Product Showcase Motherboard

Product Showcase

The MSI X99S XPower 9 AC follows an E-ATX form factor, that would be 12 in. x 10.4 in. (30.5 cm x 26.4 cm). The motherboard is the flagship product within this range. 
 

Included with the motherboard are the regulars including; manuals, driver CDs, SATA cables and a rear IO plate. Also included is an OC BACKPLATE so for the true OC professionals you can mount your LN2 pot or other extreme cooling solution. The OC Backplate generates optimal mounting pressure. This leads to lower CPU temperature and maximizes overclocking results. You can also combine the OC Backplate with the MSI Delid Die Guard for even better mounting and cooling results. All included.

This motherboard comes with a Bluetooth and WIFI adapter that you will need to install manually onto the motherboard.

• CPU support: Haswell-E class Intel Core processors
• 8x DIMM DDR4 slots - configurations are possible up to 128GB
• Chipset: Intel X99 Express Chipset
• 2x Intel Gigabit Ethernet
• Intel 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, BT 4.0, Intel Wi-Di
• Storage: 10x SATA 6Gb/s, 1x M.2, PCIe 32 Gb/s and shared SATA Express ports x2
• Connectivity: 5x PCI-E 3.0 x16 
• 6x USB 3.0 / 8x USB 2.0 rear IO
• 8-channel Audio ALC1150 Realtek

Well look at that; small and good looking. And really, as powerful as an enthusiast setup. Included in the bundle is one mighty fine motherboard and gear like Protective IO cover, OC Backplate, Delid die guard, a fan stand, SATA cables, SLI connectors, V-Check cables, WIFI antennas and the AC WIFI module (up-to 867 Mbps) and Bluetooth up-to 25 Mbps, and so on.

You will notice that the MSI X99S XPower AC has EMI shields, you can argue whether or not these work, but they sure do look nice.  The I/O back panel reveals two USB 2.0 ports (black) with another ten USB 3.0 ports (blue). A Realtek ALC1150 high definition audio codec is the source for audio.The integrated audio comes from Realtek ALC1150 combined with a software suite. The audio unit has special capacitors and EMI shielding and also has an added CMedia CM6631A IC, Xtreme Audio DAC functionality is the keyword here. We spot two 10/100/1000 fast Ethernet jacks (Intel ). And Wireless WIFI is arranged by an intel AC 7260 chip that delivers compatibility with 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WIFI, BT 4.0, Intel Wi-Di. There is a single PS/2 combo port that can be used for either a keyboard or a mouse, optical SPDIF in/out port and six audio jacks. 

Check that, 5 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots. a whopping five PCI-Express 3.0 x16 which can be arranged in these slot configurations with graphics cards:

 5 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (PCI_E1~E4, PCI_E6), support up to 4-way mode

• 1-way mode: x16/ x0/ x0/ x0/ x0
• 2-way mode: x16/ x0/ x0/ x16/ x0, x16/ x0/ x0/ x8/ x0
• 3-way mode: x16/ x0/ x0/ x16/ x8, x8/ x8/ x0/ x8/ x0
• 4-way mode: x8/ x8/ x0/ x16/ x8, x8/ x8/ x0/ x8/ x4

As you can see these are PCI Express Gen 3.0 configurations, that's just more than plenty. Mind you that the Core i7 5960X adn 5930K processors have 40 PCIe Gen 3.0 lanes while the Core i7 5820K 'only' has 28 PCIe lanes.

So for multi-GPU Support these rules apply:

• Supports 4-Way AMD CrossFireTM Technology
• Supports 4-Way NVIDIA SLI Technology (For the CPU that supports 40 PCIe lanes)
• Supports 3-Way NVIDIA SLI Technology (For the CPU that supports 28 PCIe lanes)

The X99S XPower AC comes with both connectors, four and 8 power connectors. Man, just look at that, lovely design. 

The Gaming 9 AC has a Military Grade IV for components on the motherboard with updated DrMOS MosFETs and aluminum colored dark caps that are going to increase the motherboard's lifespan.

• DRMOS - rMOS is the next-gen Mosfet which is used to deliver the power for the CPU. MSI DrMOS does not waste much power, stays cool and is more power efficient than other powersaving solutions. Because DrMOS is a 3-in-1 chip it delivers much more power with less components needed. This solution gives you the power to break world records.
• HI-C CAP - A Hi-C CAP is a very small, but super-efficient capacitor. Besides ensuring enough spacing around a CPU socket to install large coolers, it also allows for 93% energy efficiency. Thanks to Hi-C CAPs MSI mainboards are the most energy efficient in the market.
• SUPER FERRITE CHOKE - Super Ferrite Choke uses a Ferrite core that is Super-Permeable. This allows the Super Ferrite Choke to run at a 35 degree Celsius lower temperature, have a 30% higher current capacity, a 20% improvement in power efficiency and better overclocking power stability.
• DARK CAP - With their aluminum core design, Dark CAPs has been a staple in high-end design mainboard designs and provides lower Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR) as well as its over-10-year lifespan.

The DrMOS II, Hi-C Cap, Super Ferrite Choke and Solid Caps will make sure that your PC runs more stable under extreme conditions.