Msi nightblade x2 review (lga 1151

At the end of 2014 we tested the MSI Nightblade 1 and just a few months ago the MSI Nightblade Mi with quite good results. Do you want to know more about this new version? What performance does it offer? Will it have passed the tests in our laboratory? Do not miss our review in Spanish. Here we go!

We thank MSI Spain for trusting the product for its analysis:

Technical characteristics MSI Nightblade X2

MSI Nightblade X2

The MSI Nightblade X2 comes presented in a cardboard box with large dimensions and very robust. Both on the front and back we all have a picture of the product, and on the side we find a brief description of the characteristics of the barebone.

Once we open the box we find an excellent anchoring system, and inside it includes:

MSI Nightblade X2. Instruction manual. CD with drivers. Two Wifi antennas. Power cord.

The MSI Nightblade X2 features generous dimensions of 175.77 x 277.33 x 245.8 mm of 11 liters and an approximate weight of 5 kg. The truth is that in person it really looks great on our test bench and in general it is very compact.

On both sides we find a small silkscreen of the MSI dragon Gaming and some grids that allow us to improve the cooling of the barebone.

The front panel is made of premium quality plastic and brushed aluminum. Next to the power button, we find two LED indicators for the hard drive and the Wifi connection. Among its front connections we find a USB 3.1 Type-C connection, two USB 3.0 connections with "Super Charger 2" technology, an overclock button and an audio input / output.

Once we turn it on we realize a lighting system in the lower area of the front.

Already in the back we find the connection for its power and a small red fan, which extracts all the heat from the MSI Nightblade X2. In addition, we have the following rear connections:

2 x USB 2.0.1 x PS / 2.2 x USB 3.1 Gen1. LAN Killer network card. Two connections for wifi antennas. 5.1 / 7.1 audio output.

To open the box we must remove the two security screws and press on the red supports.

Disassembly and interior

As we already saw in the MSI NightBlade Mi it incorporates a sticker that ~~will void the warranty if we open it. Without a doubt it is another disappointment for future updates and that will force us to wait for the two-year warranty to be able to open it.~~

Upgrade

MSI Iberia tells us that the seal is placed worldwide, but in Spain they do not invalidate it if it is opened. It is common in both laptops, barebones and all-in-one computers. Although the latter may be somewhat reluctant to approve the guarantee. If at any time you want to leave doubts, you can leave a comment or go to our forum, and we will contact them.

This time we are going to start with the side that less interest usually arouses and we find the back of the motherboard and a full-speed M.2 NVMe disk. Specifically, it is the Samsung MZVPV128HDGM 128 GB with a reading of 2000 MB / s and a writing of 650 MB / s. For data we have a 3.5 ″ mechanical disk with 2TB of storage.

Now we are on the other side that is where all the "chicha" is. We see that the entire interior is quite deep and that the wiring seems to have a good routing, but too much in sight.

We find a small heatsink with two towers with a small fan between them. We believe that although it is better than a stock heatsink, you could opt for a compact 120mm liquid cooling giving better performance and aesthetics to a Gaming barebone.

On the RAM memory it incorporates a single 8GB DDR4 module. After reviewing the documentation we have seen that we can expand up to 32GB DDR4 in its two available sockets.

The chosen processor is i7-6700K with 4 cores and 8 threads. Its base speed is 4.0 GHz and goes up to 4.2GHz when Turbo mode is activated. It also has 8 MB of cache memory and a consumption (TDP) of 95W.

Reaching one of the most interesting points we find an MSI GTX 970 Armor 2X OC with 4GB of GDDR5 memory. This model is one of the most purchased on the market as it is a cool heatsink, with good overclocking potential and having 0DB functionality (passive fan under load).

On the power we have a source of 350W 80 PLUS Gold that will go really well if we do not expand the equipment (especially graphics card). Since there is a superior model with a 500W that is appropriate for the Nvidia GTX 980 Ti.

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To finish talk about the Wifi connectivity Intel AC 3165 (Killer AC1535), Killer E2400 network card with Killer Shield (Technology against electricity surges and improves latency) and Bluetooth 4.1 connection.

software

MSI has chosen to install the complete pack of applications that it offers in its Gaming series. Among them we have the recovery of the system with the BurnRecovery application, the Killer Network application of the E2400 network card and AC 1535.

And its great Gaming Center suite that allows us to perform system monitoring, front led system configuration, device configuration, the ScenaMAX application and EZ-SWAP.

Benchmark

NVMe SSD disk tests

One of the most interesting tests on this MSI Nightblade X2 barebone is on the 128GB Samsung MZVPV128HDGM NVMe SSD. As we can see on the screen, it meets the expectations created with 2000 MB / s in reading and 650 MB / s in writing.

Consumption

Final words and conclusion

The MSI Nightblade X2 is a barebone that meets the perfect conditions for a gamer user or who wants to have a powerful team with the smallest possible size.

There are several versions but the one received incorporates a 6th generation i7-6700K 4GHz processor, 1151 itx board, 128GB SSD disk plus 2TB for storage and an excellent 4GB MSI GTX 970 graphics card. Although in this particular configuration I have to take the downside that it only includes 8GB of RAM in Single Channel, so we lose a lot of potential from the team. If you can buy the 16GB DDR4 version.

Another point to improve is the cooling, we believe that a 120mm liquid cooling system would be a great option. Although the heatsink incorporated incorporates the task, we will not be able to overclock more than 4.2 GHz.

Its arrival in Spain is expected in these next weeks with a price from 1050 euros.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ VERY COMPACT.	- A SINGLE 8GB DDR4 STICK… AND IN SINGLE CHANNEL. MINIMUM 16GB IN DUAL CHANNEL!
+ GOOD PROCESSOR I7.	- BETTER REFRIGERATION FOR THE PROCESSOR. LIMIT A MANUAL OVERCLOCK. A 120 MM AIO KIT WOULD BE A GOOD CHOICE.
+ USB 3.1 TYPE C CONNECTIVITY.
+ USB 3.0 AND AUTOMATIC OC BUTTON.
+ GRAPHIC CARD FOR GAMING GTX 970.
+ M.2 NVME SSD DISC.