Closing Thoughts
MSI has gone completely over the top with the VRM design of the MEG X399 Creation and the result is a truly magnificent Threadripper motherboard.
The features of the motherboard consist of a long list of goodness. You get loads of PCI Express, SATA and USB, as well as Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet. We would have happily traded the Game Boost overclocking feature, the RGB lighting and the M.2 Xpander-Aero for a 10Gb Ethernet connection. Our point here is that the 32-core 2990WX has no part in a gaming PC so it follows that we would prefer to ditch the features that are aimed at gamers and instead concentrate on the workstation side of things.
The list of hardware and features on this motherboard is good, however it is the top section of the MEG X399 Creation where the VRMs are located that set this motherboard apart from any other desktop board we have ever seen. It is impressive that MSI went all-out with 16-phases of Vcore, using hardware rated at 70A for each stage with three more phases for the chipset and another four phases for the DDR4 memory.
When you combine this hardware with the 32-core 2990WX and unlock the power limit you will find the motherboard effectively overclocks the CPU to maximum effect. The numbers you see both in terms of benchmark results and power draw are huge, however that is not unexpected when you’re working with a level of hardware previously unseen on the PC desktop. Balanced against that the VRMs run at amazingly low temperatures.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about the dynamic overclocking delivered by the MEG X399 Creation is that the power hardware displays a surprising degree of efficiency and consequently the CPU and VRM temperatures are impressively low.
Read more on this board over here: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MEG-X399-CREATION
Buy from Overclockers UK for £469.99 inc vat HERE
Pros:
- World class 16-phase VRMs that run at very low temperatures.
- Truly impressive dynamic overclocking.
- Huge amounts of connectivity with a total of seven M.2 slots.
- I/O panel is loaded with USB 3.1 including type C.
Cons:
- MEG X399 Creation is a gamer’s motherboard however its natural partner, the Threadripper 2990WX, is not a gaming CPU.
- 10Gb Ethernet would enhance this motherboard.
- OC Game Boost control knob looks out of place on this board.
KitGuru says: MEG X399 Creation is the most impressive motherboard we have ever seen. Nuff said.