MSI Z270 Gaming M3 or MSI Z270 Gaming Pro Carbon

nabzblitz · Mar 5, 2017

Hi guys,

I'm just wondering, which will be the better pick among the 2 boards? Because they're quite new, it's been pretty challenging to find detailed information about them, especially for the M3. I do plan to overclock (although I'll be very new to it, it will be first time attempting to overclock), so which of these boards will be better or easier to overclock? Or will they be exactly the same? I'm guessing the difference between these boards as far as overclocking is concerned is the BIOS. They're both priced similarly in my country, however as you may know, the M3 is in MSI's top tier Enthusiast line, while the Pro Carbon is in the lower Gaming line. I'm currently leaning towards the Pro Carbon, but if the M3 can perform the same if not better, I might as well save a few bucks since it's slightly cheaper.

I'm also looking at MSI Z270 Tomahawk because it's cheaper, but from the little information that I found on it, apparently you can't overclock? I was under the assumption that all Z boards can overclock so I was quite confused by this. (got that information from here, among some other sites too: https://unlocked.newegg.com/article/hands-msis-new-z270-motherboards)

Here are the other components I'm planning to get.

CPU: Intel i5-7600K
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 412 Slim
GPU: Zotac GTX1060 Mini 6GB
RAM: Hyper X Fury DDR4 8GB 2666mHz
HDD: WD Blue 1TB
SSD: Samsung Evo 250GB
Fans: Thermaltake Riing12 RGB 3 Pack
PSU: Silverstone ST60F-ES
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P400 Tempered Glass

raisonjohn · Mar 5, 2017

The main differences between your 2 motherboard choices, the MSI Z270 Gaming M3 and the MSI Z270 Pro Carbon, are:

M3 has only 2x PCIe x16 slots that runs at [x16/x4]. Pro Carbon has 3x PCIe x16 slots that runs [x16/x0/x4] or [x8/x8/x4].
M3 disables the 2nd PCIe x16 slot when an M.2 is plugged in the M.2_2 slot. Pro Carbon does not disable any PCIe slots.
M3 supports only AMD CrossFire [x16/x4]. Pro Carbon supports up to 3-Way CrossFire AND/OR Nvidia SLI.
M3 has 4x PCIe x1 slots. Pro Carbon has 3x PCIe x1 slots.
M3 has Killer E2500 LAN controller. Pro Carbon has Intel I219-V LAN controller.
M3 has a Serial Port connector/header. Pro Carbon has none.
Rest of the features are quite similar.

You should be able to decide which features you need based on the above differences (apart from physical/aesthetics).

All Z boards can overclock (including the MSI Z270 Tomahawk). What is meant by the article that you linked, which stated, "If the black and red of the Tomahawk don’t fit with your style, you can also get the Arctic version that is silver and white...but you can’t overclock.", is that the Arctic versions of the Tomahawk (and the Mortar) are NOT Z270 motherboards but H270 (which does not support overclock as the article correctly stated).

At the time that article was written (Jan. 2017), there were no Z270 Tomahawk Arctic or Mortar Arctic (only the H270 Tomahawk Arctic and, if I'm not mistaken there was the H270 Mortar Arctic too). A month after (Feb. 2017), MSI released several Arctic boards (which now includes the Z270 Tomahawk Arctic, capable of overclocking).

nabzblitz · Mar 5, 2017

@raisonjohn it seems like most of the differences you highlighted don't really matter to me, since I don't plan on utilising SLI or Crossfire, or use an M.2 SSD. However may I ask, is the process of overclocking on all 3 boards the same, or is 1 board better/easier than the other? Sorry if this sounds like a stupid question, but I don't really know much about overclocking just yet.

And also, you mentioned that the M3 has a Serial port connector/header. Can I know what that is used for?

I also found in this link (http://www.reviewstudio.net/2462-msi-z270-tomahawk-review-the-arsenal-commander/overclocking) that the Z270 Tomahawk is not an overclocking board?

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MSI Z270 Gaming M3 or MSI Z270 Gaming Pro Carbon

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