The entire MSI Z370 motherboard lineup designed for Intel’s upcoming 300-series platform has leaked out over at Videocardz. The motherboard lineup will feature support for Intel’s latest 8th gen Coffee Lake CPUs which are arriving on 5th October.

MSI Z370 Motherboard Lineup Leaked and Detailed – Possible Pricing Also Revealed

It looks like MSI is preparing a total of 8 motherboards that will feature the Z370 chipset. As we know, the Z370 platform will include the LGA 1151 socket but won’t allow compatibility for older CPUs. This means that the board will only support Coffee Lake 8th generation CPUs at launch. It can also be seen that MSI Z370 motherboards look visually similar to their Z270 offerings which means MSI will be keeping the good stuff till Z390 arrives in second half of next year. Regardless, following are the details for MSI’s Z370 motherboards.

MSI Z370 Godlike Gaming Motherboard

Coming to the motherboards themselves, first up we have the MSI Z370 Godlike Gaming. This Z370 chipset based motherboard screams high-end judging from its design and features. It has the new LGA 1151v2 socket which is just LGA 1151 repurposed for Coffee Lake chips as additional electrical lanes had to be enabled. The motherboard has a solid 18 phase VRM design that is powered by a 2 x 8 pin connector configuration. The phases are cooled by large heatsinks that come with a heat pipe cooling solution. Just next to the CPU socket are four DDR4 DIMM slots that feature stainless steel brackets for extra durability.

In terms of expansion, this motherboard comes with a load of options. There are four, full length PCIe 3.0 x16 slots, all of which feature metal shielding. There is a single PCIe 3.0 x1 slot but for M.2 expansion, MSI has added triple M.2 slots, two of which are full length and all of them come with the M.2 shield that offers better cooling for M.2 devices. The unique thing about this board is that MSI has even bundled an M.2 riser card, so if you want more M.2 storage devices on the board, you can add up to 2 with the PCIe riser card and that too comes with M.2 shield heatsinks. Now, I am not entirely sure what’s the use of so many M.2 ports as mainstream platforms usually lack the high number of PCIe lanes as the HEDT parts, but it could be possible that MSI has external PCIe controllers underneath the massive PCH heatsink that will allow for high-end storage capabilities of this board to be used to their fullest potential. There’s also a 6 pin auxiallary connector that will help deliver more power to keep the expansion slots fed.

Moving on, we can spot 6 SATA III ports, a U.2 port and a USB 3.1 Type-A internal connector. There are also two USB 3.0 front panel headers, three USB 2.0 front panel headers and a variety of tuning and overclocking switches and knobs at the top right corner of the board. The design scheme of the board is very aggressive and there’s a very colorful RGB display all around. The Xtreme Audio DAC unit can also be spotted and is lit by a green light. You will have the options to change LED color modes or switch them off entirely as per your requirements. Finally, the I/O shield, while not detailed, is fully protected by an I/O cover and will ship with two large antennas that will allow for wireless functionality. Expect this motherboard to cost around the $400 US or even higher price range.

MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC Motherboard

The MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon motherboard sticks with its carbon fiber design with a black / white color theme along with carbon fiber textures on the heatsinks. The motherboard features Mystic Light RGB LEDs that allow it to display colors through the various LEDs scattered around the board. There is a 10 phase PWM supply that features top-of-the-line components such as black solid-state capacitors. Power is supplied through a single 8-pin connector. The LGA 1151 socket on this motherboard supports 8th generation Intel Core processors.

The entire I/O panel is shielded by a cover. VRMs are cooled by heatsinks that do not contain any heatpipes but are big enough to keep them stable under load. MSI Z370 Gaming PRO Carbon houses four DDR4 DIMM slots with dual channel memory support at speeds rated beyond 4000 MHz in OC mode.

Expansion slots include three PCIe 3.0 x16 slots , two of which are shielded by the same metallic cover, three PCIe 3.0 x1 slots and two Turbo M.2 slot. MSI will ship the board with their latest M.2 shield that adds a protection and cooling layer on top of an M.2 device.

The PCH is covered by a large heatsink which comes embedded with Mystic Aura lighting which allows the user to set the colors according to their preferences. Storage ports include 6 SATA III of which two are angled towards the top. There’s also a right angled USB 3.0 connector, Audio Boost chip which is isolated on its own PCB that is indicated by a LED strip featuring RGB capabilities.

MSI Z370 Gaming M5 Motherboard

The MSI Z370 Gaming M5 motherboard also features a very aggressive design with full black color scheme. The motherboard features Mystic Light RGB LEDs that allow it to display colors through the various LEDs scattered around the board. There is a 10 phase PWM supply that features top-of-the-line components such as black solid-state capacitors. Power is supplied through a single 8-pin connector. The LGA 1151 socket on this motherboard supports 8th generation Intel Core processors.

The entire PWM section along with the I/O port is shielded by a cover. VRMs are cooled by heatsinks that do not contain any heatpipes. The MSI Z370 Gaming 5 houses four DDR4 DIMM slots supporting dual channel memory with speeds rated beyond 4000 MHz in OC mode. All DIMM slots are shielded by MSI’s steel armor which increases durability with less PCB bending when installing DIMMs.

Expansion slots include three PCIe 3.0 x16 slots which are shielded by the same metallic cover, three PCIe 3.0 x1 slots and a single M.2 slot. MSI will ship the board with their latest M.2 shields that adds a protection and cooling layer on top of an M.2 device. Expansion slots on the Gaming M5 are also marked with a numbering scheme to make installation easy.

The PCH is covered by a large heatsink which comes embedded with Mystic Aura lighting which allows the user to set the colors according to their preferences. Storage ports include 6 SATA III and a Turbo U.2 port for NVMe SSDs. There’s also a right angled USB 3.0 connector, a diagnostic panel and couple of other goodies.

MSI Z370M Gaming Pro AC Motherboard

The MSI Z370M Gaming Pro AC is a step below the Carbon series and comes with a nice black and grey color scheme. In terms of features, the motherboard comes with a 10 phase PWM supply that is delivered power through a single 8 pin connector. The LGA 1151 socket can be seen next to a set of heatsinks that are laid over the VRMs. There are four DIMM slots that allow for up to 64 GB ram capacity at speeds beyond 4000 MHz.

Expansion slots include two PCIe 3.0 x16 slots which come with metal shielding and there are also two PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. For M.2, the motherboard receives two MSI M.2 Turbo slots. Storage options include four SATA III ports, a single USB 3.0 front panel header and a USB 3.1 internal connector. The motherboard should be priced near the sweet spot and will come with wireless capabilities out of the box.

MSI Z370 SLI Plus Motherboad

The MSI Z370 SLI Plus is a performance and value oriented motherboard. This board has a 10 Phase PWM supply which is cooled by two large heatsinks. The LGA 1151 socket is powered by an 8-pin connector and the board is powered by the 24-pin ATX connector. The motherboard comes in the standard ATX form factor and has four DIMM slots that support MSI’s DDR4 Boost feature. This allows the motherboard to run memory with XMP profiles.

Expansion slots include three PCIe 3.0 x16 (x16/x8/x8 electrical), three PCIe 3.0 x1 and two Turbo M.2 slots that run over the PCIe bus. Storage options include 6 SATA III ports and dual USB 3.0 front panel ports.

The motherboard comes with the latest Audio Boost panel for premium audio quality and the I/O panel is covered by a nice black and white cover. The Pro series has always been close to the budget side so expect this board to cost under 200 bucks.

MSI Z370 Tomahawk Motherboard

MSI will also be releasing the Z370 Tomahawk motherboard which is part of the Arsenal Gaming series. There is a 10 phase PWM supply that features top-of-the-line components such as black solid-state capacitors. Power is supplied through a single 8-pin connector. The LGA 1151 socket on this motherboard supports 8th generation Intel Core processors.

The entire I/O panel is shielded by a cover. VRMs are cooled by heatsinks that do not contain any heatpipes, but are big enough to keep them stable under load. MSI Z370 Tomahawk houses four DDR4 DIMM slots which support dual channel memory with speeds rated beyond 4000 MHz in OC mode.

Expansion slots include three PCIe 3.0 x16 slots and only the top most is shielded by a metallic cover, three PCIe 3.0 x1 slots and two Turbo M.2 slots. The PCH is covered by a large heatsink which features Mystic LED lighting. Storage ports include 6 SATA III connectors. There’s also two USB 3.0 connectors, an Audio Boost chip which is isolated on its own PCB that is indicated by an LED strip featuring red LEDs.

MSI Z370-A Pro Motherboard

Next up, we have the MSI Z370-A Pro which is the more budget optimized offering. Compared to the Z270-A Pro Gaming, we are looking at a better tuned VRM area that comes with 6 phase power delivery and a single 8 pin connector to supply power to the CPU socket. There are some bulky heatsinks on the PWM unit, however the PCH is cooled by a tiny heatsink. There are four DDR4 DIMM slots which will be able to support up to 64 GB memory capacity.

Expansion slots include two PCIe 3.0 x16, four PCIe 3.0 x1 and a single M.2 slot. Storage includes 6 SATA III ports, two USB 3.0 front panel headers and two USB 2.0 front panel headers. The board is very simple in terms of design and has a brown colored PCB. The motherboard should cost less than $120 US at launch.

MSI Z370 Gaming Plus Motherboard

The last motherboard is the MSI Z370 Gaming Plus which is the most value aimed motherboard of the MSI family. The product features a very over done red and black color theme. The Intel 8th gen CPUs are fully supported and are powered by a 6 phase supply which receives power through an 8-pin connector. There are four DDR4 DIMM slots on the board which are also colored in black and red. Expansion slots include two PCIe 3.0 x16, four PCIe 3.0 x1 and a single M.2 slot. Storage option include 6 SATA III ports, two USB 3.0 front panel header and a range of I/O options on the back.

By Hassan Mujtaba