The MPG X870E CARBON WIFI is a premium AMD X870E motherboard offering that has a laundry list of high-end features, and it places just beneath MSI's flagship AMD AM5 motherboard, the MEG X870E GODLIKE.

AMD's Ryzen 9000 series of processors were launched a few weeks ago, but for some reason, motherboards powered by the brand's new 800-series chipsets were noticeably absent; AMD has chosen to launch its new 800-series chipsets and motherboards after its Ryzen 9000 CPUs had arrived on the shelves of retailers. As it stands, motherboards with the high-end X870E and X870 chipsets are now available to purchase from retailers as of 30 September 2024; budget-friendlier motherboards sporting the more affordable B850 and B840 chipsets are rumoured to launch sometime in early 2025.

As can be seen from the image above, the X870E and X870 chipsets offer marginal improvements over the X670E and X670 that they replace, with the key differences being support for faster DDR5 memory modules, and mandatory USB4 support for boards that come with the X870E and X870 chipsets.

To get in on the launch excitement, we'll be taking a look at a performance-oriented X870E motherboard offering from MSI, the MPG X870E CARBON WIFI. As a product from the MPG series of gaming-oriented motherboards at the higher-end, the MPG X870E places only one spot below the brand's flagship MEG X870E GODLIKE, and above the offerings from MSI's mainstream MAG line-up.

Summary of Specifications

Processor Support: AMD Ryzen 9000/8000/7000 series processors
Chipset: AMD X870E
Memory: 4x DDR5 slots, max 256GB, up to DDR5 8400+ support (as of September 2024)
Audio: Realtek ALC4080 audio codec
LAN: Realtek RTL8126 5 Gigabit Ethernet & Realtek RTL8125BG 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet
WIFI: Qualcomm QCNCM865 WIFI 7 module with built-in Bluetooth 5.4
Expansion Slots: 1x PCIe 5.0 x16, 1x PCIe 5.0 x16 (operates at x4 mode), 1x PCIe 4.0 x16 (operates at x4 mode)
Storage: 4x SATA III, 2x PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2, 2x PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 (M.2 slots support NVMe drives only)
Form Factor: ATX
Official Product Page: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MPG-X870E-CARBON-WIFI/

Do note that PCIe 5.0 is supported only when a Ryzen 9000 or Ryzen 7000 series CPU is installed on this motherboard - Ryzen 8000 APUs only support the PCIe 4.0 standard.

Packaging & Contents

The MPG X870E CARBON WIFI comes in a rather colourful box with an image of the motherboard splashed across the front. Over on the rear of the box, we get the usual summary of features that the board comes with.

The board comes with the following accessories:

• WIFI antenna
• 2x SATA III cables
• 1x EZ Front Panel cable
• 1x addressable RGB extension cable
• 1x 12V RGB Y-splitter extension cable 
• 1x 1-to-3 EZ Conn-Cable V2
• 1x spare EZ M.2 Clip II attachment
• 1x EZ M.2 Clip II remover tool
• Quick installation guide
• Regulatory information leaflet
• MSI survey leaflet
• Sheet of MSI decorative stickers
• 1x USB flash drive with motherboard drivers and utilities

Visuals on the above accessories can be found in the review video for this motherboard, which is embedded at the top of this article. That said, the 1-to-3 EZ-Conn cable forms part of a new MSI specific-feature called EZ Conn, which allows end-users to connect an addressable RGB device, a fan and a USB device to a single proprietary EZ Conn header on the motherboard - MSI's intention here is to simplify the hardware setup process, and I'll give a more in-depth lowdown on EZ Conn later in this article.

Board Aesthetics

In terms of motherboard aesthetics, MSI has gone for what it terms a carbon black colour scheme, with an aesthetic that isn’t very loud and shouty. As can be seen, the board sports an integrated I/O shield design, and has large black heatsinks all around.

The rear of the motherboard is quite a standard affair, though we do get some markings that serve as a warning not to install unneeded motherboard standoffs within your PC case, lest one ends up damaging the motherboard. MSI has also taken the liberty to include protective paint around the motherboard’s screw holes to protect the PCB against scratches, which is a nice touch.

Unsurprisingly, the MPG X870E CARBON WIFI comes with an integrated I/O shield design, where the said integrated I/O shield's cover also houses a Mystic Light RGB LED accent in the shape of a dragon motif.

MSI has also included a RGB lighting accent on the heatsink of the primary PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 slot, which is an interesting location for RGB bling that I can fully get behind.

While still on the topic of M.2 drive cooling, MSI has included full heatsink coverage for all four M.2 drive slots that this board comes with.

The X870E chipset has a dual-chip design, and the said chips sit beneath the passive heatsink pictured above.

VRM & Memory Support

As an indication of the board's premium pedigree, the MPG X870E CARBON WIFI comes with 18+2+1 power stages with whopping 110A power phases, which should handle the power demands of AMD's highest-end processor offerings with aplomb.

The board also comes with four DDR5 slots that sport a single-tab design - as of the time of writing this article, the X870E CARBON WIFI supports a maximum of 256GBs of RAM and the DDR5 8400+ standard.

Front Panel USB Headers

In terms of front panel USB connectivity, along the long edge of the board is a USB 20Gbps Type-C front panel header that supports Power Delivery and a maximum output wattage of 27W for fast charging, as well as two USB 5Gbps Type-A front panel headers; the Type-A headers each support up to two front panel USB 5Gbps Type-A ports, for a total of four ports.

Near the bottom edge of the board are two USB 2.0 front panel headers, where each of these headers provide support for two front panel USB 2.0 Type-A ports, for a total of four ports.

Expansion Slots & Storage Options

As another indication of this board's premium position in the pecking order of AM5 motherboard offerings, MSI has included two PCIe 5.0 x16 slots, with the primary slot (PCI_E1) operating at x16 mode, and the second slot (PCI_E2) operating at x4 mode. The slots feature MSI's Steel Armour II design which helps reinforce the slots for use with heavy graphics cards.

The primary PCIe 5.0 x16 slot for a graphics card comes with the EZ PCIe Release feature, which helps make removing a graphics card from the slot a painless affair. To undo the latch, simply press down on the button pictured above, which will undo the latch for the installation or removal of a graphics card - there's even little window with a lock status motif that indicates whether the latch is locked in place or not. Pretty nifty!

To round things off in the expansion slots section, we see that the board also comes with a full-length PCIe 4.0 x16 slot that operates at x4 mode.

It's worth noting that the two PCIe 5.0 x16 slots and the motherboard's second PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 slot (M2_2) all share bandwidth with each other, which can result in the primary PCIe 5.0 x16 slot dropping down to x8 mode should you have a device installed on the second PCIe 5.0 x16 slot, or a NVMe drive installed on slot M2_2, or both scenarios happening together for that matter.

That said, PCIe 5.0 is only supported when one has a Ryzen 9000 series or Ryzen 7000 series processor installed – the Ryzen 8000 series of APUs only support the PCIe 4.0 standard. As per the screenshot above from the MPG X870E CARBON WIFI's manual, if you do have a Ryzen 8000 APU installed on this board, depending on which model of APU you have, the primary PCIe 5.0 x16 slot for a graphics card will operate at either PCIe 4.0 x8 or x4 mode instead, and the second PCIe 5.0 x16 slot, PCI_E2, will be disabled entirely.

In the storage department, MSI has included four SATA III ports, with all ports in a right-angled configuration so as to aid with cable management.

The board also comes with two PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 slots and two PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots. Do note that these slots support M.2 NVMe drives only - M.2 SATA drives will not work with any of these slots.

The MPG X870E CARBON WIFI's M.2 heatsinks feature a tool-less design called EZ M.2 Shield Frozr II, which makes removing and installing the heatsinks really easy. For removal, all one's got to do is press down on a button located at the side of the heatsink, and lift the heatsink away from the board. Reinstating the heatsink is a simple affair as well, and entails replacing the heatsink back in its original position over the M.2 slot(s), and snapping it back in place.

A quality of life feature that the second, third and fourth M.2 slots have is EZ M.2 Clip II, which appears to be a spring-loaded standoff device that makes installing and removing a M.2 drive a tool-less affair. Simply insert the M.2 drive into the slot and push the drive into place - the EZ M.2 Clip II will snap into place and secure the said M.2 drive. It's a bit of a missed opportunity here that the first M.2 slot does not come with EZ M.2 Clip II, and instead makes do with the "traditional" EZ M.2 Clip, which nonetheless still serves up a tool-less installation experience.

We do also get an EZ M.2 Clip II remover tool that comes in handy to remove and reposition the EZ M.2 Clip II device on the second, third or fourth M.2 slots - this is so as to accommodate M.2 drives of different lengths apart from the standard 2280 form factor. The removal and repositioning process will still require the use of a Philips-head screwdriver to remove a screw that secures the respective M.2 slot's backplate in place.

Do note that with this board, we do get some PCIe lane bifurcation shenanigans that are absolutely worth noting, especially if your intention is to install two PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 drives on this board. As mentioned earlier on in this article, the second PCIe 5.0 x16 slot that operates at x4 mode (PCI_E2) and the second PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 slot (M2_2) share bandwidth with the primary PCIe 5.0 x16 slot (PCI_E1) for a graphics card. This means that If you have a M.2 drive installed on slot M2_2, or have a PCIe device installed on the second PCIe 5.0 x16 slot, or both situations happening at the same time for that matter, the primary PCIe 5.0 x16 slot for a graphics card will drop down to operate at x8 mode instead.

The above scenario only applies when one has a Ryzen 9000 series or Ryzen 7000 series processor installed – the Ryzen 8000 series of APUs only support the PCIe 4.0 standard, and if you do have one installed on this board, the second PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 slot (M2_2) will be disabled entirely.

Audio & Internet Connectivity

Powering the MPG X870E CARBON WIFI's audio experience is a Realtek ALC4080 audio codec...

...while wired internet connectivity is courtesy of dual Realtek Ethernet chips - we've got a RTL8126 part that serves up 5 Gigabit Ethernet, and a RTL8125BG part that serves up 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet. Wireless internet connectivity on the other hand, is courtesy of Qualcomm's QCNCM865 WIFI 7 module, which supports 320 MHz channel widths and also comes with Bluetooth 5.4 support.

Fan & RGB Headers

The MPG X870E CARBON WIFI comes with seven fan headers:

• 1x CPU_FAN1
• 1x PUMP_SYS1
• 5x SYS_FAN

RGB headers are in no short supply too, where MSI has included three Gen2 addressable RGB headers and a single 12V RGB header.

Other Features

To help with troubleshooting PC issues, MSI has included a set of EZ Debug LEDs and an EZ Digi-Debug LED that can help end-users diagnose various PC start-up issues.

As mentioned earlier, EZ-Conn (JAF_2) is a new MSI-specific connector, and it allows end-users to easily connect MSI’s next-gen AIO CPU coolers or cooling fans to the motherboard with just one on-board connector.

For end-users who do not have such a MSI AIO cooler or fan, the EZ-Conn header can still be used with non-MSI devices via the included 1-to-3 EZ-Conn cable included with the motherboard - as can be seen from the photos above, the EZ-Conn Cable (V2) comes with an addressable RGB connector, a USB 2.0 connector and a 4-pin fan header.

Near the bottom edge of the motherboard is a thermal sensor header that can be hooked up to an optional thermistor cable so as to monitor the temperature of devices within one's PC case.

A feature to provide some future-proofing is an 8-pin supplemental PCIe power connector that is also located along the bottom edge of the X870E CARBON WIFI - the said connector provides for an additional source of juice for the power-hungry flagship GPUs of tomorrow, where it can supply up to 252W of supplemental power.

The board also comes with an illuminated Reset and Power button...

...as well as an EZ LED Control switch that allows end-users to disable all of the motherboard’s onboard LEDs (except for the EZ Debug LEDs and the EZ Digi-Debug LED).

Likely a feature that is targeted at overclockers, MSI's also included a Safe Boot jumper header pictured above that when enabled, forces the system to boot with default BIOS settings and a lower PCIe link speed from the processor.

Rear I/O

The MPG X870E CARBON WIFI comes with an integrated I/O shield design, where the board comes with the following rear I/O ports:

• 9x USB 10Gbps Type-A ports
• 1x HDMI 2.1 port (supports up to 8K resolution at 60 Hz)
• 2x USB4 Type-C ports (supports DisplayPort Alternate mode and up to 4K resolution at 60 Hz)
• Flash BIOS button
• Clear CMOS button
• Smart button
• 2x USB 10Gbps Type-C ports
• 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port
• 5 Gigabit Ethernet port
• WIFI antenna connectors with EZ WIFI Antenna connectors
• Audio jack connectors

The Flash BIOS feature allows end-users to update the motherboard's BIOS without needing to install a processor, RAM and graphics card. while the Smart button can be programmed from within the BIOS to serve a variety of different functions.

BIOS Overview

With the launch of its AMD X870E and X870 motherboard offerings, MSI has also included a new BIOS user interface called CLICK BIOS X that features what it calls a new ESA Architecture Design, with a revamped user interface for ease of navigation and access to the motherboard’s various features. As can be seen above, on the EZ Mode, one gets access to a Game Boost Mode that allows for one-click overclocking, an AI Boost mode (that sadly isn’t available with the Ryzen 9 9900X that I had installed on the MPG X870E CARBON WIFI, as the 9900X lacks a built-in neural processing unit), as well as easy access to enable EXPO or XMP for one's DDR5 memory modules. We do also get along a shortened list of menu items and settings to keep things simple.

For the hardware enthusiast, we do of course get an Advanced mode, and this gives one access to more tweaking and overclocking features.

Test Setup & Benchmark Tests

To put the MSI MPG X870E CARBON WIFI through its paces, I've put together a test build powered by a high-end AMD "Zen 5" processor offering - the Ryzen 9 9900X, with the following specifications:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9900X (Curve Optimiser at -25, CPU Loadline Calibration set to "Mode 4"; all other settings left at their default values)
• CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 622 Halo White
• CPU Thermal Paste: Arctic MX-4
• Motherboard: MSI MPG X870E CARBON WIFI (1A13 BIOS)
• Memory: 32GB (2x16GB) Neo Forza Trinity RGB DDR5 6400 CL40 (running at default DDR5 6400 EXPO profile)
• Storage: Crucial P3 500GB NVMe SSD
• Graphics Card: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT Reference Card
• Case: Segotep Gank 360 with 2x Cooler Master Mobius 120P ARGB White Edition & 1x Cooler Master MasterFan MF120 HALO² White Edition case fans
• Monitor: Gigabyte G27Q 27" LCD monitor (144 Hz, 1440p)
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro (23H2 with KB5043076 update installed for AMD branch prediction optimisations)
• Chipset Driver: AMD 6.07.15.126
• Graphics Driver: AMD Adrenalin 24.8.1
• Resizable BAR: Enabled

With the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X powering the test bench, this would be a good opportunity to get a quick sensing on how a next-gen AM5 PC build powered by a high-end "Zen 5" processor and AMD's latest flagship X870E chipset would perform.

CPU-Z Screenshots

GPU-Z Screenshot

Benchmark Tests

Synthetics

• 7-Zip file compression & decompression
• Cinebench R23
• 3DMark Time Spy v1.2

Gaming

• Cyberpunk 2077 v2.13 In-game Benchmark
• F1 23 In-game Benchmark

7-Zip File Compression & Decompression

Kicking off this section on synthetic benchmark tests, we've got 7-Zip's built-in compression and decompression benchmark test, which sees the Ryzen 9 9900X attain a score of 185.529 GIPS with the MPG X870E CARBON WIFI.

Cinebench R23

With Cinebench R23, we see that the Ryzen 9 9900X was able to attain a multi core score of 32849, and a single core score of 2246. During the test run, HWiNFO64 reported that the Ryzen 9 9900X was able to boost to a maximum clock speed of 5639.8 MHz as per the screenshot above, while the MOSFET sensor readings peaked at a healthy maximum temperature of 64.0°C.

3DMark Time Spy v1.2

With 3DMark's Time Spy v1.2 benchmark, the test system attained an overall score of 23581, with a graphics score of 26470 and a CPU score of 14571.

Cyberpunk 2077 v2.13 In-game Benchmark

Cyberpunk 2077 v2.13's built-in benchmark tool sees the test system attain an average FPS of 118.44, a minimum FPS of 100.33 and a maximum FPS of 143.9 - these results were obtained on the 1440p resolution using the "Ultra" graphics preset with ray tracing disabled, and all upscaling technologies such as AMD's FSR disabled.

F1 23 In-game Benchmark

F1 23's in-game benchmark tool sees the test system achieve an average FPS of 75, a minimum FPS of 60 and a maximum FPS of 97. These results were obtained on the "Ultra High" detail preset at 1440p with ray tracing set to "High", and all forms of upscaling technologies (e.g. FSR) disabled, and Anisotropic Filtering set to 16X.

Conclusion

To sum up, the MSI MPG X870E CARBON WIFI is premium motherboard offering targeted at PC hardware enthusiasts looking to build a high-end AMD AM5 PC, and it clearly looks and feels the part. The board sports a beefy VRM setup, PCIe 5.0 support for both a graphics card and M.2 drives, dual Ethernet ports with built-in WIFI 7, an impressive array of USB Type-C and Type-A connectivity options, along with a whole bunch of nice-to-haves such as EZ-PCIe Release, an onboard supplemental PCIe power connector and so on.

One issue worth noting however, is with regard to the PCIe lane bifurcation issue that I mentioned earlier on in this article, where we’ve got the second PCIe 5.0 x16 slot and second PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 slot sharing bandwidth with the primary PCIe 5.0 x16 slot for a graphics card. To be fair, I do see some form of PCIe lane bifurcation with other brands of X870E and X870 motherboards as well, and this is pretty much due to chipset lane limitations. It's worth mentioning too, that the performance difference between running one's graphics card at PCIe 4.0 x8 mode versus PCIe 4.0 x16 mode tends to be small or even insignificant under certain usage circumstances - this is because even the modern flagship GPUs of today are rarely able to fully saturate all 16 PCIe 4.0 lanes of a graphics card slot (where as of September 2024, there are no PCIe 5.0 GPUs as yet).

In addition, going by the benchmark results above, it's very likely that going from the X670 series of motherboards to the X870 series isn’t going to yield any meaningful performance gains - even though X870E and X870 motherboards do support faster DDR5 memory modules, the said support for faster memory has also been extended to X670E and X670 boards with BIOS updates.

In this regard, motherboards such as the MPG X870E CARBON WIFI might be better suited for folks who might be upgrading from a much older platform (e.g. AM4), rather than users who are already on the AM5 platform and are using motherboard powered by chipsets such as the X670E and X670.

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Get the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3N55jw5 (affiliate link)

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The motherboard featured in this article was a review unit provided on loan from MSI, while the processor and graphics card used for the benchmark tests were review units provided on loan from AMD Singapore.