The number of top-shelf motherboards from MSI that are based on AMD's X370 chipset just doubled with the introduction of the X370 Gaming M7 Ack. It joins the X370 XPower Gaming Titanium as the only two motherboards from MSI that cost more than $200.
In this case, the X370 Gaming M7 Ack is available to preorder from B&H Photo for $240. That's not too shabby compared to the X370 XPower Gaming Titanium, which we found online for $240 after mail-in-rebate. Even still, it might be worth waiting until other vendors list the new motherboard to see if that's the best available price (MSI did not announce and MSRP).
Pricing aside, this is a feature-rich motherboard that leaves little to be desired. It starts with onboard Wi-Fi, which itself is not a rarity, though it's kind of interesting how many motherboards still do not offer it as an amenity. As implemented here, MSI went with Killer DoubleShot Pro solution, which includes a Killer E2500 GbE LAN port and a PCIe Wi-Fi card with antenna.
Two of this board's three PCIe x16 slots are reinforced with metal to accommodate heavy graphics cards. It also has three PCIe x1 slots for other types of expansion, such as discrete audio.
Storage options include six SATA 6Gbps ports, two M.2 slots, and a U.2 slot. A with pretty much every motherboard out there, RAID is supported here (0/1/10).
Rear connectivity consists of three USB 2.0 ports, a USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C port, USB, a USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A port, and six USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A ports. You'll also find audio ports connecting to the board's onboard Realtek ALC1220 codec. All of these are protected with an I/O cover.
Other features include high-end components, a BIOS flashback feature that does require a CPU or graphics card to be installed, VR Boost (consists of a dedicated chip designed to ensure a strong signal to USB ports used for VR headsets), six fan headers, and customizable lighting.
