MSI Teases Upcoming Z270 PRO SLI and SLI PLUS

With just over a month till Kaby Lake arrives, more manufacturers have started teasing their new 200 series motherboards. Since they continue to use the LGA 1151 socket and are compatible with Skylake, it’s no surprise we’re getting a lot more information than usual for a new chipset. In their latest teaser on Facebook, MSI has revealed two of their soon to be launched models, the Z270 SLI and the Z270 SLI PLUS.

Both boards are meant to fit into their relatively new PRO lineup of motherboards. As the title gives away, both boards feature support for Nvidia’s SLI which almost certainly brings along CrossFire from Nvidia as well. Both also feature a nice black and white color motif, a nice option for those that aren’t into the red and black every brand seems to have these days. The power delivery is 10 phases, there is a dedicated Audio Boost section and the form factor is ATX.

Moving on, both boards also feature a very similar connectivity setup. Both have 6 SATA 3 ports along with 2 M.2 slots for storage. PCIe layout is also the same with 3 x 16 and 3 x 1. The main differentiator between the two comes in the new DIMM shielding for the PRO. This is supposed to strengthen the DIMM slots and protect them but it remains to be seen if it’s worthwhile. The PRO also gets a nicer looking VRM heatsink with white tracing.

Overall, I expect the boards to be priced similarly to the current lineup. The PLUS should slot in a tad above Z170A SLI PLUS sits with perhaps a slight launch premium. After all, compared to the Z170 board, the new Z270 SLI PLUS does appear to be much more defined. The regular Z270 SLI will then be somewhere below that but not a whole lot cheaper. I expect we will be getting more details in the weeks to come.