The MSI X299 Tomahawk Arctic Motherboard Review: White as Snow

Conclusion

A Board for Casual X299 Gamers? Is That a Thing?

MSI intended the Arsenal line of motherboards for the casual gaming crowd; for users who might not spend as much time or money on gaming. The casual gamer might not to take things as serious as a hardcore or competitive gamer, or use gaming to relax or socialize, rather than to develop l33t skillz or further a professional reputation. The X299 platform, with the addition of Kaby Lake-X support and the blurring of the lines between the mainstream and HEDT platforms, it is now possible to have a drop-in upgrade path for the CPU. Instead of buying a $400+ CPU to get into the platform, the 7740K and 7640X sell for around $350 and $250 and offer 4C/8T and 4C/4T respectively, allowing for a cheaper entry into a higher-end platform. This is not without some sacrifices, however. PCIe lane count doesn't change on the Kaby Lake X processors so some functionality, such as SLI/Crossfire support, can be limited, especially when using other devices, such as PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 modules. Outside of the MSI Pro line, intended for business use, the Tomahawk boards will be one of the least expensive way into X299 through MSI's doors.

Though they may be the least expensive entry in the Gaming realm, MSI uses a selection of common but proven controllers to add functionality to the board. USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) duties are handled by the ASMedia 3142 controller. This controller uses less power and offers better performance than the previous 2142 controller found on many Z270 boards. The single wired LAN controller is the I219-V, also a proven performer and offers ESD protection as well as traffic management to prioritize streams for optimal performance in online gaming. Control of the power phases is managed by a well regarded International Rectifier IR35201 8-channel controller to ensure accurate voltage is delivered to the processor.

Build quality on the Tomahawk was quite solid. The heatsinks, aesthetically pleasing, were mounted tight and made good contact with the 8 phase VRM keeping it running well within specifications throughout our testing, even during overclocking. The oversized chipset and M.2 heatsink also worked well. The main concern with the board's looks is the white color. Overall, I do like the white color as it is different than most which are black and loaded with RGB LEDs and it would look beautiful in an all white build. But it can be polarizing. Because nearly every other part is black, the board looks quite busy. If it doesn't have the look, the black Tomahawk is always an option.

Performance on the Arctic was mostly similar to the other X299 boards we have tested so far, scoring a win in DPC Latency by a small margin. MSI likes to equip its boards with some minor overclocking features by default, so anyone running the system at its standard frequencies will see a benchmark boost in some tests at the expense of another 30W of power or so. It is worth noting that some other manufacturers do not have these minor overclocking features enabled by default, in an effort to prolong the potential lifetime of the hardware, especially in very warm ambient environments.

Overall, the MSI X299 Tomahawk Arctic is going to have most, if not all of the features a casual gamer needs to get up and fragging or questing. A high-end audio codec, modern connectivity with USB 3.1 10 Gbps Type-A and Type-C, multi-GPU support, and multiple M.2 drives are all a casual gamer/user might need. The price point is fair when looking at the similarly priced boards. The difference is going to be in the fine details as to which board to choose in the heavily populated $250-$300 price range. I'd like to see the price a bit lower, around the $260 mark to make it a more attractive purchase for the money.

The MSI X299 Tomahawk Arctic is priced at $279 at Newegg. This places the board right around the likes of the ASUS Prime X299-A ($269), and a GIGABYTE X299 AORUS Ultra Gaming ($309). Within the MSI line, the all-black Tomahawk AC, with added Wi-Fi, is priced at $289 while the non-arctic Tomahawk is $269.

Other AnandTech X299 Motherboard Reviews 

Prices checked 11/20

• The Intel Skylake-X Review: Core i9-7900X, i7-7820X and i7-7800X Tested
• The Intel Kaby Lake-X Review: Core i7-7740X and i5-7640X Tested
• Intel Announces Basin Falls: The New High-End Desktop Platform and X299 Chipset
   
• ($390) The ASRock X299 Professional Gaming i9 Review: [link]
• ($310) The MSI X299 Gaming Pro Carbon Review [link]
• ($300) The ASRock X299 Taichi Review [link]
• ($280) The MSI X299 Tomahawk Arctic Review (this review)