Introduction

Very occasionally, motherboard manufacturers give their R&D department free rein to create something special. And expensive. A halo product that isn't designed or even conceived to sell in large numbers and exists only to boost a brand's credentials and show what it can do. The MSI MEG X870E Godlike X Edition is one of those boards, built also to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Godlike range that started on the X99 chipset, We can say with a good degree of certainty that the likelihood of anyone reading this owning one are extremely remote compared to something like the excellent MAG X870E Tomahawk.

Of course, that doesn't mean we shouldn't review it, and it certainly doesn't mean you can't drool over it or wish your motherboard had some of its features. Chances are in the future your motherboard will, as lots of features have started out on boards such as this one only to trickle down and become commonplace, such as integrated I/O shields or tool-free heatsinks.



Of course there's quite a bit more going on with MSI's new flagship, AMD motherboard, which is limited to 1,000 samples, and over the next few pages we'll be taking a look at what's in the box, what features it has, how it performs and ultimately if MSI has achieved its aim of creating the most potent and drool-worthy motherboard available. And of course to the lucky few who will own one, a little insight into what that would be like.

Specifications

Packaging and Contents

The packaging is exquisite, with a large box covered in an MEG X870E Godlike X Edition sheath that gives an overview of the monster board and equally monstrous accessory set inside.


We then have a flip-open interior compartment that reveals the accessories and there are some very interesting and unique items here. However, we're not done with the box just yet.


The accessory sections swivel out to reveal the motherboard itself. It's a suitable amount of fanfare and rightly so given its asking price. First and foremost we have the M.2 Xpander-Z Slider Gen 5, which we saw at Computex, housing two M.2 PCIe Gen 5 ports in hot-swappable bays in an actively-cooled PCIe expansion card. There's also an EZ Control Hub, which boosts the number of fan and RGB headers, as well as a collector's stand for displaying a customized, illuminated heatsink. There's a little plush collectable MSI dragon and then a mountain of cables and small accessories.



The full list of accessories includes:

• 1× Wi-Fi antenna
• 4× SATA cables
• 1× M.2 Xpander-Z Slider Gen 5
• 1× EZ Control Hub
• 1× Anniversary Plush Collectable
• 1× Collector's stand
• 1× 1 to 3 ARGB splitter cable
• 1× 4-pin ARGB extension cable
• 1× 1 to 3 EZ Conn-Cable
• 1× EZ Link cable
• 1× EZ Control Hub SATA power cable
• 1× M.2 Xpander card fan control cable
• 1× EZ front panel cable
• 1× 2x Thermistor cables, M.2 Xpander card thermal pads
• 1× EZ M.2 Clips II remover
• 1× EZ Control Hub screw set
• 1× USB drive
• 1× MSI sticker set
• 1× Quick start guide