AMD’s Ryzen+ CPUs have arrived and for those who’ve learn our Ryzen 5 2600/2600X or Ryzen 7 2700/2700X reviews, you then’ll know there’s so much to love. Indeed, one of many nice issues about AMD’s new household of processors is that you just won’t even have to purchase a brand new motherboard to begin utilizing them, as each Ryzen+ chip will fortunately slot into every existing AM4 socket motherboard that’s at the moment accessible.
That’s excellent news for anybody wanting to save lots of a bit of cash throughout the improve course of, however these erring towards the upper finish of AMD’s Ryzen+ spectrum, notably anybody contemplating the Ryzen 7 2700 or 2700X, might also need to take into consideration getting one in every of AMD’s new X470 chipset motherboards as an alternative – like MSI’s relatively nippy X470 Gaming M7 AC, for instance.
Part of the X470’s chipset’s attraction is that it not solely helps Ryzen+ out of the field (saving you having to do a tiresome BIOS replace on any current AM4 board you may need), however it additionally comes with AMD’s StoreMI acceleration tech freed from cost – offered you keep in mind to obtain the software program from AMD’s website, in fact.
The chief good thing about StoreMI is that it may flip any SSD / HDD combo into one large drive with SSD-like speeds. It does this by mechanically transferring your most used recordsdata to your SSD, whereas shunting your least accessed recordsdata over to your HDD. It adapts to your PC utilization over time, too, altering the situation of the place your recordsdata are saved relying on how a lot you employ them.
This is improbable for anybody who’s ever lamented the price of excessive capability SSDs, as StoreMI means you possibly can keep on utilizing your significantly cheaper (and little question bigger) HDDs and nonetheless get the velocity good thing about no matter SSD you at the moment have put in, whether or not it’s a daily 2.5in drive or a super-fast NVMe drive. Even higher, you don’t need to fear about reinstalling Windows or making a RAID configuration to get it working. For the sake of equity when testing completely different motherboards, although, I carried out all my checks with out StoreMI in impact, simply to maintain issues even-stevens.
So what makes the MSI X470 Gaming M7 AC stand out from one thing just like the Asus ROG Strix X470F-Gaming I reviewed final week? Well, it’s dearer for starters, costing £215 / $230 as an alternative of £185 / $215. That’s not an enormous distinction, all advised, particularly within the US, and for those who’re into your overclocking then the M7 AC definitely goes a protracted option to make that additional £30 / $15 rely.
Its 4 DDR4 DIMM slots, as an example, nonetheless assist as much as 64GB of RAM, however each will be overclocked up to an enormous 3600MHz once you interact its A-XMP OC mode, making it a greater companion for top efficiency RAM. By comparability, the Asus ‘only’ went as much as 3466MHz, which remains to be fairly rattling quick, however these after the last word RAM efficiency will likely be higher catered for with the MSI.
The M7 AC’s PCIe growth slots have a extra smart structure, too. Like the Asus, you get two steel-reinforced PCIe 3.zero x 16 slots that run at full velocity in solo use or x8 when each are occupied, and a single, non-reinforced PCIe 2.zero x 16 slot down the underside that runs at x4. That’s all just about the identical as Asus’ X470F-Gaming.
Instead, it’s the three PCIe 2.zero x1 slots the M7 AC will get proper, as right here you don’t lose the highest slot once you stick your graphics card in, providing you with extra room and suppleness relating to including extra issues like sound playing cards, additional USB or Thunderbolt add-in playing cards or extra M.2 or SATA adaptors (you received’t want a community card right here because it already comes with built-in 802.11ac Wi-Fi). Admittedly, you’ll nonetheless lose the underside PCIe x1 slot for those who resolve to reap the benefits of its two-way Nvidia SLI assist or three-way AMD CrossFire assist for multi-GPU setups, however that also offers you another to play with in comparison with the Asus.
You additionally get the advantage of two heatsinks on your potential pair of NVMe SSDs on the M7 AC as an alternative of only one on the Asus. These are hidden underneath the relatively snazzy MSI-emblazoned prong-like claws that sit snugly between the PCIe x16 slots – snazzy not as a result of there’s a dragon on it, however as a result of the entire thing lifts up through a easy, elegant hinge on the precise hand aspect. Yes, I’m being swayed by a hinge of all issues, however not less than it means I don’t have to fret about dropping bits of plastic down the again of my PC case or run the danger of my cats making off with them when it’s time for a little bit of SSD set up.
It’s only a good little bit of design, and it’s a disgrace MSI didn’t lavish the identical sort of consideration on its I/O cowl. Not solely do it’s a must to faff round with becoming an I/O protect – which is one in every of my least favorite bits when constructing a brand new PC – however its boxy cowl simply doesn’t look as sensible or subtle because the pre-mounted one you get on the Asus X470F-Gaming.
It’s additionally value noting that if in case you have a second NVMe SSD put in, then the third PCIe x16 slot turns into unavailable. It’s unlikely this may have an effect on most individuals, however anybody with two NVMe SSDs that additionally need three-way Crossfire must look elsewhere.
The M7 AC is a bit disappointing on the RGB entrance, too, if that’s your bag. While you continue to get two RGB LED connectors on the board itself, all that truly offers you are two skinny slashes both aspect of the Gaming M7 emblem on the I/O cowl and a row of eight LEDs around the again that don’t actually make a lot of an impression – not less than not in comparison with the X470F-Gaming’s massive RGB-ified ROG emblem. Still, not less than there’s one other addressable RGB connector for hooking up one other LED strip elsewhere in your case, and Corsair aficionados even get a devoted header for a Corsair-branded fan hub or extra Corsair lighting strips.
Elsewhere, you’re six fan headers, six SATA ports, one USB 3.1 Gen 2 connector for the most recent USB speeds, plus two USB 3.1 Gen 1 connectors and a single USB 2.zero connector.
Where the M7 AC actually comes into its personal, nevertheless, is its pleasant overclocking options. If you’re the kind who tends to work with an open case, you not solely get devoted energy and reset buttons, however you additionally get a helpful numbered debug show for simple troubleshooting and MSI’s relatively swish Game Boost knob (each pictured beneath).
The latter will nonetheless want activating within the BIOS settings, however as soon as enabled it is going to mechanically alter each the frequency and voltage of your CPU to one in every of seven predefined ranges with out ever having to noodle about in your BIOS ever once more, making it even simpler to get the perfect out of your new CPU with the least quantity of effort.
I’m all for this type of ease and ease relating to boosting the ability of my PC parts, particularly when it is a motherboard that’s clearly been constructed for getting the perfect out of video games. Again, within the pursuits of equity, I saved the Game Boost knob in its default zero place throughout the course of my testing, however even once I paired it with the identical batch of parts (a Ryzen 7 2700X processor, 16GB of G.Skill Sniper X RAM operating at 2133MHz, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070Ti graphics card and a Samsung 850 Evo SSD), the MSI was nonetheless miles out in entrance of Asus’ X470F-Gaming in most of my benchmark checks.
In 3DMark’s Fire Strike, for instance, the M7 AC posted a formidable results of 16213 in comparison with the Asus’ 15533. In the X470F-Gaming’s defence, its graphics and physics outcomes have been really nigh-on an identical to the MSI, so it’s not like Asus’ board received’t do a great job at getting the perfect out of your graphics card. When you take a look at Fire Strike’s mixed take a look at, nevertheless, the MSI was nearly 5fps forward of the Asus (30.85fps in comparison with 26.00fps in order for you numbers). Again, that’s not a large margin, however in some conditions that’s sufficient to make all of the distinction between one thing that’s playable and one thing that’s a juddery mess, particularly across the 30fps mark.
The M7 AC carried out effectively in PCMark 10, too, incomes an general rating of 5665, with notably excessive marks within the productiveness and digital content material creation checks. These measure workplace software efficiency and demanding duties like picture and video modifying, and the M7 AC royally trounced the X470F-Gaming in each classes, coming in 26% quicker in productiveness and 38% faster in digital.
The M7 AC had the sting on SATA efficiency too. In AS SSD’s random 4K take a look at, its learn velocity of 41.27MB/s was, admittedly, solely 6% faster than the Asus, however its write velocity of 93.58MB/s was 18% quicker. I can’t say I seen a lot distinction in day-to-day use, all advised, however not less than in concept it helps justify these additional kilos and {dollars} you’re going to be spending on it.
Bizarrely, the M7 AC really fell behind its Asus rival in each Geekbench 4 (scoring 4561 and 24168 respectively in its single and multicore checks in comparison with the X470F-Gaming’s 4607 and 25126) and Cinebench R15. Here, the MSI completed with outcomes of 173 and 1750 within the single and multicore checks, whereas the X470F-Gaming managed 174 and 1771.
This is shocking contemplating how effectively the M7 AC did in PCMark 10, however even when its on a regular basis efficiency isn’t fairly as swift as its PCMark scores would possibly lead us to consider, there’s no denying the MSI has the sting relating to gaming. It’s not going to revolutionise the best way you play video games, in fact, however mixed with its straightforward overclocking instruments and solely marginally dearer worth, and it ought to undoubtedly a key contender for the Ryzen+ powermonger. The Asus X470F-Gaming remains to be a superb alternative for these extra involved with maintaining prices down or getting their day by day dose of RGB, however overclockers will possible have a significantly better time with the MSI X470 Gaming M7 AC.
