A motherboard tested

MSI MEG X299 Creation

We review the most premium X299 motherboard from MSI, the MSI MEG X299 Creation. MSI motherboards these days are sorted into four categories: the MEG series, MPG series, MAG series, and PRO series, with MEG being short for 'MSI Enthusiast Gaming'. 

The board is stylish, loaded with features such as subtle LED effects, has terrific WIFI, 2.5Gbps Ethernet and obviously offers everything you need from quadruple x16 PCI-Express slots, multiple M.2 SSD options, quad-channel memory and an improved and rather beefy VRM based setup in a 13+1 phase fashion with no less than three 8 pin power connectors available. 

The MEG X299 CREATION supports Intel's latest and more intricate multiple cores processors to create stable and reliable conditions. Compatible with anything Kabylake-X and Skylake-X, this offers pretty much anything you can think of, and then some. An M.2 SHIELD FROZR with Metal Shields integrated on the heatsink enlarges the thermal surface and prevents 3 x M.2 devices from throttling down from maximum SSD speeds and an extra M.2 daughter board will allow you to install up to 7 x Turbo M.2 devices (!) 

You will spot proper dual-band AC WIFI, but also a 2.5G LAN Ethernet jack as well as an Intel Gigabit LAN. The MEG Creation also offers MSI Thunderbolt M3, an included add-on card offering two Thunderbolt 3 ports and display ports. This motherboard is intended for Intel Skylake-X processors including the latest refresh ones on the 9000 series that are released based on Socket LGA2066. We got our grubby little paws on a 16-core Skylake-X processor (7960X) to test the board with, a loaner that Intel did not supply.

The board as shown is an exclusive segmented product and certainly is a decent motherboard alright with proper dark and subtle looks and feel. On the next page, a word or two on the processors and architecture, after which we'll dive into a full photo-shoot with the MSI MEG X299 Creation.