Best midrange Z270 motherboard
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MSI Z270 Gaming Pro Carbon- Great CPU overclocking
- Slick looks and RGB system
- Board layout improvements
- No Wi-Fi or Bluetooth
- Few legacy ports
MSI’s Z270 Gaming Pro Carbon adds to the winning recipe that made it a top pick for Z170, with the new version doubling the M.2 slots, adding more USB 3.1 ports, boosting audio in the form of Realtek’s ALC 1220 codec, and improving the board layout.
A restrained restyle retains the neutral colors of the Carbon series and includes new heatsinks, a refreshed chipset shield, reinforced DRAM slots, and a built-in I/O shroud that integrates into the updated, more balanced, LED Mystic Light implementation. There’s also an M.2 shield of questionable value, which you can read more about here.
There’s no question when it comes to performance, however. The MSI Gaming Pro Carbon is the lowest-cost motherboard to overclock the sample Kaby Lake i7-7700K processor used for this guide to 5 GHz. It also managed 3466MHz on the DRAM test, booting without issues in both two- and four-stick configurations, although 3600MHz proved unstable.
Along with the easy-to-use BIOS, this makes system tuning rewarding, although you won’t find the same hardware support or in-depth options that dedicated overclocking boards or high-end products provide. You will get similar performance however, which provides its own kind of thrill.
Building with the board also proves satisfying, as the previously unused PCB area along the right edge is now populated with components, relaxing the tight layout considerably. Connectors for the CPU fan, system fan, and 1151 socket power all have improved access, for example, so your knuckles and fingertips will thank you.
Sacrifices mostly involve removing or substituting legacy ports, a forgivable sin. Back panel USB 2.0 connectors are reduced to two from four to make room for more USB 3.1, and eSATA disappears from the PCB along with one PCI-E 1X slot, leaving three. Notable, but most users won’t miss them.
