MSI has expanded its range of X99 and Z170 chipset motherboards, with a new pair of Carbon mobos, each sporting its new “mystic light,” features, which adds RGB LEDs to the PCB – because RGB lighting needs to be everywhere. They also feature carbon-fibre styling, which we're told helps represent the high-end, performance focused pedigree of these boards.
The two new boards are called the Z170A Gaming Pro Carbon and the X99A Godlike Gaming Carbon and both come in matt black, with the LED styling to help various features stand out. The X99A features a large I/O backplate cooling plate and “Godlike,” carbon fibre logo, as well as various other strips of the lightweight material throughout its design.
In comparison, the Z170A is quite understated, but still supports MSI's Mystic Light system, as well as its own little pieces of carbon fibre for added effect.
PCIExpress ports are highlighted in white to make them stand out and all heatsinks are either carbon fibre, or black too, letting you hightlight particular parts of the set up if you prefer, or keep it all understated and hidden away.
The X99A Carbon mobo also comes with a couple of similarly styled extras, including an external, dual antenna Wi-Fi adaptor and a U.2 host card with added redriver chip to improve data transfer rates up to 32Gbps.
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KitGuru Says: These are quite an attractive pair of motherboards, but unless you're building something quite fancy all of that LED and carbon fibre is probably overkill. Do you prefer a stylish motherboard?