Designed for High-end Next Gen AM5 PCs - MSI MPG X870E CARBON WIFI Review

AMD's "Zen 5" Ryzen 9000 series of processors have been on the market for some weeks now since they were launched in August 2024 - one thing that has been noticeably absent is the brand's latest 800-series chipsets. For some reason, AMD's chosen to launch these chipsets and their accompanying motherboards only after its Ryzen 9000 products have arrived on the shelves of retailers.

At long last, motherboards with the high-end X870E and X870 chipsets are launching for sale to the public today on 30 September 2024, while budget-friendlier motherboards sporting the more affordable B850 and B840 chipsets are rumoured to arrive in the first quarter of 2025.

To get in on the launch excitement, ALKtech takes a look at a X870E motherboard that is targeted at consumers looking to build a high-end AMD Ryzen 9000 or Ryzen 7000 gaming PC - the MSI MPG X870E CARBON WIFI. Sporting features such as a beefy VRM setup with 110A power phases, PCIe Gen 5 support for a graphics card and M.2 drives, a supplemental PCIe power connector on the motherboard, dual Ethernet ports, WIFI 7 support and so on, watch on to learn more about this motherboard, and see how it fares when paired with AMD's new Ryzen 9 9900X processor!

0:00 Introduction
0:31 Recap on Zen 5/Ryzen 9000 Launch & Future AM5 Chipsets
1:31 Packaging & Unboxing
4:29 Motherboard Aesthetics, Physical Features & VRM
6:06 Memory Support
6:25 Front Panel USB Connectivity
7:07 Special Features
9:24 Expansion Slots & Storage
13:15 IMPORTANT PCIe Bandwidth Sharing Info!
14:41 Audio & Internet Connectivity
15:27 Fan & RGB Headers
15:47 Rear I/O
16:48 New MSI CLICK BIOS X Interface
17:49 Test Setup & Benchmark Tests
19:07 Conclusion

Affiliate Links:

Also, ALKtech may earn commissions from qualifying purchases made using affiliate links, at no extra cost to you as a customer. These commissions go a long way in supporting the channel!

The motherboard featured in this video was a review unit provided on loan from MSI, while the processor and graphics card used for the benchmark tests were review units provided on loan from AMD Singapore.

AMD Raphael Phoenix 9950X 9900X 9700X 9600X 8700G 8600G 8500G 8300G Ryzen 9 7950X Ryzen 9 7900X Ryzen 7 7700X Ryzen 5 7600X 7950X3D 7900X3D 7800X3D 7600X3D 7500F X670E X670 B650E B650 H770 Z790 Arrow Lake Z890 Raptor Lake Refresh Raptor Lake Alder Lake 13900KS 13900K 13900KF 13700K 13700KF 13600K 13600KF 13600 13500 13400 13400F 13100 13100F 14900K 14900KS 14700K 14700KF 14600K 14600KF 14600 14500 14400 14100 Core Ultra

[DizzyBob]

This is by far the best review of the X870E Carbon MB I have seen so far! Great work. You got yourself a new subscriber, keep up the good work!

[jm]

I have one of these boards coming today. Thank you for a very comprehensive overview of the board layout. This will make installation much more straight forward.

[Kvitfrost]

I like this channel. You even replies to comments and questions. :)
Good video too - and a mobo im going to buy soon :P

[HellGamers]

Great work braking this down. I've been reading manuals and eatching videos and this is the most comprehensive video that matches all my notes. I am looking forward to checking your other videos for Strix E and Hero x870e boards. 🤞

[therues]

Awesome review man. Great job!!!!. Just bought this board. I only have 1 M.5 SSD so I dont think that will be an issue for me.

[flaccus]

Brilliant up close look. I just received this board today and started my build. I thought the square rubber things on the m2 slots might be for supporting single sided nvme drives and need to be removed for double sided (Asus do this but you have to add rubber blocks). However when you peel the tape, the rubber blocks come off as they are attached to the outside of the tape. Stange. They just must be dummy placeholders for the M2.

[laggmonstret]

Wow! That new BIOS looks clean! Finally MSI got at least a visual update of their BIOS UI :D

[kbdoubleu]

The primary PCIe is on top, not the bottom. There's a lot of conflicting information out there, so I suggest looking at the manual.

[jtake]

Is that 8-pin supplemental PCIe power connector just a standard 8 pin PCIe cable socket? If not, does the box come with a cable / adapter?

[ricardorocha]

Great review.

I have 4 gen 4 SSDs. Can I use then without compromise the PCI Slots?

[flaccus]

Does anyone know if signal rgb works with the motherboard lights or if you can turn them off in the bios (but still leave on debug leds). No interest in rgb really. It's my first msi board and I have heard to install mystic lights you need to use msi center which is supposed to be trash like asus armoury crate. So will turn off auto windows install of msi center in bios, turn off rgb lights in bios if I can (or using signalrgb), set fan curves in bios, and probably use fancontrol to control fans. Want to avoid motherboard manufacturer bloatware if I can. I had a terrible time with asus software.

[TubantiStudios]

The only thing that bugs me with this board is that I cannot configure x16 / x4 / x4. It is either x16 / x0 / x4 or x8 / x8 / x4 (without inserting the second M.2). This is a problem with just about every board that I come across. I just want to have my GPU and a quad cam input card and a thunderbolt card. Is that too much to ask? I will happily sacrifice an M.2 slot for this.

[fourwheelerjock]

Damn, Wish i would of watched this before ordering this board. Was planning on running 2 Gen 5 SSD (one for main and one for editing) but sense it slows down the GPU slot i guess ill just get a Gen 4 m.2 for my main drive and use the top Gen5 drive for my editing drive sense really the operating system doesnt benefit from the faster gen5 speeds. Just wish MSI wouldnt be cheeky and keep that under wraps. Great board other then that tho

[kephalai]

probably dumb question - but does this motherboard need a wifi & bluetooth antenna? i'm not able to see any devices when i turn on my bluetooth also cant see any wifi

[mobgs]

Thanks for the review. I'm between asus x870e-e and MSI carbon wifi x870e. Which one do you think I should choose? Is MSI center stable?

[psour]

Thank you. How many SSD(s) can you setup on this mobo without degrading PCI/E 16x5 GPU slot ?

[KarazP]

Sir, I have a question. If I install 4 nvme and even run with all pcie 4.0 nvme on my system. Does the 2nd nvme slot still share the lane with the main GPU slot no matter what. Am I right?

[NoahAyva]

I cant choose between this board or the crosshair hero would like to combine it with ryzen 9800x3d or 9950x3d. What are your thoughts?

[kephalai]

i dont think it matters, but does installing any sata ssd interfere with the pcie for the graphics card? or all i need to do is avoid putting anything in the M_2 and 2nd pcie and everything else is fair game to use fully?

[mohammedEl-Amine.Tahraoui]

There is no display port on this motherboard ??