MSI Unveils Creator Focused X299 Motherboards For Intel’s 10th Gen X-Series CPUs – Creator X299 Features A Beautiful Design With Triple 8-pin Connectors

MSI seems to be focusing their marketing efforts towards creators more these days and as such, they will be launching a trio of new creator-focused motherboards based on the X299 chipset for Intel's 10th Gen X-series processors which make an official debut this month.

MSI Unveils New X299 Motherboards For Intel's 10th Gen X-Series CPUs - Include Creator X299, X299 Pro 10G, and X299 Pro

MSI has launched a lot of diverse products in the past few months, from their Radeon RX 5700 XT EVOKE graphics card to the more recent MEG X570 Unify motherboard. The three X299 boards all have one thing in common, they are aimed at the professional and creator market. Let's start with the top-end Creator X299 motherboard.

MSI Creator X299 Motherboard

The MSI Creator X299 motherboard features a unique all-black color scheme with Mystic RGB that illuminates through the diamond cut-outs over the PCH and I/O heatsink. The motherboard uses a 12 phase IR Digital VRM which 90A power stages and the LGA 2066 socket is fed power by not one but three 8-pin connectors. The VRMs are cooled by an aluminum heatsink which comes with heat pipe cooling that extends all the way into the heatsink next to the I/O. There are eight DDR4 DIMM slots that can support 256 GB of memory in quad-channel mode at speeds of up to 4266 MHz OC+.

• Supports Intel Core X-series Processors 10000/9000/78xx(above)series for LGA2066 Socket
• Supports DDR4 Memory, 8 DIMMs, Quad Channel Max Frequency DDR4-4266+(OC)
• More Powerful than Enough: dedicate 12 phases 90A digital power to CPU, with an all-aluminum design
• More Efficiency for Data Transfer: 10G LAN + Intel Gigabit LAN with Intel WIFI 6 and bandwidth management
• More Compatibility for Storage: 7 x Turbo M.2 with M.2 XPANDER-AERO, 1 x Turbo U.2
• More Flexibility for Temperature Control: Full fan control with 8 PWM fan headers and 1 dedicated thermal sensor
• Lightning USB 20G: Powered by ASMedia ASM3242 USB 3.2 Gen2x2 controller, offers the fastest USB speeds with stability.
• M.2 Shield Frozr: Strengthened built-in M.2 thermal solution. Keeps M.2 safer and faster
• Core Boost: With premium layout and fully digital power design to support more cores and provide better performance
• Triple 8 Pin Power Supply: By providing triple 8 pin connectors to ensure adequate power supply to unleash ultimate multi-core CPU performance
• Mystic Light: 16.8 million colors / 29 effects controlled in one click. Mystic Light Extension supports RGB, Rainbow and Corsair LED strip
• Audio Boost 4 with Nahimic: Reward your ears with studio grade sound quality
• DDR4 Boost with Steel Armor: Fully isolated, shielded and optimized DDR4 PCB design to give your DDR4 memory a performance boost
• Multi-GPU: With Steel Armor PCI-E slots. Supports up to 4-Way NVIDIA SLI & 4-Way AMD Crossfire
• THUNDERBOLTM3: Exclusive expansion card offering dual DisplayPort and dual Thunderbolt 3 for the full 4K video experience.

For expansion, the motherboard offers four PCIe 3.0 x16 slots & triple M.2 slots which are covered by the M.2 Shield Frozr heatsink. All four PCIe 3.0 x16 slots feature metal bracing for durability and the same goes for the DDR4 slots. Storage includes eight SATA III ports along with two front-panel USB 3.2 headers and a USB 3.2 front panel connector. There's also a U.2 port below the SATA ports which can be used for connecting U.2 SSDs. The PCH is covered by a large aluminum heatsink that comes with Mystic Light RGB as mentioned earlier.

As for the I/O ports, the motherboard houses a ton of them which include one USB 3.2 Gen 2, 7 USB 3.2 Gen 1, 2 USB 2.0 ports, a 7.1 channel HD Audio jack powered by Realtek ALC1220 Codec (Nachimic), a 10G Ethernet LAN port (Aquantia AQC107), a 1G Ethernet LAN port (Intel I219V), PS/2 port, two antenna slots, a Clear CMOS button and  Flash BIOS button. The motherboard package will include the M.2 Xpander-Aero Add-in-card which offers four extra M.2 slots which are cooled by the Aero cooler which is the same one that MSI uses on their graphics cards and also the PCIe x1 Thunderbolt M3 AIC which allows transfer speeds of up to 40 Gbps. Considering the specs of this board, it should cost around $500 US or even more when it launches.

MSI X299 PRO 10G and MSI X299 PRO Motherboards

Moving on to the MSI X299 PRO lineup, the series comes in both 10G and non-10G flavors. Both boards feature an 8 Phase VRMs which are cooled by a large aluminum heatsink that comes with heat pipe cooling. The CPU socket is powered by dual 8-pin connectors and you can see the eight DDR4 DIMM slots next to the CPU socket. The motherboards support up to 256 GB of capacity at speeds of up to 4200 MHz (OC+).

• Supports Intel Core X-series Processors 10000/9000/78xx(above)series for LGA2066 Socket
• Supports DDR4 Memory, up to 4200+(OC) MHz
• Lightning USB 20G: Powered by ASMedia ASM3242 USB 3.2 Gen2x2 controller, offers the fastest USB speeds with stability.
• Twin Turbo M.2: Running at PCI-E Gen3 x4 maximizes performance for NVMe based SSDs.
• M.2 XPANDER-Z: Offers two extra M.2 slots to increase your storage capacity at maximum speed.
• Set Core Power Free: Core Boost, 2x8 pin CPU power connector, Core Boost, DDR4 Boost.
• Extended Heatsink Design: MSI extended PWM and enhanced circuit design ensures even high-end processors to run at full speed.
• Dual LAN onboard: Premium network solution included 1x 2.5G LAN for professional and multimedia use. Delivers a secure, stable and fast network connection.
• 10G Super LAN card: Next level network speed, secure networking with the fastest data throughput to improve efficiency.
• Audio Boost 4: Reward your ears with studio grade sound quality.
• Multi-GPU: With Steel armor PCI-E slots. Supports 3-Way SLI / Crossfire

For expansion, the motherboards feature three PCIe 3.0 x16 slots and two M.2 slots that come with the M.2 Shield Frozr heatsink. The heatsink is also covered by a large aluminum heatsink & right next to it are six SATA III ports. There are also two USB 3.2 front panel headers and a Type-C USB 3.2 front panel header located on the motherboard along with two USB 2.0 front panel ports.

The I/O on both motherboards include 1 USB 3.2 Gen2 port, 4 USB 3.2 Gen1 ports and 4 USB 2.0 ports. There's also a 7.1 channel HD Audio jack powered by Realtek ALC1220 Codec a BIOS flash-back button and a PS/2 port. The difference with both motherboards is that they both feature 2 Ethernet LAN ports, a 2.5G port powered by the Realtek RTL8125-CG controller and a 1G Ethernet LAN port powered by the Intel I219-V controller.

The 10G model comes with an add-in-card which is powered by the Aquantia AQC107 controller. Both motherboards feature an I/O cover but don't get a pre-installed I/O shield like the Creator X299. They do however get an M.2 Xpander-Z which offers two M.2 ports that get active cooling from the fan on the AIC shroud. Expect the boards to hit pricing around $250-$300 US with the 10G model going for a bit extra.

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