MSI X370 XPower Gaming Titanium Board Features

The X370 XPower Gaming Titanium as you would expect has a wide variety of features and as far as an ATX sized X370 offering goes, it ticks a vast majority of boxes. With a lot of proverbial tricks up its sleeve, the XPower combines a lot of controllers featured on many mid-high motherboards currently on the market such as the Intel I211AT Gigabit networking controller and the fabled Realtek ALC1220 audio codec. Only the boards at the higher end of the spectrum feature U.2 storage connectivity such as this one, but in addition MSI have included dual M.2 ports on top of the six SATA 6Gbps you would typically expect.

MSI X370 XPower Gaming Titanium ATX Motherboard
Warranty Period 2 Years
Product Page Link
Price $255
Size ATX
CPU Interface AM4
Chipset AMD X370
Memory Slots (DDR4) Four DDR4
Supporting 64GB
Dual Channel
Up to DDR4-3200
Video Outputs HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort
Network Connectivity Intel I211AT
Onboard Audio Realtek ALC1220
PCIe Slots for Graphics (from CPU) 2 x PCIe 3.0
 - x16 or x8/x8 with Ryzen
 - x8 or x8/x0 with 7th Gen and Ryzen APU
PCIe Slots for Other (from PCH) 1 x PCIe 2.0 (x4)
3 x PCIe 2.0 (x1)
Onboard SATA Six, RAID 0/1/10
Onboard M.2 1 x PCIe 3.0 x4 - 22110 (top slot)
1 x PCIe 2.0 x4/SATA - 2280 (bottom slot)
USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) 1 x Type-A
1 x Type-C
1 x Type-C (via header)
USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) 4 x Type-A (Rear Panel)
4 via Header
USB 2.0 3 x Type-A (Rear Panel)
4 via Header
Power Connectors 1 x 24-pin ATX
1 x 8-pin CPU
1 x 4-pin CPU
Fan Headers 1 x CPU (4-pin)
1 x Water Pump (4-pin)
4 x System (4-pin)
IO Panel 4 x USB 3.1 Type-A (USB 3.1 Gen 1)
1 x USB 3.1 Type-C (USB 3.1 Gen 2)
3 x USB 2.0 Type-A
1 x Network RJ-45
1 x HDMI 2.0
1 x DisplayPort
1 x Combo PS/2
5 x 3.5 mm Audio Jacks
1 x Optical S/PDIF
1 x Clear CMOS Button

Visual Inspection

The most striking aspect of the visuals on the XPower is the silver titanium finish across the PCB and the heatsinks. This dominates the aesthetics and allows MSI’s Steel Armor to blend in naturally, as opposed to sticking out on a background of all-black PCB. In addition to the entirety of the PCB (front and back), the rear panel also has a similarly colored panel as well as both the chipset and the power delivery heatsinks.

Another element associated with the aesthetics is the built in LED lighting. MSI has implemented basic white LEDs around the board, but the majority of them are featured on the underside of the board along the audio PCB isolation line. Although they can be controlled and adjusted via the MSI Mystic Light RGB software, they are simply white LEDs and offer little customization other than changing how the lights are displayed. For RGB users there is a single 4-pin RGB LED connector available. In the top right hand corner of the board is a two-digit LED debug display for POST codes.

The power delivery on the X370 XPower starts with an International Rectifier IR35201 8-phase PWM controller that operates in a split 6+4 design; six being dedicated to the CPU, and four which features an IR3598 MOSFET doubler being used for the SOC. The use of doublers on the power delivery motherboards in this day and age is very common and isn’t usually a sign of weakness when it comes overclocking performance; even the highest end of motherboards do use them. What is interesting though is MSIs use of Nikos PK616BA MOSFETs for the CPU and twelve PK632BA MOSFETs making up the SOC section of the power delivery. The Nikos PK616BA MOSFETs are found on a variety of motherboards including MSI’s own B350 Tomahawk which we previously reviewed. MSI has however added an additional 4-pin power connector in addition to the standard 8-pin to feed power to the CPU.

For storage, the board has dual M.2 slots, a single U.2 port, and a total of six SATA ports. The centrally located PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slot features MSI’s M.2 Shield, but the second PCIe 2.0 x4 M.2 slot from the chipset does not. That first M.2 slot is switched with the U.2 slot, as shown in the block diagram below on the right, while the second M.2 slot is switched with the PCIe 2.0 x4 slot on the bottom of the motherboard.

The six SATA ports are on the right-hand side and support RAID 0, 1, and 10 arrays. Just above these is the single U.2 port and a USB 3.0 header.

The MSI X370 XPower features a relatively 'standard' PCIe layout with a total of three full-length PCIe slots. The top two, which are connected to the CPU, feature MSI Steel Armor to bolster the strength of the slots whereas the bottom does not. 2-way NVIDIA SLI and AMD Crossfire are both openly supported with the lanes operating in x8/x8 when both the main slots are populated. There is also a single 6-pin PCIe connector for additional power when two high-powered cards in play. There is also three PCIe x1 slots for other peripherals.

The X370 XPower Gaming Titanium offers a total of four memory slots with a maximum of 64GB, and up to DDR4-3200 listed as the on-the-box rating in dual channel mode. The memory slots also have reinforcement, similar to the PCIe slots.

In regards to USB connectivity, the X370 XPower has a single internal header for USB 3.1 from the chipset, and uses an ASMedia ASM2142 controller to offer a single Type-C port and a single Type-A port on the rear panel.There is also four USB 3.0 ports and a set of three USB 2.0 ports in play. One of these ports is vertical rather than horizontal, and is earmarked for the BIOS Flashback+ utility.

BIOS Flashback+ allows users to update the BIOS without having a CPU, DRAM, or GPU, in play. It is enabled via the vertical USB 2.0 port when a USB stick with an updated BIOS (with a particular file name, details in the manual) is inserted and the button to the left of the USB port is pressed.

For video with the new APUs, the XPower has a HDMI 2.0 output as well as a DisplayPort output. The rear panel also has the integrated Intel I211-AT gigabit ethernet and the audio jack setup for the Realtek ALC1220 audio.

The onboard audio is driven by the Realtek ALC1220 codec which found on virtually all of the high-end motherboards in the market. What makes the XPower different from the rest is the addition of a Texas Instruments OPA1652 OP-AMP. While this isn’t an overly expensive OP-AMP for MSI to use, it did give a better result in our testing. Another element to consider is the PCB separation between the rest of the PCB and the audio PCB area, as well as the use of Nippon Chemi-Con audio capacitors.

MSI X370 XPower Gaming Titanium Overview And Overclocking BIOS And Software
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  • Topweasel - Saturday, April 14, 2018 - link

    Qasar,

    That is a terrible response to a little bit of critcism. If you don't want to read my criticism then don't read the comments or go back to reading PC mag or the newspaper (doesn't feel good to be told what to do because you disagree does it). I have been reading Anandtech for 20+ years now and they are by far the best site for reviews, when they review stuff. I am not criticizing them for the quality of review, I am not even really criticizing them for the time of the review though it may seem like it. All I have said is that it would behoove them to be more transparent on oddities like this series of reviews, instead of giving a bunch non-straight responses like they did at the end of page one. That it brings on and promotes speculation, some of which Ryan specifically wants to avoid because even when unfounded it's something he has been actively trying to avoid since Anandtech was sold.

    I want to applaud Ryan and Ian's and the rest of the teams works over the year and while it's still not the same without Anand. It is still better than I ever could have thought it would be post losing him. But this is one point that I feel Anand would have gotten right. He would be as straight a shooter as possible even if it ruffled a few feathers.
  • Reflex - Sunday, April 15, 2018 - link

    I suppose you could apply for a full refund...
  • philehidiot - Monday, April 16, 2018 - link

    I DEMAND my refund!
  • stevekgoodwin - Tuesday, April 17, 2018 - link

    Topweasel: "All I have said is that it would behoove them to be more transparent".

    You actually said this:

    Topweasel: "That the secrecy behind reviewing products this late into the cycle has more to do with Purch's relationship with Intel and not down to workload."

    I'm off to listen to Weasel Stomping Day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k76IGLi6jWI
  • CrazyElf - Saturday, April 14, 2018 - link

    Ian, the problem with the Nikos PowerPAK PK616BA MOSFETs are that this board is a lot more expensive than other boards that offers significantly better Mosfets - such as the X370 Taichi which is even cheaper.

    I mean, had this board been priced more aggressively, this would not have been an issue.

    Hint: MSI - I own 2 Intel XPower boards on mainstream and on X99, an MSI X99A Godlike, I have bought 4 MSI Lightning GPUs, 2 290X Lightning and 2x 1080Ti Lightnings - but you will lose customers like me if you keep doing releasing sub-par products.

    I have no issues paying a premium for a flagship - but the flagship must be worthy of a flagship title.
  • Koenig168 - Monday, April 16, 2018 - link

    I considered this board when building a new rig back in December. Compared to the Intel versions of the Titanium, this is a mid-range board with flagship pricing and aesthetics.
  • johnparker1 - Wednesday, April 18, 2018 - link

    The problem with the Nokis Power Pak is still occurring and I am not getting any solutions related to this, I have also checked on the one website where some sort of support is available.
  • johnparker1 - Wednesday, April 18, 2018 - link

    The problem with the Nokis Power Pak is still occurring and I am not getting any solutions related to this, I have also checked on the one https://appletechsupportnumber.net/ipod-support/ where some sort of support is available.
  • MarkJohn - Thursday, April 19, 2018 - link

    Things are very open and intensely clear explanation of issues. was truly information. Your website is very beneficial. <a href="https://programmingdoc.com/assembly-language-10727... Language Assignment Help</a>

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