MSI Z370I Gaming Pro Carbon AC Motherboard Review
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How We Test
Now that we have an adequate collection of Z370 test data, we’re ready to drop the previous boards from our tables. MSI’s Z370I Gaming Pro Carbon AC competes against larger models using the same oversized hardware, most of which would also fit into a portable gaming cube.
Sound | Integrated HD Audio |
Network | Integrated Gigabit Networking |
Graphics Driver | GeForce 382.53 |
Back during the X299 launch, we upgraded our test bed to handle the tremendous heat produced by the Core i9-7900X. Our award-winning Fractal Design S24 liquid cooler system sample serves the same purpose for the newer, lower heat Core i7-8700K. Cooler Master’s HAF-XB provides an optimal layout to blow the Celsius S24’s fans sufficiently over each motherboard’s voltage regulator.
Comparison Products
Is the Z370I Gaming Pro Carbon AC strong enough to compete against the big boards in overclocking? We included all prior Z370 contenders to find out!
Benchmark Settings
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings | |
PCMark 8 | Version 2.7.613Home, Creative, Work, Storage, Applications (Adobe & Microsoft) |
3DMark 13 | Version 4.47.597.0Skydiver, Firestrike, Firestrike Extreme Default Presets |
SiSoftware Sandra | Version 2016.03.22.21CPU Arithmetic, Multimedia, Cryptography, Memory Bandwidth |
DiskSPD | 4k Random Read, 4k Random Write128k Sequential Read, 128k Sequential Write |
Cinebench R15 | Build RC83328DEMOOpenGL Benchmark |
CompuBench | Version 1.5.8Face Detection, Optical Flow, Ocean Surface, Ray Tracing |
Application Tests and Settings | |
LAME MP3 | Version 3.98.3Mixed 271MB WAV to mp3: Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kb/s) |
HandBrake CLI | Version: 0.9.9Sintel Open Movie Project: 4.19 GB 4k mkv to x265 mp4 |
Blender | Version 2.68aBMW 27 CPU Render Benchmark, BMW 27 GPU Render Benchmark |
7-Zip | Version 16.02THG-Workload (7.6 GB) to .7z, command line switches "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=9" |
Adobe After Effects CC | Release 2015.3.0, Version 13.8.0.144PCMark driven routine |
Adobe Photoshop CC | Release 2015.5.0. 20160603.r.88 x64PCMark driven routine (light and heavy) |
Adobe InDesign CC | Release 2015.4, Build 11.4.0.90 x64PCMark driven routine |
Adobe Illustrator | Release 2015.3.0, Version 20.0.0 (64-bit)PCMark driven routine |
Game Tests and Settings | |
Ashes of Singularity | Version 1.31.21360High Preset - 1920x1080, Mid Shadow Quality, 1x MSAACrazy Preset - 1920x1090, High Shadow Quality, 2x MSAA |
F1 2015 | 2015 Season, Abu Dhabi Track, RainMedium Preset, No AFxUltra High Preset, 16x AF |
Metro Last Light Redux | Version 3.00 x64High Quality, 1920x1080, High Tesselation, 16x AFVery High Quality, 1920x1080, Very High Tesselation, 16x AF |
The Talos Principle | Version 267252Medium Preset, High Quality, High Tesselation, 4x AFUltra Preset, VeryHigh Quality, VeryHigh Tesselation, 16x AF |
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Lutfij The point with limited fan headers might also be due to the fact that you can source a PWM splitter that is molex/sata powered and you can use the breakaway's to manage more than one(upto eight) fan(s) in a case.Reply
The review is simple and spot on, bravo, Thomas! ;) -
Crashman 20564490 said:The point with limited fan headers might also be due to the fact that you can source a PWM splitter that is molex/sata powered and you can use the breakaway's to manage more than one(upto eight) fan(s) in a case.
The review is simple and spot on, bravo, Thomas! ;)
I realize these are small boards for small cases and don't have much room for extras, but I only required three fan headers. One for the front of the case, one for the back and one for the CPU cooler. I don't think that's too much to ask :) -
mortemas Where's the ASRock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming-ITX/ac? I don't see much talk of it anywhere, let alone this review where it would have been a good apples to apples comparison.Reply -
Crashman
Good question! I don't have one, and they haven't offered it yet.20572043 said:Where's the ASRock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming-ITX/ac? I don't see much talk of it anywhere, let alone this review where it would have been a good apples to apples comparison.