MSI MPG X570S CARBON MAX WIFI Review

On the eve of the premiere of the new generation of AMD X670 motherboards, we warmed up with the MSI MPG X570S CARBON MAX WIFI. It is a version with passive cooling blocks for VRM that is practically the same as the CARBON EK X analyzed in September 2021. With it we will compare the performance in temperatures and overclocking with our Ryzen 9 5900X, as well as its connectivity, being one of the best high-end boards in its price range.We thank MSI for their trust in us by sending us this board for review.

MSI MPG X570S CARBON MAX WIFI technical characteristics.

unboxing

We begin with the Unboxing of this MSI MPG X570S CARBON MAX WIFI , which arrives in a rigid cardboard box with a striking external skin showing images of the plate and specifications highlighted on the back. Inside we continue to see cardboard for the storage of the plate, in turn inside the typical insulating plastic bag .

The contents of the box are detailed below:

• MSI MPG X570S CARBON MAX WIFI board
• Wi-Fi antenna 2T2R
• 2x SATA 6Gbps Cables
• RGB extension for Corsair strips and for RGB Rainbow
• Duplicator for RGB strips
• 4x EZ Screws for M.2 drive installation
• stickers
• Flash drive with drivers
• screwdrivers
• Metal plate with MSI logo
• cleaning brush
• Manual

Exterior design

The MSI MPG X570S CARBON MAX WIFI will be a carbon copy of the EK X version, and it will be one of the many other similarities that we will see during the review. Of course, opt for a standard ATX format with a predominance of gray colors and aluminum blocks for passive cooling of its key components.

One of them, and the only difference with its custom sister, will be the VRM cooling block, consisting of two large aluminum blocks joined by a copper heatpipe . The contact between the metal and elements of the VRM is produced by 7W/mK thermal pads to provide the best possible cooling. The rear port panel EMI cover will be a direct extension of the main block, increasing effectiveness and adding Mystic Light illumination over your screen print.

On the RAM memory area we do not have the presence of interaction buttons for power on or reset. We did find the useful Debug LED panel for BIOS status codes, as well as the post-boot panel made up of 4 LEDs for CPU, RAM, GPU and Boot . The DIMM slots do not have a reinforcing steel frame or sunken PCB solders like DDR5s, being typical single-header locking UDIMMs.

We continue with the lower half of the plate where we find the entire area practically covered with aluminum . As a good X570S version, we have a passive cooling block for the chipset, integrating another RGB LED zone. Consecutively but individually we have 3 blocks to cool the 4 M.2 slots , the two central ones share the same block. Under them and only on the upper face we have thermal pads to improve the effectiveness of cooling. In this case there are no fast fixers for SSD as there is in the latest Intel boards.

The sound card area remains without a protective cover and the Codec itself is not covered either, but we do see steel reinforcements for the two available PCIe x16 slots . A switch to turn the motherboard illumination on or off manually can be seen, along with a Clear CMOS and Flash BIOS button on the rear panel. Regarding the ventilation capacity, the MSI MPG X570S CARBON MAX WIFI has a total of 8 4-pin PWM headers for fans, one of them for water pump. This model does not have a back cover of any kind.

VRM and phase configuration

We go on to analyze the technical sections of the MSI MPG X570S CARBON MAX WIFI , and one of the most important will be the power phases. We have a 14-phase configuration for Vcore and 2 for SoC , receiving power through a full 8-pin header and a 4-pin header.

The DC-DC conversion stage is made up of 16 Renesas RAA220075R0 MOSFETS with a nominal capacity of 75A in DRPS (Duet Rail Power System) composition. A Renesas ISL69247 IRZ controller will take care of its control by means of a digital signal which we can see next to the power inputs.

For the signal smoothing stage, as always, we will have metallic chokes and Japanese Black 10K high-performance capacitors. There is actually an extra choke behind the power inputs for support, as well as secondary phases next to the UDIMM slots with separate high-low side MOSFETS.

Socket, chipset and RAM capacity

This MSI MPG X570S CARBON MAX WIFI does not introduce changes in the platform compared to other models, with support for AMD Ryzen 5000, 4000, 3000 and 2000 Series CPUs without integrated graphics, as well as Ryzen 5000-G, 4000-G, 3000-G APUs. G and 2000-G Series . All of them operating under the AM4 socket with PGA matrix.

The X570S chipset is exactly the same as the X570 boards, but uses passive cooling instead of a fan. Its capacity in summary will be 20 PCIe 4.0 lanes, 4 of them for communication with the North Bridge, a maximum of 8 USB 3.1 Gen2 ports at 10 Gbps, NVMe Gen4x4 SSD and SATA ports among other options that each manufacturer can choose as WiFi 6E.

The RAM memory capacity consists of 4 slots supporting modules of up to 32 GB for a total of 128 GB capacity . These modules may be up to 5300 MHz for Ryzen 5000 and 4000 G-Series CPUs (the APUs) and up to 5100 MHz for Ryzen 5000 and 4000 Series processors , supporting Dual Channel, XMP 2.0 and Non-ECC type.

Storage and PCIe slots

We continue with the section related to high-speed internal connectivity, where the MSI MPG X570S CARBON MAX WIFI has a total of 4 PCIe slots , all of them in version 4.0, of which there are 2 in full format x16 and 2 x1 . The former support AMD CrossFire MultiGPU , a classic, as well as cards with bootable NVMe SSDs and AMD StoreMI.

Their operation will meet the following conditions:

• PCI_E1comes in x16 format being connected to the 16 PCIe 4.0 lanes of AMD CPUs, running in x16 mode as long as the CPU supports it, and 4.0 or 3.0 depending on the installed processor.
• PCI_E2and PCI_E3 use the x1 format and will only work with a 3.0/4.0 lane without sharing the bus with another connection. They will be connected to the chipset rails.
• PCI_E4is connected to the X570 chipset and uses the x16 format. This will only have 4 PCIe 4.0 lanes enabled and shares a bus with the M2_4 slot (just above it), so it will be disabled in favor of the SSD slot.

Among the expansion slots we find a total of 4 M.2 slots for SSD , being one of the improvements introduced in these X570S boards to compete in number with the Intel Z690 boards. In addition to them, we have a total of 4 SATA 3 ports at 6 Gbps on the right edge, all of them oriented at 90º with respect to the main plane to improve access in the chassis. As with all AMD motherboards, it supports RAID 0, 1, and 10 configurations.

These slots work as follows:

• M2_1: It will be the first slot located under the CPU socket, being connected to 4 lanes in processors that have 20 available, that is, the Ryzen 5000 and 3000. It will not share the bus with anyone else, also supporting M.2 SATA drives.
• M2_2: The second slot by its location on the board will be connected to the chipset lanes, operating in PCIe 3.0/4.0 mode. It supports 2280 formats at most, and is not bus shared.
• M2_3: The next slot supports formats up to 2280 and shares the bus with SATA ports 5, 6, 7 and 8. This means that if we install a SATA SSD it will disable SATA 5 and 6, while if we install an NVMe SSD it will disable 4 SATA ports on the 5 to 8.
• M2_4: The last slot is again connected to the chipset lanes sharing the bus with the PCI_E4 slot.

In the lane layout there is a slight difference from the EK X version , as only one of the M.2 slots connects with the SATA port lanes instead of two. A slight change, but it polishes the maximum allowable capacity for the plate.

Network connectivity and sound card

This MSI MPG X570S CARBON MAX WIFI is at a high level in this section, as it has a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet connection controlled by a Realtek RTL8125B chip and an Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210 wireless card . The bandwidth consists of 2.4 Gbps in the 6 and 5 GHz bands, and 574 Mbps in 2.4 GHz. It is compatible with MU-MIMO, BSS Color and OFDMA technologies, supporting 160 MHz and 1024QAM frequencies. The Bluetooth interface is also updated to 5.2.

As for the sound card , we have not lowered the level to the one equipped with the Realtek ALCD4080 codec , the current version available for 2021 and 2022 boards in the absence of seeing what appears in the next generation. It will support high definition audio up to 7.1 channels, equipping a rear panel with 5 Jack outputs, one digital S/PDIF and Japanese Nippon capacitors .

I/O ports and internal connections

We are reaching the end of the analysis and we still need to know all the internal and external peripheral connectivity of the MSI MPG X570S CARBON MAX WIFI .

And the list of elements that we find in the rear panel will be:

• Flash BIOS button
• Clear CMOS button
• 2x 2T2R connectors for external Wi-Fi antenna
• PS/2 combo port for keyboard and mouse
• 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C
• 3x USB 3.2 Gen2 ports (Red)
• 4x USB 3.2 Gen1 ports (Blue)
• 2x USB 2.0 ports (Black)
• HDMI
• 1x RJ-45 for LAN connection
• S/PDIF optical audio output
• 5x 3.5mm jack for audio

On this occasion , we have only lacked a USB-C Gen2x2 port at 20 Gbps, which is practically a general rule on Z690 boards. Otherwise there are no surprises with a total of 10 USB, full port panel and even HDMI port to take advantage of the APU’s integrated graphics.

We continue with the internal ports of the motherboard:

• 8x Fan headers (7x SYS_FAN, 1x CPU_FAN, 1 AIO_PUMP)
• 4x RGB headers (2x 5VDG for A-RGB strips, 1x 3pin for Corsair strip and 1x 12VRGB for RGB strip)
• AAFP audio connector for front panel
• F_Panel Connections
• 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C Header
• 2x USB 3.2 Gen1 (supports 4 ports)
• 2x USB 2.0 (supports 4 ports)
• 1x Header for temperature thermistor
• TPM 2.0
• Tuning controller connector
• Jumper Clear CMOS

We also do not find USB Gen2x2 in the internal header, although everything else is in expected distribution and quantity. All headers are controlled through Nuvoton chips, being controllable from the BIOS via DC or PWM signal.

testing bench

Time to test the MSI MPG X570S CARBON MAX WIFI on our test bench, where we will again use the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X as the CPU to stress the VRM on the board. We will use the following components:

BIOS

The motherboard’s BIOS is presented to us in the same distribution of options and skin as the rest of the MSI model , being quite easy to read and interact with as it closely resembles a windows application. In the basic mode we will already have the main control accesses for XMP profiles, OC profiles of the CPU if we have, automatic OC mode for the CPU, switches to access secondary options, Boot, M-Flash and even the control tool of ventilation.

All this will be more developed in the advanced mode , where we will be able to manage the expansion connections of the board, and of course VRM and manual overclocking of components. In the easy mode we have been missing the direct access to Resizable-BAR, although otherwise, we have the same interaction system as on other MSI boards. The most current version at the time of analysis will be from 5/18/2022.

VRM temperatures

We will perform a stress test on the CPU in its stock configuration and without touching the default assigned voltage. We collect temperatures on the surface with a thermal camera and through a sensor from HWiNFO .

We see excellent temperatures for this board, as good as the EX K version despite having passive blocks . We will go more than enough to mount powerful CPUs in chassis with minimal fans.

Overclocking and voltages

We have done the overclocking directly from the BIOS setting a frequency of 4.6 GHz, at a voltage of 1.262V the same as the EK X moment . It stays stable with an LLC in mode 3 without too many overheating issues with a 360mm RL. It improves the results of the model with liquid cooling, simply by updating its BIOS.

The voltages supplied by this board will be better than the liquid-cooled version, setting a maximum of 1.31V at 4.45 GHz frequency on all cores . The peak voltage delivered is 1.42V, a figure that we will only see with the CPU idle without load, so it does not affect heating.

Final words and conclusion about the MSI MPG X570S CARBON MAX WIFI

We can confirm that this board is one of the most complete of its platform within the high-end price range, since it will practically meet all the needs of gamer users and even an enthusiast level . All this with an excellent sober design and demonstrating its quality with aluminum blocks to cool VRM and SSD.

In the connectivity section, it shines with a large capacity of USB ports, 4 PCIe slots, 4 M.2 slots and 8 SATA ports . The distribution of lanes in them seems correct to us, being able to use all the M.2 slots at the same time and with Gen4x4 SSDs, or to be able to mount RAID of up to 2 levels. We have only lacked the presence of a USB Gen2x2 port at 20 Gbps to compete with the Intel Alder Lake boards.

We recommend reading our guide on the best motherboards on the market

For the rest, the powerful VRAM of 14+2 phases is remarkable , all of them of 74A consistently supporting overclocking to Ryzen 5000 processors, also with good temperatures. BIOS updates slightly improve stock voltages while maintaining easy interaction and stable overclocking . An on-board power button would make it easier for overclockers, but at least we have a Debug LED.

Finally, the current price of this MSI MPG X570S CARBON MAX WIFI will be €348 on Amazon with a minimum of €318 in July 2022. It is an acceptable figure for what it can offer us without forgetting that it is at the high-end level, being tighter than Asus’ ROG Strix X570-E . Below we would have a more than attractive X570S EDGE for those with a lower budget, and the EK X version for those who plan to build a PC RL Custom.

The Professional Review team awards it the platinum medal and recommended product:

REBATES

MSI MPG X570S CARBON MAX WIFI ATX Motherboard – Supports Ryzen 5000 Series Processors, AM4 – Mystic Light, 75A VRM, DDR4 Boost (5300+MHz/OC), 2x PCIe 4.0 x16, 4x M.2 Gen4 x4, Wi-Fi 6E

€351.96

Last updated on 2022-09-13

MSI MPG X570S CARBON MAX WIFI

COMPONENTS – 92%

COOLING – 93%

BIOS – 92%

EXTRAS – 91%

PRICE – 90%

92 %

The MSI MPG X570S CARBON MAX WIFI is a board balanced in performance and price for the high range, with passive VRM or EK X version for gamers and advanced users