Final Thoughts
Pricing
There are lots of expensive, high-end and somewhat crazy Z370 motherboards on the market already. Fortunately for the consumer, the latest from MSI hits a nice middle ground, offering the same high-end performance we’ve seen from some of the flagship motherboards but with a much more wallet-friendly mid-range price tag of £139.05 from eBuyer.
Overview
This is by far one of the best all-round Z370 motherboards we’ve reviewed so far, and we’ve reviewed a fair few. It’s not too crazy regarding features, regarding its overall design, or even performance. However, it’s competitive in all areas and delivers fantastic value for money that is sure to appeal to any system builder.
It just goes to show that you don’t need every feature possible, you don’t need over-the-top RGB lighting, and you don’t need to spend a small fortune either to get the kind of high-end performance Intel Coffee Lake processors can deliver.
Plenty of Features
There are a few small features that I would have liked to see included on this motherboard, but again, at this price and with the performance where it is, they’re hardly deal breakers. Including some onboard power controls and a BIOS reset button would make life easier, especially for those who plan to do a lot of overclocking. There was no USB 3.1 Type-C front panel connector either, again this is not a deal breaker as it does have a USB 3.1 Type-C port on the rear of the motherboard for those who need it. Plus, there are still so few devices that use end-to-end type-c connection cables anyway.
Should I Buy One
If you’re looking to build a high-end gaming system or a new workstation around the new Coffee Lake processors, the MSI Sli Plus is a great place to start. It’s not cheap, but it won’t break the bank either, and it’ll keep up with the best of the best when it comes to delivering kind of performance you would want your PC to deliver.
Pros
- Multi-GPU support
- Good connectivity
- Armoured hardware
- Stylish monotone design
- Great audio
- Rear I/O guard
- RGB Lighting
Cons
- No onboard power/bios controls
this motherbouard Availability the overcloking for CPU!!!!!!
I currently own this board and am running a very high end system:
8700k @4.8ghz
2x16gb ddr4 3600mhz
2x1080ti gaming x trio
This board handles all the additional components than i’m throwing at it flawlessly. My gpu’s are 1.5kg each and there is no sag.
One thing to watch out for, if you are a r/datahoarder like me, you cannot use an m.2 slot without disabling 2 of the 6 SATA connectors.
ram overclocking has become more stable thanks to a bios update, allowing me to overclock my ram to 3600 from 3200, something I wasn’t able to do initially.
warning on my board at 1.25 volts the vrms overheat even if i am giving them direct air flow with a fan. this is only under a stress test. the soft ware that comes with this board is a bit naff and is more like bloat ware, overall the board is ok and i got it for a killer deal.