Eight SATA ports are included and though there positioning is normal, this area of the motherboard feels a little squeezed. The two USB front panel headers could have been positioned better, allowing for the SATA Express to move next to the normal SATA ports, not a show stopper however.
The PCIe slots are clear and free from interference. We have had a number of graphics cards installed and we had no issues with the large heatsink clearance on the motherboard. The Audio Boost power switch could have been in a slightly better place, this is completely covered by any dual slot card you install in slot one.
Quarter by Quarter
The motherboard impressed us with clean and simple lines. Though probably aided by the black and red colour scheme, it is one of the nicer X99 motherboards out there.
Placements are pretty standard with no unusual placements around the board. The DDR4 memory slots only have clips on the edge closest to the top of the motherboard, aiding memory removal and installation when required.
MSI have positioned the M.2 slot between the four PCIe slots and next to a PCIe 2.0 slot. There isn’t a better spot, unless you have a bulky or hot card to put in the adjacent slot. SATA Express at the bottom of the motherboard along with the familiar MSI OC Genie, power and reset buttons.
The fourth PCIe slot if very close to the OC Genie, power and reset buttons. There are a lot of essential connectors that maybe covered up if you are using a dual slot card here. We are not going to mark it down for this, most if not all high end boards do this, there should have been a better placement for the OC Genie button group however.
MSI X99A Gaming 7 Motherboard Review
Package - 8.5
Performance - 9.3
Price - 9
Consumer Experience - 9.5
9.1
We really enjoyed our time with the MSI X99A Gaming 7 Motherboard. It has a feel and quality to it that gives it a bit of an X Factor, and not in the trash TV sense. The bundle is a bit naff and we felt it had been thrown into the box without much care and attention. Once it was up and running however, it was a charmer.