The MSI X299 Tomahawk Arctic Motherboard Review: White as Snow
by Joe Shields on November 20, 2017 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- MSI
- M.2
- USB 3.1
- X299
- Skylake-X
- Tomahawk
- Tomahawk Arctic
Overclocking
Experience with the MSI X299 Tomahawk Arctic
Overclocking using ambient cooling is a breeze these days with the plethora of unlocked CPUs in the market. Most automatic overclocks, so they capture a higher number of dud processors, tend to add more voltage than is needed to be stable. Of course, everyone's definition of stable is different, but the overarching concept remains the same. The X299 Tomahawk, like some of the other X299 boards we have tested, set 1.259V for 4.4 GHz. At that voltage, I was topped out temperature wise. We know from experience the CPU only needed 1.175V to be stable (for our purposes) at that clock speed.
Manual overclocking was simple, as finding and editing the few options necessary was intuitive. Since the vast majority of options are found in the OC Settings section, everything was within a couple of keystrokes or clicks away. The major options used for manually overclocking the processor, CPU Multiplier, and Vcore, were easily found in the OC Settings section. The XMP profile worked on both sets of Corsair RAM we used without issue and we even overclocked it as well. The Comand Center software also worked well for the minimum options I tweaked with it (voltages and multipliers).
Overclocking Methodology
Our standard overclocking methodology is as follows. We select the automatic overclock options and test for stability with POV-Ray and OCCT to simulate high-end workloads. These stability tests aim to catch any immediate causes for memory or CPU errors.
For manual overclocks, based on the information gathered from the previous testing, starts off at a nominal voltage and CPU multiplier, and the multiplier is increased until the stability tests are failed. The CPU voltage is increased gradually until the stability tests are passed, and the process repeated until the motherboard reduces the multiplier automatically (due to safety protocol) or the CPU temperature reaches a stupidly high level (90ºC+). Our test bed is not in a case, which should push overclocks higher with fresher (cooler) air.
Overclocking Results
From the table, we can see the settings, power, and temperatures when scaling up the clock speeds. At the top end of 4.5 GHz, the Tomahawk Arctic used less voltage than the ASRock boards, reading 1.225V according to CPU-Z. With a bit less voltage used, I tried for 4.6 GHz on the Tomahawk and found 1.3V to be stable enough to run our tests. However, the temperatures hit 95C which is well above our testing limit.
Using the supplied Corsair memory, I manually set the major timings to their XMP settings, gave raised the DRAM voltage to 1.4V (from 1.35V), and see where I could push to. In the end, I managed to reach 1800 MHz(DDR4 3600) at CL16. A 200 MHz increase over stock. Much past this and more voltage was required for stability so we stopped.
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blppt - Tuesday, November 21, 2017 - link
Believe it or not, I've had exactly zero issues with my ASRock Taichi X399---was kinda concerned about trusting a "budget brand" but after seeing all the issues with the MSI/ASUS/GB boards, I decided to give them a try.I do NOT use custom fan profiles though---cant tell you if those work or not.
PeachNCream - Monday, November 20, 2017 - link
While the motherboard's price and features seem reasonable, the terminology used to describe the target audience seems weird to me. When I think of casual gaming, playing things like Candy Crush Saga or spending time on Pogo.com both come to mind. Maybe there's a few inexpensive titles or some occasional 3D stuff, but certainly nothing that needs a 6+ core CPU or even much more than a low end dGPU.inighthawki - Monday, November 20, 2017 - link
"Casual" in the realm of PC gaming pretty much refers to anything short of playing competitively or professional, which can essentially refer to anyone who just wants really high performance.PeachNCream - Monday, November 20, 2017 - link
That's a much broader use of the term than I've seen anywhere else. It's not like "casual gamer" has a formal definition someplace so you can get away with using it like that, but you and MSI are the only ones I know of that have done it. I think from MSI's view, its mostly wishful thinking to get people playing Farmville to buy a $280 motherboard and a Skylake-X CPU for it. I'm sure they'd like that and their marketing people are trying to encourage more casual types to move up the product stacks, but most of us causal types are playing games on our phones and tablets or on a very low-end notebook PC rather than a desktop put together from individual parts.Intervenator - Monday, November 20, 2017 - link
I appreciate how this board is the most aesthetically pleasing white board I have ever seen on the market, and one of the nicest looking boards of all colors and designs I have seen in a long time.nevcairiel - Tuesday, November 21, 2017 - link
The X299 Tomahawk has a particularly bad VRM implementation, so that should probably be noted somewhere. It has some VRM components on the back of the board with only a tiny heatspreader on them (and only a 4x2 design). The X299 Gaming Pro Carbon in comparison comes with a 6x2 power design using better components - and even those need to get cooled on high OCs.From the feature set alone, the Tomahawk looked like a board I might've bought, but alas the subpar VRM limiting the OC potential had turned me off of those quite fast.
Joe Shields - Tuesday, November 21, 2017 - link
It was mentioned below the specifications table that it wasn't 'great'. However, it handled all of our testing and overclocking just fine. You will likely run out of cooling first before there is a worry about the VRMs here. Also consider the board is marketed for the professional, so there really isn't a need in the first place considering the vast majority using the board will likely keep it at stock or mild clocks anyway.Joe Shields - Tuesday, November 21, 2017 - link
Apologies, that is the SLI Plus marketed towards the professional. Scratch that portion of the above post. :)notR1CH - Tuesday, November 21, 2017 - link
What's this?! An MSI motherboard without an integrated Killer NIC? I hope they've finally realized gamers aren't interested in sub-par Killer products and this trend continues.gammaray - Wednesday, November 22, 2017 - link
Why you say Killer NIC is sub par?