Review: MSI X299 SLI Plus

by Parm Mann on 23 June 2017, 15:30

Tags: MSI, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qadiv5

Add to My Vault: x

Test Methodology

Comparison Motherboard Configurations

Model
Reviewed Price
£260
£275
£225
Firmware Version
E7A93IMS.12Z
0501
F4G
Chipset
X299
Z270
CPU
Intel Core i9-7900X
Intel Core i7-7700K
CPU Cores / Threads
10 / 20
4 / 8
CPU Base Clock
3.3GHz
4.2GHz
CPU Turbo Boost 2.0 Clock
4.3GHz
4.5GHz
CPU Turbo Boost 3.0 Clock
4.5GHz
-
CPU L3 Cache
13.75MB
8MB
CPU TDP
140
91W
Memory
Corsair Dominator 32GB
G.Skill 32GB
Memory Configuration
4x8GB
2x16GB
Memory Speed
DDR4-2666
DDR4-2400
Memory Timings
14-16-16-36-2T
16-16-16-36-2T
CPU Cooler
Noctua NH-D15S
Graphics
EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW (382.53)
Storage Device
SK hynix Canvas SC300 512GB
Power Supply
be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 (750W)
Operating System
Windows 10 Home (64-bit)

CPU and Memory Benchmarks

HEXUS PiFast Our number-crunching benchmark stresses a single core by calculating Pi to 10m places
Cinebench Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses all cores
Handbrake Free-to-use video encoder that stresses multiple CPU cores
AIDA64 Benchmark that analyses memory bandwidth and latency

Storage Benchmarks

CrystalDiskMark Popular free-to-use storage benchmark, used to gauge read and write performance via SATA (512GB SK hynix Canvas SC300), M.2 (512GB Samsung 950 Pro), and USB 3.1 (256GB Adata SC660H)

Gaming Benchmarks

3DMark Run using Time Spy DX12 test
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided 2,560x1,440, ultra settings
Rise of the Tomb Raider 2,560x1,440, ultra settings

Miscellaneous Benchmarks

Power Consumption Noted at idle, while running the HandBrake video-transcoding test and when playing Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Notes

We begin X299 testing with a head-to-head comparison of the Asus Prime X299-A and MSI X299 SLI Plus. Both are similarly priced near the lower-end of the X299 spectrum, and it will be interesting to see how these popular manufacturers fare with regards to BIOS maturity so soon after launch. To illustrate the differences between Z270 and X299, we've also included Core i7-7700K numbers on a Gigabyte Aorus Z270X-Gaming 7.