MSI MPG X870E Carbon WiFi Gaming Motherboard (AMD Ryzen 9000/8000/7000 Series Processors, AM5, DDR5, PCIe 5.0, M.2 Gen5, SATA 6Gb/s, USB 40Gbps, HDMI, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, 5Gbps LAN, ATX)

The MSI MPG 860E Carbon is a true marvel of engineering and design. From the moment you unbox it, the premium build quality is immediately apparent. Designed with gamers and PC enthusiasts in mind, this motherboard combines performance, aesthetics, and functionality seamlessly.What stands out is its support for cutting-edge technologies, ensuring it's future-proof for years to come. The PCIe 5.0 slots and DDR5 memory support mean you're set to experience the fastest speeds available. Whether you're gaming at high resolutions or multitasking with demanding applications, this board handles it all effortlessly.The carbon-fiber-inspired design is sleek and modern, adding a touch of sophistication to any build. The RGB lighting is the cherry on top, with plenty of customization options to match your setup's theme perfectly.Connectivity is another area where the 860E Carbon shines. With USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 ports, ample M.2 slots, and cutting-edge networking options like Wi-Fi 6E, you're equipped for everything from fast data transfers to seamless online gaming.Installation is a breeze, thanks to the user-friendly layout and comprehensive BIOS. MSI has clearly paid attention to the details, making the entire process smooth even for newcomers.In summary, the MSI MPG 860E Carbon motherboard delivers exceptional performance and a beautiful design, packed with all the features you could ask for. It's a brilliant choice for building a high-end PC that doesn't compromise on quality or capability. Highly recommended!

This is the third AM5 board I've owned. The other two were the X670E-E and X870E-E. The X670E-E outright did not work. Just crashed a lot with random error messages in the event viewer that didn't make any sense. The X870E-E worked, but would drop all USB connections and then reconnect which made the machine unusable for the purpose in which I purchased it for.It has been a while since I purchased an MSI board, last one was a Z270 Gaming M7. I switched to ROG products because I have a smooth brain and they looked cool. But thinking back, I've had nothing but problems. So now I'm through with ASUS and thought back to that AMAZING MSI board I purchased for my 7700K 8 years ago. Thing still works great & MSI released a BIOS update for it about 18 months ago which for a product that old is fairly amazing. So when I went back to the decision table MSI was my first choice and boy am I glad I made the move.*Improvements over ASUS AM5 Boards*-Realtek LAN instead of Intel-Qualcom Wifi instead of Intel-5gbe LAN port + a 2.5gbe instead of one 2.5gbe which is awesome because I have a 10gbe network with a NAS that can take advantage of it.-Came with a USB flash stick that has drivers and a more recent BIOS versions instead of a packet of ROG stickers and lanyard.-Weekly BIOS updates after launches (most are Beta, but nonetheless) instead of BIOS updates every 45 days. This is crucial for new product launches such as the 9800X3D. LAN was wonky when I switched from 7800X3D to 9800X3D at first. 3 days later a Beta BIOS came out that fixed it. This would not have happened with ASUS.-PCB quality of MSI board is superior and you can tell just looking at it. Traces are noticeably thicker and separated than on the ASUS boards.-Easy release, tool free M.2 heatsink covers for all slots compared to only one quick release on the more recent ASUS board and manual screws on the older ones.-Far easier to manage driver updates without OEM bloatware (MSI Center/ArmorCrate) on MSI than on ASUS.-AM5 cooler mounting bracket is of far higher quality. Even the screw threads are machined superiorly.-Has additional PCIe 8 Pin Power connector at the bottom of the board for additional board power delivery for anyone planning on installing multiple PCIEx16, PCIEx8, PCIEx4 & PCIEx1 cards.-Memory training is MUCH faster and stable-BIOS boot time is 1/4 of what the ASUS boards were even after CMOS clearing.This product and the X870E-E are direct competitors of one another. Same feature set, same IO, same color scheme, same RGB, same price. The MSI board wins on everything. If you are deciding between the two please do yourself the favor and buy this one. You might get a good ASUS board, or you might get a dud. I'm 0 for 2 with AM5. So far I've never purchased a deflective MSI board they are 2/2. Just going right to MSI from now on. Thanks MSI!

The first thing that struck me was how heavy the board was out of the box. A subjective sign of quality to be sure but it by no means felt cheap...it felt solid. I did miss the fact that there was no manual in the box but pulling it up on my IPAD was not a big deal. I get it, why add another 2 pounds for a manual in 10 languages of which you'll only use one. For those like me that want to see the board layout for optimal placement of M.2s (stay out of my video card lanes please)...Go to the online manual and scroll to page 525. You'll see the layout and where best to plug in your gen 4 M.2 or gen 5s if you go that route. That page should be the last page of every language...Easy enough for them to fix but in the meantime, that's where you'll find it.Plugging everything in is typical but for the price I would have liked to have seen a quick-release for the gfx card PCI slot like Asus is doing. That would have been a nice touch...But since this board edges out the comparable Asus board performance wise, I can live without it.Couple of different ways to update the BIOS, one that only needs the board to have power (no CPU or memory) is pretty cool...I just did it through the BIOS. Speaking of which, I was getting about 1 FPS while in the BIOS first few times around. Not sure what that was all about. Was a little sketch moving the mouse and clicking...Litteral slide-show. This was while using the on-board graphics from the CPU...Not sure if that had anything to do with it. After I got my RTX plugged in and a couple reboots later, it became smooth as butter.For my memory...It auto detected and set expo to 6000mhz straight away. I was a little confused at first...trying to enable what was already enabled so there's that.What really blew me away was the auto-driver update software....I was not expecting that and what a pleasant surprise! Its been a minute since I've last build a rig and yeah, you can go with the outdated drives that come packaged with the board and hope you don't have any yellow exclamation marks in Device Manager...then you have the chore of going to the website and hope you pull down the right updated drivers. When I went to update Windows? A screen superseded the Windows update and was MSI's update screen. Perfect! Deselected the bloat and updated everything in one go. This screen only pops-up once when you attempt a Windows update but I believe MSI Center has the same feature (haven't installed it yet)...Still, super convenient and appreciated. Reinstalled the OS a second time and it was indeed there again at update. Love it.Rig run down:AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 8-Core, 16-Thread Desktop Processor (7950X3D is a little fiddley for my taste and the performance difference over cost is not worth it for me)-G.SKILL Trident Z5 Neo RGB Series (AMD Expo) DDR5 RAM 64GB (2x32GB) 6000MT/s CL30-40-40-96 1.40V Desktop Computer Memory UDIMM - Matte Black (F5-6000J3040G32GX2-TZ5NR)-MEG Ai1300P PCIE 5 & ATX 3.0 Gaming Power Supply - Full Modular - 80 Plus Platinum Certified 1300W - 100% Japanese 105°C Capacitors - Compact Size - ATX PSU-SAMSUNG 980 PRO SSD 2TB PCIe NVMe Gen 4 Gaming M.2 Internal Solid State Drive Memory Card + 2mo Adobe CC Photography, Maximum Speed, Thermal Control MZ-V8P2T0B/AM-ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4090 Graphics Card (PCIe 4.0, 24GB GDDR6X, HDMI 2.1a, DisplayPort 1.4a) (don't need the OC version, can install the OC BIOS if I want)-NZXT Kraken Elite 360 - RL-KN36E-B1 - 360mm AIO CPU Liquid Cooler - Customizable 2.36" LCD Display for Images, Performance Metrics and More - High-Performance Pump - 3 x F120P Fans - Black (swapped out fans for Lian Li Sl Infinities, saved a few bucks on the non-rgb version)-Lian Li O11DEXL-X - O11 Dynamic EVO XL Full Tower Gaming Case Black - O11DEXL-X_US (such a pleasure to build in)-Lian Li Universal 4- Slots Vertical GPU kit (with Gen 4 Riser) Black, Compatible with O11 Vision / O11D EVO XL / O11D EVO - VG4-4-V2X (use the middle position for the mobo in the above case and use the center pegs when mounting...You'll have one cover plate at the top and one at the bottom)-Lian Li SL Infinity 120 Reverse Blade Black Single Pack (Without Controller) - RSLIN120-1B (several of these)-Lian Li UNI FAN SL-INFINITY 120 RGB Single Pack Black (No controller included)- UF-SLIN120-1B (couple of these)-Lian Li UNI FAN SL-INFINITY 120 RGB Triple Pack Black with controller - UF-SLIN120-3B (couple of these)The rig is still fresh-up at nearly a week and barely burnt-in, but so far my experience has been positive.Hope this helps with your build.