, which must be inserted in THE sole port that's dedicated for flashback (look up the manual), and then a BIOS reset via the Clear CMOS button (above the BIOS flashback button). It took a while, and almost an RMA, to figure this out as the BIOS feature for updating itself doesn't work (more over, do NOT try this via MSI's Live Update application - which is flawed bloatware, don't use it). That's why I've removed an egg since it made me lost valuable time to figure it out - and thus money.

Pros: - Functional, fair price, everything seems to be as advertised - Lots of USB, many M.2, been running without issue for about 2 months

Cons: - Everything is too close together. If you use the Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3, it will hang over the two closest ram slots and also touch the video card in the first PCIE. I had to move my video card (GTX 1080) to 2nd PCIE, which is not recommended by the manual (manual explicitly says to use the first PCIE slot for best performance). 64g of ram will fit in quad-channel mode because one set of quad-channel will not utilize those two ram slots closest to the CPU. If I upgrade to 128g, I will have to replace the cooler with a smaller one or a waterblock. - Initially I installed a GTX 1080 into the first PCIE slot, then realized it touches the CPU heatsink so I had to move it, which was difficult because larger video cards completely cover the PCIE release latch at the bottom. Since the release latch was covered from the bottom (by the GPU's large heatsink) and also covered at the top (by the CPU's large heatsink), I had to use a very thin screwdriver to gently press the latch from a really strange angle - it was weird.

Overall Review: - In addition to two 8pin power that are necessary, there is an additional 6pin power next to the first PCIE slot. I left it disconnected because I read that it is for multiple GPU setups. No problems so far leaving it empty with a single GTX 1080. - Comes with replaceable plates that cover parts of the mainboard, which I think is gimmicky and a waste of material.

Pros: * Looks incredible * Well laid out with lots of connectors (SATA/USB/M.2) * Great features * Reasonable price for the features

Cons: * Too much unnecessary software during driver installation. You can choose not to install but it was overwhelming to figure out what I needed/wanted vs. what I did not need/want * Poor memory support at initial release, finding memory that runs at 3600+ that works was a pain * MSI support system is wonky and cumbersome but the techs did seem to provide helpful support including unreleased beta bios versions to help me resolve issues. * Product is not listed on MSI site unless you search for it explicitly which did not inspire confidence

Overall Review: Overall I am very satisfied with this product. It looks really great, especially with a nice water cooler like the Corsair Hydro H100i v2. There are a TON of settings to fiddle with to overclock and customize your rig which is nice to see. My biggest problem was that the initial BIOS that ships with the product was not thoroughly tested and didn't support my memory out of the box. I got the G.Skill Trident-Z RGB @ 3600MHz 2 X 16GB. As of this writing, the latest official release still doesn't support those sticks but the beta BIOS does seem to work. Check the compatibility charts carefully if you want to avoid issues.