Ryzen is here and AMD is back to challenge Intel’s CPUs. With a new CPU family in the market, this also means that motherboard manufacturers will also have a new entire motherboard lineup for the Ryzen system. There weren’t a lot of motherboards to choose from when the Ryzen 7 was first launched. During the initial days, there’s the Asus Crosshair VI Hero, Gigabyte’s AX370-Gaming 5, MSI’s X370 Titanium and some other X370 motherboards. But those are top of the line motherboards (or higher-end) from their respective makers; and they’re quite expensive. Thankfully, today there are more X370 motherboard variants to choose from, including B350 motherboards. Today, we are going to look at and review the MSI X370 Gaming Pro Carbon motherboard. It’s significantly cheaper compared to the X370 XPower Gaming Titanium; it has the essential features that most gamers or professionals need; and it has RGB lighting! If you are planning to build a new Ryzen system, whether with the Ryzen 7 or Ryzen 5, continue reading our MSI X370 Gaming Pro Carbon review below and find out if this motherboard is the one for you.
MSI X370 Gaming Pro Carbon Review
The MSI X370 Gaming Pro Carbon motherboard offers a sweet spot for those who are looking for an X370 AM4 motherboard that is feature rich, fully capable and is built with the essentials without spending too much on a motherboard. This motherboard features an all-black design with matte finish, and silver / RGB highlights making it compatible with most color scheme.
The Gaming Pro Carbon features AMD’s latest X370 chipset, meaning it supports both AMD CrossFireX and NVIDIA SLI for multiple graphics card configuration. It basically supports AMD’s new Ryzen processor and (upcoming) 7th generation A-series / Athlon processors for socket AM4. AMD has also announced that the socket AM4 will be around for quite some time, this means future AMD processors using socket AM4 may be compatible with this motherboard. No need to change the entire system, only the processor when you plan to upgrade in the future. At least that’s the idea.
This motherboard also supports up to DDR4-3200MHz, thanks to the latest BIOS update. The MSI X370 Gaming Pro Carbon also features dual M.2 supporting NVMe up to 32Gb/s via PCI-E Gen3 x4, up to USB 3.1 Gen 2, Intel Gaming LAN, golden audio jacks with S/PDIF, PCI-e steal armor and fan headers for both case fans and water cooling.
I guess this motherboard is built with most (if not all) the essential features that a professional or gamer needs in his system. The only thing missing left is probably a built-in WiFi connection. You’ll have to opt for the X370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC if you need a motherboard with a WiFi connection; or simply buy a WiFi/BT add-on card.
Let’s proceed to the next page and get a closer look at the motherboard itself. You can also check out the table below for its complete specifications.
MSI X370 Gaming Pro Carbon Specification
| Processor | Supports AMD® RYZEN series Processors and 7th Gen A-series/ Athlon™ processors for Socket AM4 * This function will be supported depend on the CPU. |
| Chipset | AMD® X370 Chipset |
| Main Memory | • 4 x DDR4 memory slots, support up to 64GB - Supports DDR4 1866/ 2133/ 2400/ 2667(OC)/ 2933(OC)/ 3200(OC)+ Mhz * • Dual channel memory architecture • Supports non-ECC UDIMM memory • Supports ECC UDIMM memory (non-ECC mode) * 7th Gen A-series/ Athlon™ processors support up to 2400 MHz only. |
| Slots | • 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (PCIE_2, PCIE_4) - RYZEN series processors support x16/x0, x8/x8 mode - 7th Gen A-series/ Athlon™ processors support x8/x0 mode • 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 slot (PCIE_6, supports x4 mode)* • 3 x PCIe 2.0 x1 slots * PCI_E6 slot will be unavailable when installing M.2 PCIe SSD in M2_2 slot. |
| Onboard Graphics | • 1 x DVI-D port, supports a maximum resolution of 1920x1200@60Hz* • 1 x HDMI™ 1.4 port, supports a maximum resolution of 4096x2160@24Hz* * Only support when using a 7th Gen A-series/ Athlon™ processor. * Maximum shared memory of 2048 MB |
| Multi-GPU | • RYZEN series processors Supports 3-Way AMD® CrossFire™ Technology Supports 2-Way NVIDIA® SLI™ Technology • 7th Gen A-series/ Athlon™ processors Supports 2-Way AMD® CrossFire™ Technology |
| Storage | • AMD® X370 Chipset • 6x SATA 6Gb/s ports* • 2x M.2 slots (Key M) - M2_1 slot supports PCIe 3.0 x4 (RYZEN series processors) or PCIe 3.0 x2 (7th Gen A-series/ Athlon™ processors) and SATA 6Gb/s 2242/ 2260 /2280/ 22110 storage devices - M2_2 slot supports PCIe 2.0 x4 and SATA 6Gb/s 2242/ 2260 /2280 storage devices** * M.2 and SATA ports combination details please refer user manual. ** PCI_E6 slot will be unavailable when installing M.2 PCIe SSD in M2_2 slot. SATA3 port will be unavailable when installing the SATA SSD card in M2_2 slot. |
| RAID | AMD® X370 Chipset • Supports RAID 0, RAID1 and RAID 10 for SATA storage devices |
| USB | • ASMedia® ASM2142 Chipset - 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 (SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps) Type-C port on the back panel - 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 (SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps) Type-A port on the back panel • AMD® X370 Chipset - 4 x USB 3.1 Gen1 (SuperSpeed USB) ports available through the internal USB 3.1 Gen1 connectors - 6 x USB 2.0 (High-speed USB) ports (2 Type-A ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB 2.0 connectors) • AMD® CPU - 4 x USB 3.1 Gen1 (SuperSpeed USB) Type-A ports on the back panel |
| Audio | Realtek® ALC1220 Codec - 7.1-Channel High Definition Audio - Supports S/PDIF output |
| LAN | 1x Intel® I211AT Gigabit LAN controller |
| Internal I/O Connectors | 1x 24-pin ATX main power connector 1x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector 6x SATA 6Gb/s connectors 2x USB 2.0 connectors (support additional 4 USB 2.0 ports) 2x USB 3.1 Gen1 connectors (support additional 4 USB 3.1 Gen1 ports) 1x 4-pin CPU fan connector 1x 4-pin water-pump-fan connector 4x 4-pin system fan connectors 1x TPM module connector 1x Front panel audio connector 2x System panel connectors 1x Chassis Intrusion connector 1x Clear CMOS jumper 1x 4-pin RGB LED strip connector |
| Back Panel I/O Ports | 1x PS/2 keyboard/ mouse combo port 2x USB 2.0 Type-A ports 1x DVI-D port 1x HDMI™ port 4x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports 1x LAN (RJ45) port 1x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A port 1x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C port 5x OFC audio jacks 1x Optical S/PDIF OUT connector |
| Dimension | 12 in. x 9.6 in. (30.5 cm x 24.4 cm) ATX Form Factor |
| Mounting | 9 mounting holes |
