MSI today unveiled its new microATX MSI X299M-A Pro motherboard, a new motherboard designed specifically to house the Kaby Lake X i5-7640X or i7-7740X processors and incorporating only four dual-channel memory DIMM slots without the support of quadruple channel available in the Skylake X (although if we can install them). The board will be able to support up to 64GB of DDR4 memory. And includes three M.2 ports (one vertical in the I / O zone. That is one between the PCIe and one next to the DIMM slots) and 8 SATA 3 ports as storage.
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It is a professional-grade Pro line of products, but still includes a reinforced PCIe 3.0 x16 slot and two additional ones at the lower end, allowing 2G multi-mode configurations if needed. As for Audio, MSI has chosen to include a Realtek ALC1220. So provides the board a high-quality sound despite being oriented at a more affordable price.
MSI X299M-A Pro Key Features
- Supports New Intel® Core™ X-series Processor i7-7740X & i5-7640X(4 Cores) only
- Supports DDR4-4400+(OC) Memory
- DDR4 BOOST: Give your DDR4 memory a performance boost.
- TWIN TURBO M.2 and Intel Optane Memory Ready: Running at PCI-E Gen3 x4 maximizes performance for NVMe based SSDs.
- Military Class 6: Latest evolution in high-quality components for best protection and efficiency
- DIGITAL POWER DESIGN: Allowing faster and undistorted delivery to the CPU at pin-point precision
- Intel® LAN: the Great online experience through hardware design and bandwidth management offering the lowest latency.
- EZ DEBUG LED: Easiest way to troubleshoot
- Audio Boost 4: Reward your ears with studio-grade sound quality for a true HI-FI experience
- Dual BIOS: Having 2 physical BIOS chips for easy reset and recovery
- MULTI-GPU: With STEEL ARMOR PCI-E slots. Supports 2-Way NVIDIA SLI™ & AMD Crossfire
MSI X299M-A Pro Specifications
- Socket: 2066
- CPU (Max Support): X-Series
- Chipset: Intel X299 Chipset
- DDR4 Memory:
- Intel® Core™ X-series Processors (4 core CPU i7-7740X/i5-7640X) – Dual channel memory support DDR4 4500+(OC)/4400(OC)/4333(OC)/4266(OC)/4200(OC)/4133(OC)/4000(OC)/3866(OC)/3800(OC)/3733(OC)/3600(OC)/3466(OC)/3400(OC)/3333(OC)/3200(OC)/3000(OC)/2933(OC)/2800(OC)/2667/2400/2133 MHz*
- Memory Channel: Dual
- DIMM Slots: 4
- Max Memory: 64GB
- PCI-EX16: 3
- PCI-E GEN: Gen3
- SATAIII: 8
- M.2 Slot: 2
- RAID: 0/1/5/10
- TPM (Header): 1
- LAN: 10/100/1000*1
- USB 3.1 Ports
- Front: 4 (Gen1)
- Rear: 2 (Gen2 ,Type A+C), 4 (Gen1 Type A)
- USB 2.0 Ports:
- Front: 4
- Rear: 2
- Audio Ports: Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
- Form Factor: m-ATX
- SLI: Yes
- Crossfire: Yes
Price and Availability
MSI is yet to announce X299M-A Pro release details. However, TechPowerUp expects the board to cost approximately $170.
This new model should have a price below 200 € and be available soon.