MSI X99A SLI Plus Motherboard Review

1. Introduction2. MSI X99A SLI Plus: Packaging and Bundle3. MSI X99A SLI Plus: Board Layout and Features4. MSI X99 UEFI5. MSI X99 Software6. Testing Methodology7. Tests: System-related8. Tests: Gaming-related9. Overclocking: Frequencies10. Overclocking: Performance11. Tests: Motherboard-related12. Closing Thoughts13. View All Pages

The MSI X99A SLI Plus is a surprisingly feature-rich motherboard that offers a lot of bang for not much buck.

Despite being one of the lowest cost X99 motherboards available, the performance displayed by the X99A SLI Plus is solid. Overclocking capacity is good, provided your tweaking is simple and reliant upon the board's automated settings. Using a simple voltage and ratio boost, we had no trouble pushing our 5960X chip to its 4.4GHz limit.

Features are the motherboard's strong point. MSI manages to provide the core functions of multi-GPU support, plenty of SATA connections, and a fast M.2 slot. But the vendor also adds a pair of USB 3.1 Type-A ports into the mix, as well as dual BIOS chips for redundancy and a pair of USB 3.0 internal headers.

Despite liking the inclusion of rear IO positioned clear CMOS button, I miss the two-digit debug LED. Placing the voltage check points in a more convenient location would have also been an improvement.

And on the topic of positioning, MSI's decision to place the two PCIe 3.0 x16 slots very close to one another is not smart. Dual-card users will either be forced to use a different slot and drop to a lower connection speed to the CPU or deal with the choked graphics cards caused by a lack of cooling space.

The UEFI is easy to navigate and functional for general users. The lack of a clear load-line calibration setting is a negative point for overclocking users, however. MSI's OS software is solid, even if the apps aren't anything out of the ordinary.

Available from OverclockersUK for £179.99, the MSI X99A SLI Plus motherboard's strongest point is its solid balance of features for such a competitive asking price. Combining a pair of USB 3.1 ports, a 32Gbps M.2 connection, and generally smart motherboard layout into a sub-£180 product creates an attractive purchase.

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Pros:

• Cost-effective choice of features.
• USB 3.1 Type-A ports.
• Easy to navigate UEFI.
• Clean aesthetics.
• Plenty of storage connectivity – 10 SATA 6Gbps and 32Gbps M.2.
• Good audio performance.

Cons:

• Routing of PCIe x16 links is not good for multi-GPU cooling performance.
• VIA USB 3.0 ports are very slow.
• Potential bug in the BIOS profile when manually adjusting some primary parameters.

KitGuru says: A cost-effective motherboard that offers the primary X99 features that most users will wish for. Certainly worthy of a purchase when looking for a low-cost route onto the X99 platform.

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