MSI X99S MPower Review
Category : X99
Published by Hiwa Pouri on 15.10.14
With the X99S MPower, MSI has a rather interesting motherboard in its portfolio, since there are features relevant for overclockers as well as gamers. For overclockers there is for example a very good power design and gamers will love the beefed-up audio as well as quite a bunch of other features.
 Article in English |
 Artikel in Deutsch |
 Article en français |
 Articolo in italiano |
With the launch of the X99 chipset also MSI is amongst the select motherboard makers, which have a complete line-up ready at launch day. The X99S MPower is their high-end overclocking offer and therefore it comes with a lot of features.
Specs and Delivery
| Chipset | Intel X99 |
| Memory | Quad Channel DDR4, 8 x DIMM, Max. 128 GB DDR3, 3333 (O.C.) / 3000 (O.C.) / 2800 (O.C.) / 2666 (O.C.) / 2400 (O.C.) / 2133 (O.C.) Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory |
| Multi-GPU |
|
| Slots |
|
| Sound | Realtek ALC1150
|
| Storage |
|
| Network |
|
| Internal Connectors |
|
| Extrenal Connectors |
|
| Forfactor | ATX (30.5cm x 24.5cm) |
| BIOS | Bios (128 Mb flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS) |
- MSI X99S MPower motherboard
- Motherboard driver disk
- User's Manual
- Quick Installation Guide
- SATA cables
- I/O Shield
- Two 2-Way SLI bridge connector
- M-Connector
Features
Digital Power Design |
Since quite some time MSI has been equipping its boards with digital power designs. On the X99S MPower there are only high-end components when it comes to the power design. There are for example PWM controllers from PowIRstage as well as ICs from International Rectifier. Other than that there are "Black Solid Caps", which offer 10'000 operating hours, which is up to three times as much than what you get from standard caps. |  |
Audio Boost |
Audio Boost is MSIs interpretation of good onboard audio. In this case there is a Realtek ALC1150 chip, which has been equipped with an EMI shield and apart from that, there are high quality capacitors. |
 |
SATA Express |
SATA Express is a new port for storage devices that basically combines two SATA connectors and bundles them. Each SATA Express port has been wired using two PCI Express Gen2 lanes offering a total of 10 Gbps bandwidth. Compared to SATA-III with 6 Gbps bandwidth this is quite an improvement. |
 |
M.2 Support |
The new MSI X99S MPower Force motherboard features an M.2 slot. This motherboard can be equipped with an SSD in M.2 format and it is wired directly to the X99 PCH via two PCI Express lanes. In other words up to 10 Gbps can be pushed over the bus through this slot. |  |
Guard Pro |
With Guard Pro MSI
describes an entire feature set, which includes:
|
 |
OC Genie 4 |
OC Genie is MSI's automatic overclocking feature. By the touch of this button, the board is automatically going to overclock the CPU installed up to a certain extent. |  |
Layout
The MSI X99S MPower features an EATX form factor, which means you'll have to make sure, the board fits in your case. Having a look at the design reveals, there is a black matte PCB. Apart from that there are eight black DIMM slots as well as four black PCI Express x16 expansion slots. Last but not least there are some more yellow lines in the PCH and VRM heatsinks. Thanks to the EATX formfactor the layout is not overcrowded and the OC buttons in the top right corner as well as the audio solution in the bottom left corner fit nicely.
MSI equipped the X99S MPower with a digital 12+4 phase power design. There is a total of twelve phases to stably supply the CPU with power and there is an ISL6388 controller in charge of all these phases. In the case of the DIMM slots there are four R22 phases which are controlled by a PV3203 chip.
Totally you'll find eight DIMM-slots on the MSI X99S MPower. Officially supported are memory clock speeds of up to DDR4-3333MHz. Should you choose to equip all slots with 8 GB modules, you can have a maximum of 64 GB memory on this motherboard. There is also enough space around the CPU socket, to install large CPU coolers.
Southbridge as well as current converters are being held at adequate temperatures via two passive cooling blocks. Compared to many other X99 motherboards there is not heatpipe connecting the two blocks with eachother. Apart from that the cooling blocks have been very well manufactured and also the design looks just great.
Connectors and I/O
In total there are eight angled SATA ports on the MSI X99S MPower, which is enough for every gaming rig, overclocking setup or workstation. Apart from that there is one SATA-Express connectors located at the bottom edge of the board. All the SATA ports support 6Gbps bandwidth and they've been natively wired to the PCH. Apart from that, in order to enhance storage flexibility even further there is one M.2 slots located inbetween the second and the third PCIe x16 slot supporting x2 bandwidth.In the top right corner of this board you will also find a debug LED and at the bottom edge there is are power and reset buttons as well as the OC Genie buttons.
Last but not least we also want to have a quick look at the PCIe slots. With this motherboard you get four full-size PCIe Gen 3.0 slots as well as two PCIe x1 slots. Taking a closer look reveals that the first two full-size PCIe slots are wired with 16 lanes and the third and the fourth slot support eight lanes each. With three cards, the fourth slot will be disabled.
Totally you'll find five fan headers on the MSI X99S MPower which is enough to provide an overclocking rig or a high-end gaming machine with fresh air. Once more practical is the fact, that those are all 4-pin connectors, which allow for fan speed control from within BIOS or Windows.
Looking at the external connectors at the back-panel MSI equipped the X99S MPower with eight USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports and one Gigabit ethernet port. Furthermore there is an analogue audio panel as well as a digital audio out and a clear CMOS button.
Having a closer look at the onboard audio reveals an EMI shielded Realtek ALC-1150 chip, which has also been cut off from the rest of the motherboard. Apart from that there high quality capacitors which should enrich the sound.
BIOS
The most recent version of MSI's UEFI BIOS presents itself with an attractive design, and you can not only monitor system information, CPU and motherboard temperature, CPU voltage and DRAM status but you can also create your own fan profiles for the different PWM headers. Other than that MSI has been working on the overclocking options, meaning they've added memory profiles to this motherboard. This helps making memory overclocking quite a bit easier.
Test setup
Hardware |
|
| Motherboard |
|
| Processor | Intel Core i7-5960X, 3.5 GHz |
| Memory | 16 GB (4x4) G.Skill Ripjaws4 DDR4-2133 MHz CL15-15-15-35-2T tRFC = 350 Rest all Auto |
| Graphic card | ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum |
| Driver | ForceWare 340.52 |
| Hard disk | OCZ Arc 100 SSD 240 GB |
| Power supply | Seasonic Platinum 1050W |
Preview / Gallery
3DMark
Ice Storm Extreme
| 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme Score |
Review Rating |
Percent | |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
 |
160'789 | 102.18 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
159'987 | 101.67 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
 |
159'888 | 101.60 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
159'688 | 101.48 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
159'514 | 101.37 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
159'157 | 101.14 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
158'658 | 100.82 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
158'442 | 100.68 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
158'099 | 100.47 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
 |
157'365 | 100.00 % |
| more is better | |||
Ice Storm Physics
| 3DMark Ice Storm Physics Score |
Review Rating |
Percent | |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
59'720 | 102.28 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
59'653 | 102.16 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
59'650 | 102.16 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
59'636 | 102.14 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
59'635 | 102.13 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
59'580 | 102.04 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
59'548 | 101.98 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
59'512 | 101.92 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
59'428 | 101.78 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
58'389 | 100.00 % |
| more is better | |||
Fire Strike Extreme
| 3DMark Fire Strike Score |
Review Rating |
Percent | |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
5'533 | 100.56 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
5'532 | 100.55 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
5'531 | 100.53 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
5'530 | 100.51 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
5'528 | 100.47 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
5'528 | 100.47 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
5'526 | 100.44 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
5'516 | 100.25 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
5'502 | 100.00 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
5'498 | 99.93 % |
| more is better | |||
Fire Strike Physics
| 3DMark Fire Strike Physics Score |
Review Rating |
Percent | |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
17'227 | 104.49 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
17'217 | 104.43 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
17'168 | 104.13 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
17'166 | 104.12 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
17'160 | 104.08 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
17'156 | 104.06 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
17'142 | 103.97 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
17'133 | 103.92 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
17'100 | 100.72 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
16'487 | 100.00 % |
| more is better | |||
3DMark 11
| 3DMark 11 Total |
Review Rating |
Percent | |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
15'988 | 103.87 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
15'947 | 103.61 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
15'922 | 103.44 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
15'898 | 103.29 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
15'777 | 102.50 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
15'756 | 102.36 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
15'741 | 102.27 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
15'652 | 101.69 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
15'455 | 100.41 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
15'392 | 100.00 % |
| more is better | |||
CPU
| 3DMark 11 Physics |
Review Rating |
Percent | |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
16'329 | 107.07 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
16'279 | 106.74 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
16'132 | 105.78 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
16'070 | 105.37 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
15'445 | 101.27 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
15'397 | 100.96 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
15'293 | 100.28 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
15'280 | 100.19 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
15'251 | 100.00 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
15'212 | 99.74 % |
| more is better | |||
3DMark Vantage
| 3DMark Vantage Total |
Review Rating |
Percent | |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
50'220 | 102.51 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
50'187 | 102.45 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
50'081 | 102.23 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
50'050 | 102.17 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
49'843 | 101.75 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
49'836 | 101.73 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
49'828 | 101.71 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
49'800 | 101.66 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
49'756 | 101.57 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
48'988 | 100.00 % |
| more is better | |||
| 3DMark Vantage CPU |
Review Rating |
Percent | |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
51'564 | 102.61 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
51'363 | 102.21 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
51'299 | 102.09 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
51'257 | 102.00 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
51'167 | 101.82 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
51'163 | 101.82 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
51'102 | 101.70 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
51'073 | 101.64 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
50'899 | 101.29 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
50'250 | 100.00 % |
| more is better | |||
PC Mark 08
Total
| PC Mark 08 Total |
Review Rating |
Percent | |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
4'437 | 103.98 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
4'404 | 103.21 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
4'402 | 103.16 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
4'399 | 103.09 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
4'398 | 103.07 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
4'398 | 103.07 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
4'390 | 102.88 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
4'389 | 102.86 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
4'388 | 102.84 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
4'267 | 100.00 % |
| more is better | |||
| Web browsing - JunglePin |
Review Rating |
s | Percent |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
0.262 | 100.00 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
0.288 | 90.97 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
0.288 | 90.97 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
0.288 | 90.97 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
0.288 | 90.97 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
0.288 | 90.97 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
0.288 | 90.97 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
0.288 | 90.97 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
0.288 | 90.97 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
0.288 | 90.97 % |
| less is better | |||
| Web Browsing Amazonia |
Review Rating |
s | Percent |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
0.122 | 100.00 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
0.122 | 100.00 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
0.122 | 100.00 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
0.122 | 100.00 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
0.122 | 100.00 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
0.122 | 100.00 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
0.122 | 100.00 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
0.122 | 100.00 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
0.122 | 100.00 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
0.122 | 100.00 % |
| less is better | |||
| Writing |
Review Rating |
s | Percent |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
4.08 | 107.60 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
4.11 | 106.81 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
4.12 | 106.55 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
4.22 | 104.03 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
4.33 | 101.39 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
4.33 | 101.39 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
4.33 | 101.39 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
4.35 | 100.46 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
4.35 | 100.46 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
4.39 | 100.00 % |
| less is better | |||
| Photo Editing |
Review Rating |
s | Percent |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
0.283 | 127.67 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
0.283 | 127.67 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
0.283 | 127.67 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
0.282 | 127.66 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
0.286 | 125.87 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
0.286 | 125.87 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
0.306 | 117.68 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
0.306 | 117.68 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
0.306 | 117.68 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
0.360 | 100.00 % |
| less is better | |||
| Video Chat encoding / Video Chat Playback 1 |
Review Rating |
fps | Percent |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
30.00 | 100.00 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
30.00 | 100.00 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
30.00 | 100.00 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
30.00 | 100.00 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
30.00 | 100.00 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
30.00 | 100.00 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
30.00 | 100.00 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
30.00 | 100.00 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
30.00 | 100.00 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
30.00 | 100.00 % |
| more is better | |||
| Video Chat encoding / Video Chat encoding |
Review Rating |
ms | Percent |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
42.00 | 102.62 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
42.00 | 102.62 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
42.00 | 102.62 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
42.00 | 102.62 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
42.00 | 102.62 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
42.00 | 102.62 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
42.00 | 102.62 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
43.00 | 100.23 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
43.00 | 100.23 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
43.10 | 99.76 % |
| less is better | |||
| Casual Gaming |
Review Rating |
fps | Percent |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
110.1 | 101.10 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
109.8 | 100.83 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
109.7 | 100.73 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
109.6 | 100.64 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
109.4 | 100.46 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
108.9 | 100.00 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
108.7 | 99.82 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
108.5 | 99.63 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
108.4 | 99.54 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
108.3 | 99.45 % |
| more is better | |||
SiSoft Sandra 1
Arithmetic Benchmark
| SiSoft Sandra - Arithmetic Benchmark - Dhrystone |
Review Rating |
GIPS | Percent |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
241.37 | 100.37 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
241.24 | 100.31 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
240.90 | 100.17 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
240.83 | 100.14 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
240.80 | 100.13 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
240.70 | 100.09 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
240.69 | 100.08 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
240.68 | 100.08 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
240.49 | 100.00 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
238.68 | 99.25 % |
| more is better | |||
| SiSoft Sandra - Arithmetic Benchmark - Whetstone |
Review Rating |
GFLOPS | Percent |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
190.29 | 100.44 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
190.28 | 100.43 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
189.70 | 100.13 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
189.69 | 100.07 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
189.69 | 100.07 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
189.49 | 100.02 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
189.46 | 100.00 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
189.22 | 99.87 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
186.91 | 98.67 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
186.84 | 98.66 % |
| more is better | |||
Multimedia
| SiSoft Sandra - Multimedia - Integer |
Review Rating |
MPixels/sec | Percent |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
452.13 | 105.10 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
451.88 | 105.04 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
451.34 | 104.92 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
451.26 | 104.90 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
451.25 | 104.90 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
446.55 | 103.81 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
446.47 | 103.79 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
443.38 | 103.07 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
442.67 | 102.90 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
430.18 | 100.00 % |
| more is better | |||
| SiSoft Sandra - Multimedia - Floating Point |
Review Rating |
MPixels/sec | Percent |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
446.74 | 104.93 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
446.68 | 104.92 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
446.67 | 104.92 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
| >
446.64 | 104.91 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
446.00 | 104.76 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
445.42 | 104.62 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
444.95 | 104.51 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
444.88 | 104.50 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
428.81 | 100.72 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
425.74 | 100.00 % |
| more is better | |||
Crytography
| SiSoft Sandra - Crytography - AES 256 |
Review Rating |
GB/sec | Percent |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
14.45 | 105.24 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
14.45 | 105.24 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
14.44 | 103.79 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
14.44 | 105.17 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
14.07 | 102.48 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
14.03 | 102.18 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
14.00 | 101.97 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
13.92 | 101.38 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
13.73 | 100.00 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
13.50 | 98.18 % |
| more is better | |||
| SiSoft Sandra - Crytography - SHA 256 |
Review Rating |
GB/sec | Percent |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
9.28 | 100.54 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
9.26 | 100.32 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
9.25 | 100.22 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
9.25 | 100.22 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
9.24 | 100.11 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
9.23 | 100.00 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
9.20 | 99.67 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
9.19 | 99.57 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
9.18 | 99.45 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
9.16 | 99.24 % |
| more is better | |||
SiSoft Sandra 2
Memory bandwidth
| SiSoft Sandra - Memory bandwidth - Integer |
Review Rating |
GB/sec | Percent |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
46.61 | 104.74 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
46.59 | 104.70 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
46.57 | 104.65 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
46.55 | 104.61 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
46.52 | 104.54 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
46.48 | 104.45 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
45.87 | 103.08 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
44.52 | 100.04 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
44.50 | 100.00 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
43.23 | 97.15 % |
| more is better | |||
| SiSoft Sandra - Memory bandwidth - floating point |
Review Rating |
GB/sec | Percent |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
47.73 | 106.07 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
47.68 | 105.96 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
47.20 | 104.89 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
47.15 | 104.78 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
46.61 | 103.58 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
45.92 | 102.04 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
45.69 | 101.53 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
45.57 | 101.27 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
45.55 | 101.22 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
45.00 | 100.00 % |
| more is better | |||
Memory latency
| SiSoft Sandra - Memory latency |
Review Rating |
ns | Percent |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
27.4 | 100.00 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
27.4 | 100.00 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
27.6 | 99.28 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
27.6 | 99.28 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
27.7 | 98.92 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
27.9 | 98.21 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
27.8 | 98.56 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
28.8 | 96.00 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
29.0 | 94.48 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
30.0 | 91.33 % |
| less is better | more is better | ||
Memory and cache access
| SiSoft Sandra - Memory and cache access |
Review Rating |
GB/sec | Percent |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
351.69 | 104.81 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
351.65 | 104.79 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
351.58 | 104.77 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
348.54 | 103.87 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
347.68 | 103.61 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
347.50 | 103.56 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
347.47 | 103.55 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
339.12 | 101.06 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
336.21 | 100.19 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
335.56 | 100.00 % |
| more is better | |||
UC Bench
| UC Bench |
Review Rating |
PW/sec | Percent |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
1801.8 | 102.41 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
1801.5 | 102.39 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
1801.3 | 102.38 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
1801.3 | 102.38 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
1801.2 | 102.38 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
1799.7 | 102.29 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
1799.5 | 102.28 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
1799.0 | 102.27 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
1798.3 | 102.21 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
1759.4 | 100.00 % |
| more is better | |||
SuperPi 1M - 32M
SuperPi 1M
| SuperPi 1.5 XS - 1M |
Review Rating |
sec | Percent |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
10.233 | 103.04 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
10.250 | 102.87 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
10.389 | 101.49 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
10.390 | 101.48 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
10.410 | 101.29 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
10.431 | 101.08 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
10.492 | 100.50 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
10.502 | 100.40 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
10.533 | 100.10 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
10.544 | 100.00 % |
| less is better | more is better | ||
SuperPi 32M
| SuperPi 1.5 XS - 32M |
Review Rating |
sec | Percent |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
541.659 | 100.67 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
541.812 | 100.65 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
542.437 | 100.53 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
542.553 | 100.51 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
542.588 | 100.50 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
543.927 | 100.25 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
544.005 | 100.24 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
545.313 | 100.00 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
552.218 | 98.75 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
553.569 | 98.51 % |
| less is better | more is better | ||
wPrime 2.10 1024M Multicore
| wPrime - 1024M Multi Core |
Review Rating |
sec | Percent |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
103.896 | 102.56 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
103.999 | 102.46 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
104.022 | 102.43 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
104.049 | 102.41 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
104.047 | 102.41 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
104.488 | 101.98 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
104.506 | 101.96 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
104.755 | 101.72 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
104.755 | 101.72 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
106.554 | 100.00 % |
| less is better | more is better | ||
Cinebench R15
Cinebench R15 - Multi Core
| Cinebench R15 - Multi Core |
Review Rating |
pts | Percent |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
1'402 | 105.33 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
1'398 | 105.03 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
1'396 | 104.88 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
1'396 | 104.88 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
1'396 | 104.88 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
1'395 | 104.81 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
1'394 | 104.73 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
1'391 | 104.51 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
1'381 | 103.76 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
1'331 | 100.00 % |
| less is better | more is better | ||
Tomb Raider
Low resolution, low details
| Tomb Raider (low resolution, low details) |
Review Rating |
fps | Percent |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
724.30 | 101.09 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
724.00 | 101.05 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
723.00 | 100.91 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
722.60 | 100.85 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
717.95 | 100.20 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
717.55 | 100.15 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
717.00 | 100.07 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
716.50 | 100.00 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
700.22 | 97.73 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
689.80 | 96.27 % |
| more is better | |||
High resolution, high details
| Tomb Raider (high resolution, high details) |
Review Rating |
fps | Percent |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
52.3 | 100.38 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
52.3 | 100.38 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
52.2 | 100.19 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
52.2 | 100.19 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
52.2 | 100.19 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
52.2 | 100.19 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
52.1 | 100.00 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
52.0 | 99.81 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
52.0 | 99.81 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
52.0 | 99.81 % |
| more is better | |||
Metro Last Light
Low resolution, low details
| Metro Last Light (low details, low resolution) |
Review Rating |
fps | Percent |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
202.81 | 101.28 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
202.61 | 101.16 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
202.12 | 100.93 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
201.98 | 100.86 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
200.99 | 100.37 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
200.67 | 100.21 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
200.25 | 100.00 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
200.12 | 99.94 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
200.11 | 99.93 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
199.98 | 99.87 % |
| more is better | |||
High resolution, high details
| Metro Last Light (high details, high resolution) |
Review Rating |
fps | Percent |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
64.93 | 100.51 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
64.91 | 100.48 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
64.90 | 100.46 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
64.88 | 100.43 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
64.86 | 100.40 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
64.70 | 100.15 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
64.60 | 100.00 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
64.60 | 100.00 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
64.58 | 99.97 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
64.57 | 99.95 % |
| more is better | |||
Thief
Low resolution, low details
| Thief (low details, low resolution) |
Review Rating |
fps | Percent |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
138.4 | 103.51 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
138.4 | 103.51 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
138.3 | 103.44 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
138.3 | 103.44 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
138.0 | 103.22 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
135.7 | 101.50 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
135.1 | 101.08 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
134.7 | 100.75 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
134.5 | 100.60 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
133.7 | 100.00 % |
| more is better | |||
High resolution, high details
| Thief (high details, high resolution) |
Review Rating |
fps | Percent |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
84.4 | 102.55 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
84.2 | 102.31 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
83.2 | 101.09 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
83.1 | 100.97 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
82.6 | 100.36 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
82.4 | 100.12 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
82.4 | 100.12 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
82.4 | 100.12 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
82.3 | 100.00 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
82.3 | 100.00 % |
| more is better | |||
Right Mark Audio Analyzer
| Noise Level, dB (A) |
Review Rating |
|
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
-94.6 |
| ASRock X99 Extrem 6 |
|
-87.4 |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
-88.1 |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
-88.0 |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
-92.0 |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
-90.2 |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
-88.9 |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
-88.7 |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
-84.8 |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
-84.6 |
| less is better | ||
| Dynamic Range dB (A) |
Review Rating |
|
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
94.4 |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
92.0 |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
90.2 |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
88.8 |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
88.7 |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
88.1 |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
88.0 |
| ASRock X99 Extrem 6 |
|
87.2 |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
84.7 |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
84.5 |
| more is better | ||
| Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) |
Review Rating |
|
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
0.0032 |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
0.0048 |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
0.0062 |
| ASRock X99 Extrem 6 |
|
0.0083 |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
0.0094 |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
0.0110 |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
0.0112 |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
0.0114 |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
0.0116 |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
0.0120 |
| less is better | ||
| Stereo Crosstalk |
Review Rating |
|
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
-92.4 |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
-90.7 |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
-87.5 |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
-87.5 |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
-87.5 |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
-85.8 |
| ASRock X99 Extrem 6 |
|
-85.5 |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
-83.9 |
| Gigabyte X99 UD4 |
|
-83.7 |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
-83.1 |
| less is better | ||
[pagebreak]
BCLK Overclocking
Idle
|
Review Rating |
MHz | Percent | |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
179 | 105.29 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
178 | 104.71 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
176 | 103.53 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
176 | 103.53 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
176 | 103.53 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
175 | 102.94 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
175 | 102.94 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
175 | 102.94 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
174 | 102.35 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
170 | 100.00 % |
| less is better | more is better | ||
Power Consumption
Idle
| Idle |
Review Rating |
Watt | Percent |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
81.15 | 127.11 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
81.60 | 126.41 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
84.50 | 120.91 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
85.42 | 120.76 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
88.50 | 116.55 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
91.40 | 112.86 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
102.17 | 100.96 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
103.15 | 100.00 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
105.14 | 98.11 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
108.55 | 95.03 % |
| less is better | more is better | ||
Load
| Load |
Review Rating |
Watt | Percent |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
176.20 | 108.20 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
178.20 | 106.99 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
179.75 | 106.97 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
183.10 | 104.12 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
186.77 | 102.08 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
187.90 | 101.46 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
190.65 | 100.00 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
191.40 | 100.39 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
202.67 | 94.07 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
212.00 | 89.93 % |
| less is better | more is better | ||
Performance Rating
| 3D and Gaming Benchmarks |
Review Rating |
Percent |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
102.38 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
102.28 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
101.85 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
101.67 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
101.41 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
101.39 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
101.28 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
100.93 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
100.32 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
100.00 % |
| more is better | ||
| 2D Benchmarks |
Review Rating |
Percent |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
103.10 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
103.06 % |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
102.99 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
102.98 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
102.52 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
101.99 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
101.87 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
101.54 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
100.97 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
100.00 % |
| more is better | ||
| Performance per Watt |
Review Rating |
Percent |
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
86.64 % |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
88.09 % |
| ASUS X99-A |
|
90.64 % |
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
91.33 % |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
91.59 % |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
93.18 % |
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
100.00 % |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force |
|
101.27 % |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
106.93 % |
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
109.46 % |
| less is better | ||
Price comparison
| Model |
Geizhals.eu |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 |
|
| ASRock X99 OC Formula |
|
| ASRock X99 WS |
|
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme |
|
| ASUS X99 Deluxe |
|
| ASUS X99-A |
|
| EVGA X99 Classified |
|
| Gigabyte X99 SOC Force |
|
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 |
|
| MSI X99S MPower |
|
Conclusion
| Allgemein | + | - | |
| The X99S MPower from MSI is an overall good X99 overclocking motherboard. Therefore you get a plethora of features and also the price is a solid hint towards this boards high-end ambitions. Next to a really attractive design, which has been kept in black and yellow in this case, there are obviously also the different overclocking related buttons, which are typical for MSI's MPower series motherboards. Having a closer look at PCI Express expansion slots reveals you can go for 4-way-GPU setups at max. Overall it looks like MSI has geared this board towards using it in combination with an Intel Core i7-5820K CPU, since the price as well as the scaled down number of PCI-Express lanes suite the features on this board. | -
Design - Layout |
||
| Layout | + | - | |
| Generally the MSI X99S MPower's layout has been well thought. Once more practical are the angled SATA connectors. Since there are the different overclocking buttons on this motherboard, there are also practical power and reset as well as a clear CMOS buttons. As already mentioned there is a total of four PCI Express x16 slots, but only a maximum of three graphics cards can be installed at the same time. Nevertheless it's rather unlikely, that this is a knock out criteria when buying a motherboard for most users, since running four way GPU setups is something that definitely not everybody has the funds for. In order to provice flexibility regarding storage devices there is one M.2 slot as well as one SATA Express port. | - Angled SATA connectors
- 4 x Full-Size PCI Express slots - Space around the CPU socket - M.2 - SATA Express |
||
| Performance | + | - | |
| Having a closer look at our performance ratings, we find the X99S MPower score seventh in the case of our 2D rankings. When it comes to 3D performance this board scores seventh again out of ten boards tested. Overall performance of the X99S MPower from MSI is a little bit below average and since this is an overclocking motherboard we would have liked to see it compete in the very top. On another note we also had a look at power consumption and noted that this is board is not the most energy efficient. The reason for that is simple: there are lots of features on high-end motherboards which all need that little bit of extra power. | - wPrime | - Power Consumption | |
| Overclocking / BIOS | + | - | |
| As you might be expecting it from MSI, you get a really good BIOS. It offers not only a lot of tuning and tweaking options but is also very easy to use. Especially with the entry screen with which MSI is trying - and also succeeding - to add elements which make the BIOS much easier to use for unexperienced users as well. | - Clear arrangement | ||
| Recommendation | + | - | |
| Should you be looking a X99 overclocking motherboard then the X99S MPower is definitely an interesting model worth checking out. Checking prices we find the MSI X99S MPower selling at 237 Euro, which is actually a really good price for an X99 overclocking motherboard. | -
Overclocking - Enthusiast - Workstation |
||
| Rating | |||
| We give the MSI X99S MPower very good 4.5 out of 5 stars. | |||
Author: m.buechel@ocaholic.ch