MSI Announces ARCTIC Z270, H270 and B250M Motherboards

One of the great things about the motherboard these days it the improved aesthetics we are getting. After a short period where everything was just black and red to cater to ‘gamers’, we are getting a lot more variety in colors. Building on the sole B150M ARCTIC, MSI has launched a quadfecta of ARCTIC motherboards based on the new 200 series chipset.

Starting with the full-size ATX motherboards, we have the Z720 and H270 TOMAHAWK ARCTIC. In addition to the usual chipset features, MSI has added some goodies as well. We have the Twin Turbo M.2 with PCIe 3.0 x 4 for storage and 3x PCIe x16 slots for add-in cards. These slots are all protected with the new Steel Armor for extra durability. The boards also feature a Lighting USB 3.1 Gen2 controller which is a must for builds meant for the long run.

Down the stack, we have more intuitive Micro-ATX form factor boards in the H270M and B250M MORTAR ARCTIC. Due to the smaller form factor, the slots are limited to 2x PCIe x16 and a single M.2.  Just like their big brothers though, both boards feature slots that are all protected with the new Steel Armor for extra durability. They all feature an isolated audio PCB section and with special capacitors and gold audio connections.

While in terms of features, these boards aren’t that different than the Arsenal GAMING lineup from MSI. However, we do have a very nice white/grey/black color scheming going on. Whereas past generations required a bit more selective shopping if you wanted specific colors, we’re fast approaching a point where there are multiple options to get a desired build.