MSI X99A XPOWER AC Motherboard Review

[section_title title=”Conclusion”]

Conclusion

For those that don’t read “entire” reviews and just skip to the conclusion, I will sum it up as well and briefly as I can for you to digest without feeling an ounce of boredom.  MSI clearly feel that a near £300 X99 board is needed in the market and for sub-zero overclockers around the globe, it’s a mere drop in the ocean; what about regular consumers and enthusiasts who like to own the “best” money can buy?  Is there enough to satisfy demand, cater for feature hunters, but keep all the quality and hard work of the XPOWER branding in tact over the years?  Well…

Performance

The MSI X99A XPOWER AC motherboard is a funny cookie when it comes to performance and I’m not nessacarily referring to anything negative here; if you look at the results for yourself, the XPOWER board is pretty consistent throughout the benchmarks with no real surprises.  It got pipped to the post a little by it’s Gaming sibling the X99S Gaming 7 in the….well you guess it, the games!; nothing really out of the ordinary here as this particular motherboard has another weapon in its arsenal no other board so far managed, our i7 5960x did it’s first 4.6GHz somersault and landed shakily, but still landed on its feet!

Aside from synthetic performance, the OC socket I feel does have a place on these motherboards as cache does enhance performance slightly and although memory speeds tend to be limited to the CPU IMC, I can’t imagine the X99A XPOWER AC having any problems hitting the supported speeds of 3333MHz with any problems whatsoever.  Let’s not forget the superb 12 digital power phase design this board packs which surely helps cope with anything you throw at it!

Overall in terms of performance, I would have liked to have seen LLC (load line calibration) adjustment in the BIOS, but MSI seem to neglect this from virtually every board; I have asked numerous times, but it’s just not something that they think we need of late!  As a sub-zero overclocker myself, LLC has been useful at times and although this board doesn’t have it, it wouldn’t deter me from purchasing it for some extreme overclocking action!

Design

I feel MSI’s strongest point here with the X99A XPOWER AC is obviously the design; in my opinion, the yellow and black colour scheme is unique and pays homage to the lineage of the original Big Bang series and Lightning DNA infused hardware MSI make that benchers around the world break world records with!

Even down to simple things like the included “OC” backplate which allows easier mounting of DICE/LN2 pots, MSI have pretty much pushed the boat out to give overclockers and enthusiasts one of the best “all in” packages you will find of any motherboard, anywhere, from any manufacturer and I need to applaud that.

Aside from that, there are plenty of USB ports (mainly USB 3.0) and with the “future proofing” of the USB 3.1 Type A ports, general consumers will feel pretty comfortable with having the latest; let’s hope USB 3.1 comes soon and isn’t another Thunderbolt which I feel got overhyped.  At the end of the day though, the XPOWER AC gets a design award from me based on the aesthetics, the sheer amount of connections, fan headers, USB ports and the LED’s, who doesn’t like subtle ambient glows from their motherboard!  It must also be noted that this board is E-ATX, so please check that your case supports a board of this size before purchasing!

Value

Now here is the tricky bit, how can one judge a near £300 overclocking designed motherboard based on value?  Well for the money, overclockers are going to rejoice due to the sheer amount of features catered for their needs; I certainly rate this board at the top of my list when it comes to overclocking, but from a general enthusiast point of view, I hate to say this, but there is a lot better available for your money; even if you wanted to stick with MSI, the X99S or X99A Gaming 7 motherboard is around £100 cheaper and does everything you will need and then some!

On the flip side, this particular motherboard is nigh on £60-80 cheaper than the ASUS X99 Rampage V Extreme, which given the fact I have used both, I probably have to say the XPOWER offers more; with MSI adding an “OC” socket to the XPOWER, I feel price wise it represents better value for money overall so at the end of the day, it comes down to “you get what you pay for”  If you want the best, you know you are going to pay through the nose for it regardless!

Final Thoughts

When it comes down to it, the MSI X99A XPOWER AC motherboard is certainly the best-equipped motherboard I have seen MSI release so far this year, but price wise, it isn’t going to appeal to everyone.  Of course the Haswell-E (X99) platform is all about performance, it’s the enthusiast platform and at the end of the day, if you want the best, you need to pay for the privaledge.  Aside from that, performance-wise, this board doesn’t “WOW” me in our tested benchmarks, but it must be known that this is catered for the extreme overclockers and for those who want to squeeze that little bit more out of their CPU’s like I managed, then this is the type of board you are going to need!

With various features such as built-in Wi-Fi support, Turbo M.2 socket, dual Intel LAN and, of course, the fancy overclocking buttons, this board delivers and caters to my needs personally; for regular consumers, it’s a little overkill and I would probably not recommend this board for anyone who is rocking an Intel Core i7 5820K as the chances are, you want the best, but on a budget.  For those wanting to spend their hard earned money and get all the features they want and probably ton they will never need, but want to have, then you know you will want this!  At just under £300, I would probably buy it personally!

• Gold Award – I had a really hard time awarding the X99A XPOWER AC as although it’s a good motherboard, I felt the price to performance wasn’t as justified as it could have been.  I have given MSI the benefit of the doubt however and went with the gold award; purely because the overall package with this board in terms of accessories and features makes it a worthwhile purchase for those with a £300 budget to spend.
• Design Award – I am happy that MSI have kept the yellow and black colour scheme for their MPOWER/XPOWER range and with the bountiful amount of connections, ports, fan headers and the USB 3.1 Type A ports (even if not that important), I feel…well I simply love this board and if this board hadn’t bribed me with an inclusive 8GB USB stick, I might have had a tough decision; everyone needs more storage!

Huge thanks to MSI for sending in the MSI X99A XPOWER  AC motherboard in for review and I look forward to seeing more later on in the year as Intel continue to release their upcoming chipsets!