Review on High Performance MSI Z390-A PRO Motherboard for Intel 8th and 9th Gen with M.2 USB 3.1 Gen 2 DDR4 HDMI DP CFX Dual Gigabit LAN ATX Z390 Gaming by Dustin Miller

MSI is back on track! Keep in mind that the "PRO" part of this model isn't always beginner-friendly, although MSI tech support is happy to help you with your build. I would say that this motherboard has so many overclocking features that using it without an unlocked processor (model K) would be a waste. All 1-3 star ratings are for people who either don't read the instructions or don't want to call MSI support if they don't know what they did wrong. I paired this with an i7 9700K, G.Skill 3600MHz RAM, GTX 1080 Ti, a Samsung M.2 SSD and a 144Hz Acer monitor. Everything worked with minimal settings! On first boot I opened the BIOS and clicked on XMP and this MB automatically found a good 3600MHz profile for my RAM. I adjusted some settings in "expert mode" to force the CPU to run in turbo mode for all cores and disabled the clock speed for AVX instructions (high temperature warning!). In benchmarks, it maintains 4.85GHz for all cores simultaneously when air-cooled (standard limits of up to 4.6GHz for all cores and AVX security can lower it even further). FireStrike 3D results have improved by 15% and the maximum temperature has reached 70°C, giving even more headroom for overclocking. it is there. I even called tech support before I took a closer look and found it in the box. The M.2 slot in SATA mode replaces the SATA 1 slot and literally replaces the slot in the BIOS. If you can't find a drive, this might be it. The additional 6 pins on the motherboard next to the PCI Express lanes are intended for the use of two high-performance GPUs (like dual 1080 ti or 2080). With a single GPU, this is not required and does not impact performance. If you don't install the latest version of Windows 10, the Ethernet port will most likely not be recognized or used until you install the network drivers from a disc or USB. . This does not affect wireless communication. Windows 7 is of course not supported, but that has nothing to do with the mainboard, but with the fact that no 8th generation Intel processors work with Windows 7. Complaints about this are totally out of place and should be directed to Intel. .PROS: Designed for overclocking and high-performance gaming. Many functions for beginners and experts. Speed of Light. Rear USB C 3.1 port plus ports. Built-in POST speaker. Mystical RGB headers. Features OC settings specific to 9th Gen Intel chips. XMP just works. M.2 storage and Bluetooth M.2 slots. RAID controller. This motherboard is from MSICon. It's not worth the lower rating, and it's not a big deal unless you're too sensitive to computer noise. It's the sound of a reliable relay powering your devices, and it's reminiscent of years ago when electrical components were rebuilt and could last for decades.