MSI X299 SLI Plus Intel X-Series Motherboard Review

Peter Donnell / 7 years ago

Final Thoughts

Price

The latest X299 motherboard from MSI is certainly one of the best value boards on the market right now. At just £239.99 it’s not exactly cheap, but it competes very well with boards that are much more expensive. This is obviously an attractive aspect of this board and it’s not exactly lacking in features at this price range.

Overview

Without a doubt, this is a fantastic looking motherboard. It’s a little more mature in terms of design than some of the purely gaming focused motherboards too. The darker black design looks great, and the built-in shrouds over the audio and rear I/O hardware make it look as sleek and clean as you could hope for. While it does still go down the RGB lighting route, I think it’s done quite tastefully. It highlights the VRM cooler and chipset cooler, without causing a dizzying rainbow of lighting.

Durable by Design

MSI has a strong reputation of heavy duty hardware, and the same holds true on their latest X299 motherboard. It feels robust and doesn’t bend or flex when handled. All the important hardware, such as the SLI slots, are reinforced to support the added weight of modern components. The VRM cooler has a thick backplate too and uses a screw on design to ensure a firm contact with the hardware.

Great Performance

The performance on this motherboard is certainly competitive with any other X299 board we’ve tested to date. It’s not the fastest or slowest overall, but it’s still one of the best priced too in terms of features on offer. If you’re building a workstation or gaming rig that’s going to focus on single or dual GPU configuration, it’s sure to tick all the right boxes. It’s going to deliver great performance in any gaming or rendering tasks. Of course, most of that performance relies on your GPU/CPU combo, but the throughput on the motherboard is far from being a hindrance to either.

Great Value

The SLI Plus is equipped with dual Intel LAN, M.2 Shield, Turbo M.2, Optane, Turbo U.2, Lightning USB 3.1 Gen 2, Mystic Light, Audio Boost 4, and much more. Overall, there’s enough added value here to make this an attractive option for any system builder. The various features help squeeze the best performance out of your hardware with minimal effort, often just a few clicks in the BIOS, making it beginner friendly. However, it still offers all the advanced features that would keep the enthusiast crowd happy too.

Pros

Skylake-X Support
Easy overclocking
Professional looking aesthetics
Durable build quality
Competitive performance
Dual LAN
Armoured PCIe slots
Competitively priced

Cons

None

Neutral

Only one of the M.2 slots has an Armour cover

“If you’re building a powerful gaming or workstation system, with a dual GPU configuration, the SLI Plus from MSI is one of the most competitive options on the market today.”