Product Showcase

 
The MEG MSI X399 Creation motherboard is to be considered an enthusiast class solution in that super-high-end segment of AMD's X399 chipset based series motherboards. The board is built using the proper components, assuring high reliability and a long life-span. Some interesting features are 802.11ac Wi-Fi, triple M.2 as well as an intricate LED Lightning system and four PCIe Express x16 slots. Also, ane extra M2 PCIe add-in card has been included, you could even run 7 M2 devices if you wanted to.

 
 

 
The motherboard includes all of the standardized X399 enhancements with three M.2 SSD slots and will support SLI (2-way) and Crossfire (4-way). Your PCIe lane configuration will be dependent on the choices you make with your purchase. However, the CPU alone will deliver a nice 64 PCIe Gen 3.0 lanes. If you'd use four graphics card they would be configured at 16:8:16:8 (or a combination of that). The board uses a regular EATX Form Factor at 12 in. x 10.7 in. (30.4 cm x 27.2 cm).

MSI went USB craze .. the I/O panel of the mobo reveals a massive amount of USB 3.1 ports, among it a 10 Gbps type-c and type-a connector. AMD offers native USB 3.1 Gen 2 support used in combo with ASMedia 3142 controllers:

ASMedia ASM3142 Chipset

• 1x USB 3.1 Gen2 (SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps) Type-C port available through the internal USB connector

AMD X399 Chipset

• 1x USB 3.1 Gen1 (SuperSpeed USB) Type-A port on the back panel
• 1x USB 3.1 Gen1 (SuperSpeed USB) Type-C port on the back panel
• 4x USB 3.1 Gen1 (SuperSpeed USB) ports available through the internal USB connectors
• 4x USB 2.0 (High-speed USB) ports available through the internal USB connectors

AMD CPU

• 8x USB 3.1 Gen1 (SuperSpeed USB) Type-A ports on the back panel

I would assume that is sufficient for your USB needs and requirements. The motherboard features four PCIe x16 Gen 3.0 expansion slots and in the middle an x1 slot. A Realtek ALC1220 audio codec is the source for audio but is enhanced with proper audio caps.

The board gets dual 10/100/1000 Ethernet controllers by Intel, we do miss a 5 or 10 GBit from say Aquantia. Also lacking is a PS/2 combo port that can be used for either a keyboard or mouse.

• Clear CMOS Button
• USB 3.1 Gen1 Ports
• USB 3.1 Gen1 Ports
• Intel WiFi/ Bluetooth Module
• Dual Intel LAN Ports
• HD Audio Connectors
• BIOS FLASHBACK+
• USB 3.1 Gen1 Ports
• AMD Turbo USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type A + C
• Optical S/PDIF-Out

Memory wise the board has 8 DIMM slots for your quad-channel needs. This board is should support up to DDR4 3600 MHz memory (overclocked), you may install up to 128 GB of it, we recommend 3200 MHz as that is the currently best-supported frequency.

If you look at the overview of the board you'll spot a nice black design with styled RGB elements on the heatsink plating. Included are SLI adapters (High Bandwidth), antennas for WIFI (Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band (2.4GHz, 5GHz) up to 867 Mbps speed), SATA cables and all the regular gear like manuals and driver CDs. You'll also receive some heatsink covers you can swap out for a bit of color changing.

This would be that add-in M2 card I mentioned, the M2 SSDs have heatsinks and are actively cooled. It's called M.2 Xpander-Aero.