Gaming. Pro. Carbon. These words set certain expectations for me with the MSI Z270 GAMING PRO CARBON, and at first look, my expectations are met. Front and rear, there is no doubt this is a high-end motherboard. Looking at the rear of the board, you can easily see the race track that surrounds the socket. This is actually printed both front and rear, but there is other stuff in the way of seeing the full image on the front of the board.  The socket area seems a bit busy, but has adequate clearance for nearly any cooler. The memory slots are metal reinforced to strengthen the slot and help eliminate EMI that might otherwise affect memory overclocking. There are actual clips at either end of these memory sockets, too (I personally do not like the clip-less slot ends many boards use. Want to push 3600 MHz DDR4 8 GB DIMMs in all slots? I can confirm this is done easily. The main PCIe slots intended for GPUs get metal reinforcement like the memory slots do, for the same reasons, while there is an additional "normal" x16-length slot on the bottom, along with three PCIe x1 slots in the middle, here and there. Next to the chipset cooler are just four SATA ports (more are located elsewhere). The MSI Z270 GAMING PRO CARBON is outfitted with two M.2 slots. The upper slot is a fairly standard 32 Gb/s port, ready for NVME devices, while the bottom slot is a bit different. Yes, that is a metal plate covering it. You have to remove the screw to open it, and under it is another standard 32 Gb/s port, and the underside of the metal cover has a thermal pad which is in theory there to aid in keeping the drive cooler. There have been rather mixed reviews about this that I have seen, but my 256 GB Samsung 950 PRO drive did seem to appreciate it being there, though any performance differences were negligible under normal use. You can RAID both of these M.2 ports together, along with any add-in U.2 or PCIe-SSD, using the BIOS's built-in utility in any mad mix of these drive types you might like. The board's bottom edge has all sorts of different pin headers and such on it, including two additional SATA ports, bringing the total support here up to six SATA-based devices. The rear I/O section of the board is pretty standard; USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and USB 3.1 plugs are all here, along with a DVI port and an HDMI port. Audio ports include an optical audio plug, and a PS/2 combo port and a LAN port round out the connectivity here. Overly vocal LAN users rejoice! I found an Intel-made LAN chip here on the MSI GAMING PRO CARBON, so no worries need be expressed about that stuff! MSI has been manufacturing some of the most creative motherboard designs in recent memory as illustrated by the stunning Z170A XPOWER GAMING TITANIUM. Instead of relying upon the popular red and black aesthetic, MSI broke the mould and released something iconic which reinvigorated the motherboard market. Additionally, they devised the CARBON series which employs a neutral aesthetic and should appeal to a wider audience. This spawned an influx of motherboards opting for a similar theme and allowing the colour scheme to be customised via RGB lighting. Some time ago, I reviewed the Z170A GAMING PRO CARBON and commended its gorgeous appearance, competitive price and excellent circuitry. Honestly, it’s the first product which comes to mind when people ask which Z170 motherboard to invest in. Of course, Intel’s Kaby Lake is finally upon us and introduces the new Z270 Express chipset. While this isn’t a huge departure from the previous offering, it allows motherboard vendors to forge a plethora of intriguing designs. Given my admiration for the Z170A GAMING PRO CARBON, it seemed the correct move to review its successor for today’s launch. The Z270 GAMING PRO CARBON supports the spectacular Mystic Light technology which can transform the motherboard’s appearance. Not only that, the product has a 12V pin header to attach an RGB strip, 6 fully controllable PWM/DC fan headers and USB 3.1 connectivity. There’s also an M.2 shield which reduces thermal throttling on NVMe devices and Audio Boost 4 with an isolated RGB circuit path. Unfortunately, the motherboard doesn’t support Thunderbolt 3, but this is to be expected given the affordable price point. Overall, the Z270 GAMING PRO CARBON looks promising and I’m expecting it to live up to the legacy of the previous model. Specifications Packaging and Accessories The motherboard is contained in a really bright and colourful box which outlines its RGB functionality. Furthermore, the carbon fibre finish on the hypercar captures your attention and is a good way of illustrating the motherboard’s style. On the rear section, there’s a synopsis of the motherboard’s features including Mystic Light, Military Class 5 components, Steel Armor and more. The information is presented in a slick manner via high-quality diagrams and a bolt, clear font. In terms of accessories, the motherboard is bundled with an I/O shield, quick installation guide, thank you note, cable labels, two SATA cables, 1 to 2 RGB extension Y-Cable, drivers/utilities disk, user’s guide and SLI bridge. Support eTeknix.comBy supporting eTeknix, you help us grow and continue to bring you the latest news, reviews, and competitions. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up with the latest technology news, reviews and more. Share your favourite articles, chat with the team and more. Also check out eTeknix YouTube, where you'll find our latest video reviews, event coverage and features in 4K! Looking for more exciting features on the latest technology? 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