Msi x99a workstation review (full review)

We get to the exclusive level of the new motherboard of the Intel Broadwell-E platform: MSI X99A Workstation intended for users looking for a stable motherboard, with great expansion possibilities and a large number of SATA connections. You want to know more? What are you waiting for to continue reading our analysis!

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

MSI X99A Workstation technical features

MSI X99A Workstation Unboxing and Design

The MSI X99A Workstation is presented in a box with a standard size, where on its cover we see all its news and on the back all its extensive technical characteristics.

Once we open the box we find the following bundle:

MSI X99A Workstation motherboard. 5 set of SATA cables. Back cover. Instruction manual and quick guide. CD with software. SLI bridge.

As we can see, it is an ATX format plate with dimensions of 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm for the LGA 2011-3 socket. The board has a sober design and its PCB is matt black. In addition, its appearance combines very well with all connectors and heatsinks.

Here we can see a rear view of the motherboard, we know that many of you like these details.

The MSI X99A Workstation has excellent cooling in both the power phases and the X99 chipset. It has a total of 8 +2 digital phases with Military Class V technology. What is this technology for? It incorporates better components, for example the new Choke Titanium and DARK CAP solid state capacitors that have a longevity of 10 years of operation.

It also comes protected against humidity, high temperatures, short-circuit protection and EMI protection .

Passive heatsinks are robust and efficient enough to withstand the temperatures of this generation. It is even capable of withstanding high frequency overclocking without hardly heating up.

The chipset cooling takes care of a large heatsink that maintains extraordinary temperatures. Also highlight the 8-pin auxiliary power connection.

Here we show you the disassembled heatsinks, chipset and power stages exposed. A great job is seen by MSI in the assembly and quality of its components.

The board incorporates a total of 8 128 GB compatible DDR4 RAM memory sockets with frequencies up to 3333 MHz in Quad Channel and is compatible with the XMP 2.0 profile.

The MSI X99A Workstation presents a distribution between its PCI Express connections quite interesting for a MultiGPU system. In it we find 3 PCI Express 3.0 connections and two PCI Express x1 connections. Which allows us to install a maximum of 3 graphics cards in SLI (Nvidia) or CrossFireX (AMD).

Both PCI Express connectors and DIMM memory slots are equipped with a metal shield. What is it for? Basically it improves the transfer and supports greater weight of components (especially in high-end graphics cards).

Among the PCI express connections we find two M.2 connectors to install any SSD with type 2242/2260/2280/22110 format with the benefits of the 32 GB / s bandwidth. Obviously it is compatible with NVMe technology, so we can get the most out of our equipment.

In storage we find ten 6 GB / s SATA III connections with RAID 0.1, 5 and 10 support and a SATA Express connection for high speed disks. It also supports the U.2 connection that allows you to connect PCIe 3.0 x4 NVM Express storage.

The integrated sound card is enhanced with Audio Boost 3 technology. What improvements does it offer us? Better sound quality through the use of premium quality audio components with 8 channels. Which will make us enjoy a more crystalline sound and with a high impedance headphone amplifier. A plus regarding more basic motherboards.

In this image we see the debug LED, the heads for the USB 2.0 connections and next to the control panel connections.

Finally we detail the rear connections:

PS / 2.8 connector USB 3.0 connections.2 x USB 3.1 Type C and Type A connectors.2 Gigabit LAN network cards Sound card connections BIOS clear button

Test bench and tests

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	Intel Core i7-6900K
Base plate:	MSI X99A Workstation
Memory:	4 × 8 32GB DDR4 @ 3200 MHZ Corsair Dominator Platinum
Heatsink	Corsair H100i V2.
HDD	Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB.
Graphic card	Nvidia GTX 1070 8GB.
Power supply	EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2

To check the stability of the i7-6900K processor at 4500 MHZ and the motherboard we have stressed with Prime 95 Custom and air cooling. The graph we have used is a GTX 1070, without further delay, let's see the results obtained in our tests with a 1920 × 1080 monitor.

WE RECOMMEND YOU MSI announces the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Lightning Z

We look at your UEFI BIOS

In this second generation of X99 motherboards, which are compatible with Intel Broadwell-E processors as standard, it incorporates a much more renewed BIOS, much more stable and with a multitude of options. Good job MSI!

Final words and conclusion about MSI X99A Workstation

The MSI X99A Workstation is a motherboard with excellent Military Class components and is designed to last many years at full power at all times. It is a motherboard that is designed for high performance jobs and the support of two SLI Quadro graphics cards will allow us to use high performance design applications.

In our tests we have been able to overclock the 8-core i7-6900K processor up to 4500 MHz and we have mounted a total of 32 GB of RAM at 2666 MHz. The results are incredible and as we expected from the best that the market offers.

We recommend reading our guide to the best motherboards on the market.

As a good Workstation motherboard we would have liked it to incorporate some more SATA or SAS disk controller. Like some LSI to make high performance RAID , but it incorporates an M.2 connection, 10 SATA III connections and one for SATA Expres s. A priori it must satisfy all our needs.

We also liked the details of incorporating improved Audio and extra shielding in RAM and PCI Express connections.

The motherboard will arrive in the next few weeks in Spain and it is estimated that it will come out over 385 euros . It certainly isn't a cheap motherboard, but if you're looking for rock-solid stability the MSI X99A Workstation will be among the motherboards of choice.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ SOBER DESIGN.	- HIGH PRICE.
+ ALLOWS TO INSTALL ECC AND NON-ECC MEMORY.	- IT WOULD BE RECOMMENDED TO INCLUDE MORE SATA OR SAS CONNECTIONS WITH HIGH PERFORMANCE CONTROLLERS.
+ EXCELLENT COMPONENTS.
+ IMPROVED AUDIO.
+ POSSIBILITY TO INSTALL NORMAL SLI AND QUADRO + CROSSFIREX.