The Intel Haswell-E X99 Motherboard Roundup with ASUS, GIGABYTE, ASRock and MSI
by Ian Cutress on September 25, 2014 11:30 AM ESTMSI X99S SLI Plus Conclusion
The X99 SLI Plus is the cheapest X99 model in our initial review at $230, coming in at just over half the price of the X99-Deluxe. Despite the large price difference there are some similarities from both products. The aesthetics of a motherboard has been a common battleground in recent generations and boards like the MSI and ASUS in this regard hit the nail on the head when answering calls for sleek designs that look polished and not too forced.
At $230, MSI is attempting to snap up the budget X99 market with the SLI Plus. This takes me back to my first X58 system – I wanted the i7 920 at the time, but my budget was small so I got the cheapest motherboard and DDR3 available at the time (X58A-UD3R and 3x2GB DDR3-1333 if I recall correctly). This is the sort of buyer that the MSI X99S SLI Plus is aiming for: those willing to put down $230 for a motherboard and $390 for the i7-5820K. The only downside with this plan, much like when I bought into X58, is that the cost of DDR4 is still pretty high, at $250 per 4x4GB kit, making an $870 minimum buy-in.
At $230, it is obvious that MSI skimps on a few details. We are limited to 3-way multi-GPU setups, we get a single network port (Intel I218-V) and the audio codec is a Realtek ALC892 solution. While we do get 12 USB 3.0 ports total, four on the rear panel are behind a VIA 4-to-1 controller, which is one of the cheapest cost-per-USB solutions available. On the plus side, SATA Express is here, and the M.2 slot can feed off of the CPU for a full 32 Gbps bandwidth if needed. M.2 is unfortunately limited to a maximum of 2280 sized devices however.
MSI did miss a trick slightly by not theming the BIOS and software packages in black similar to the motherboard, but MSI has a nice BIOS/software combination in general. The BIOS is growing on me as a user, especially as MSI seems receptive to advice on how to make the BIOS better. The software is still propped up by Live Update 6 as the best update tool available, however offering 2.1 volts as an overclock is a little absurd and needs to be adjusted.
Stock performance on the MSI X99S SLI Plus is near the top of the chain due to the aggressive way it implements MultiCore Turbo. In the system benchmarks it had a high power consumption under load and poor audio characteristics, but came top in DPC Latency and stripped POST times. Overclocking results were average, although the deficit in performance when overclocked is alarming – overclocked to 4.4 GHz, one of the other X99 motherboards scored similar when overclocked to only 4.2 GHz. This indicates there might be an efficiency issue somewhere along the line, though it is difficult to point the finger at either the BIOS, the software, or something fundamental at the hardware level.
The strength of the MSI X99S SLI Plus lies in the sleek design combined with the low price point. It forms a substantial line in the sand for any X99 system builder, and is very attractive to those who are more budget conscious and not keen on overclocking. For anyone wanting to dabble in the 6-core domain before putting down some serious money, pair it with an i7-5820K and take it for a spin.
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The Von Matrices - Friday, September 26, 2014 - link
Ian never said the MSI board wouldn't overclock, just that an unidentified bug causes its overclocked performance to be significantly lower than the other boards. based upon the results, putting your same CPU in the other boards would make it perform CPU 4.5% faster; alternatively, you would have to clock your CPU to 4.8GHz in the MSI board to match the 4.6GHz overclocks in the other boards.woj666 - Friday, September 26, 2014 - link
This review had the opposite result. The MSI board was able to perform even better than the others overclocked. It's disappointing but sometimes we just get bad boards.http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2014/09/09/x99-mo...
The Von Matrices - Saturday, September 27, 2014 - link
The bit-tech review has the CPU in the MSI board overclocked higher than the other boards, which would reasonably would make it perform better. The problem that Ian experienced is not that the board couldn't overclock the CPU; it's that at the same clock speed, the MSI board is significantly slower than its competitors, and the bit-tech results do not replicate Ian's circumstances since they have different overclocks on each CPU on each board.just4U - Thursday, September 25, 2014 - link
From the article "I have had failures in the past (Bluetooth adaptor shorting out, DRAM or PCIe slots not working, PSU going BANG… twice) "----
I was half-cut trying to install ram at 4am.. in near darkness, the combination turned into a epic fail..
owcraftsman - Thursday, September 25, 2014 - link
Very unfair to MSI to select top of the line boards for the other manufacturers and a bottom of the stack from MSI. The SLI Plus is a value edition at best so spare me an explanation.bigboxes - Friday, September 26, 2014 - link
"Due to the way the motherboard manufacturers were sampling for X99, we were unable to align several motherboards of a similar price." If you had actually read the article you may have not come across as a love struck fanboy.The_Assimilator - Friday, September 26, 2014 - link
Apparently you failed to notice (no doubt because you didn't read the article) that the MSI was gicven a "Recommended" award. Explanation: you are a tool.Laststop311 - Friday, September 26, 2014 - link
Once again Asus is on top. Their bios is the best designed with the best features. It's why my x58 board is an asus rampage formula. I'm gonna stay with x58 tho rather get a 55" LG oled TVThe Von Matrices - Saturday, September 27, 2014 - link
For the price of the ASUS board plus a 5820K CPU you could have any of the other boards plus a 5930K CPU, which would negate any performance advantage of the ASUS board. The ASUS board is only worth considering if price is no object, which from my experience seems to describe most LGA2011 buyers.Dadunn1700 - Tuesday, August 25, 2015 - link
Or u can save up for alittle while longer and get the Asus board AND the 5930k AND be faster yet again. Round and round we go. Although it's much easier to chg a CPU rather than a whole motherboard.Point is No matter what better is better....but not necessarily at the same price point. Tho I don't think $500 is a lot of money for enthusiasts to spend on PC parts. Especially essential ones. Being a flagship motherboard it's not exactly geared toward budget builders anyway....ie ppl concerned with performance per dollar. They want the best....period.
Personally I don't think $500 is a lot of money myself for a part i probably won't be replacing anytime soon.