MSI – Z370-A PRO. QUICK OVERVIEW [In 2021]

The best motherboards make certain that your PC and all of its components operate at their optimal performance. So whether you’re constructing a PC or need one for the new graphics card or processor you bought, it is wise to invest.

Choosing the best motherboard for your PC is an important part of the process. The CPU, GPU, RAM, and other components are essential, but it’s the motherboard that holds them all together. It’s easy to make the wrong choice with a motherboard. That’s why I will recommend you the best motherboard in the market which is MSI-Z-A PRO to you.

The MSI Z370-A Pro is an affordable motherboard from the MSI Pro series. The Pro Series is designed for content creators and professionals who can take advantage of the horsepower of high-end Coffee Lake CPUs and need reliability and performance.

In this review, the Z370-A at $ 110, tries to find their way around with its numerous features and support overclocking in order to get the most out of the installed processor. I have mentioned its features and pros and cons below which will help you out to decide whether it suits your needs or not.

Overview

The Z370-A Pro is a part of 13 different MSI Z370 motherboard families. The product line includes different types of game boards, namely enthusiast gaming, high-performance gaming and Arsenal Gaming and Pro series, which are designed to provide users with different functions and appearances. Z370-A Pro is the cheapest product in the series. It should not be used as an RGB light show or to give a dazzling impression, but should be used by business users who want or need high performance and use the latest Intel Coffee Lake processors like the i7-8700K and do not want to pay more than needed for features that may not be used.

MSI has long been one of the most popular names in the gaming motherboard industry and has been behind some truly impressive motherboards since opening its doors. The brand has developed a series of impressive motherboards since opening its doors, but few have been more heartily embraced than its Z370-A Pro.

An overview of its features are as follows

• Processor: Supports 9^th/ 8^th Gen Intel^® Core™ / Pentium^® Gold / Celeron^® processors for LGA 1151 socket
• Memory: Supports DDR4 Memory, up to 4000+(OC) MHz
• DDR4 Boost: Advanced technology provided by MSI OC lab to ensure maximum compatibility for overclocking performance.
• AUDIO BOOST: Reward your ears with studio grade sound quality for the most immersive audio experience
• MULTI-GPU: With Steel Armor PCI-E slots. Supports AMD 2-Way Crossfire
• Heavy plated heatsinks: Leading heatsink design, for maximum cooling
• EZ Debug LED: The easiest way to troubleshoot
• Turbo M.2: Delivering Speeds Up to 32Gb/s, Intel Optane Memory Ready
• PCI-E Steel Armor: Protecting VGA cards against bending and EMI
• X-Boost: Great tool to boost your USB & Storage performance
• Double ESD Protection: Double layer grounding motherboard mounting holes
• Military Class 5, Guard-Pro: Latest evolution in high-quality components for best protection and efficiency
• Click BIOS 5: Award-winning BIOS with high resolution scalable font, favorites, and search function
• VR Ready: Best virtual reality game experience without latency, reduces motion sickness

Specifications

• Brand: MSI
• CPU Socket: LGI 1151
• Weight: 2.80 lbs
• Item Dimensions: 13.7 x 10.6 x 3.1 inches
• Compatible Processors: Intel Celeron, 8th Generation Intel Core, Intel Pentium
• Chipset Type: Intel_z370_express
• Onboard Graphics: Intel HD Graphics (supported CPUs)
• USB: 2 x USB 3.1 (2 Rear, Type-A and -C, all via ASMedia ASM3142)
  8 x USB 3.0 (4 Rear, 4 Front, all via Intel Z370)
  6 x USB 2.0 (2 Rear, 4 Front, all via Intel Z370)
• Networking: Intel I219-V Gigabit Ethernet

Key Features

Just like any other product on the market, there are some crucial features that are worth highlighting. In the case of the MSI Z370-A Pro motherboard, some of the key features to look at including the heat sinks, fan headers, display, storage, and so on.

Heat Sinks

According to MSI’s website, the heat sinks are heavily plated for the most amount of cooling possible. This works in conjunction with the number of fan headers, which come to a total of six, to ensure the computer will not overheat.

4k Display

The motherboard supports the “latest display connectors for new technologies” and allows for a 4K display on compatible devices.

Overclocking

For overclocking, the $110 motherboard was able to reach 5.1 GHz. As is the case with overclocking this CPU, we are limited by the cooling and not the motherboard.

Speed

The OC Genie 4 one-touch button raised both the all-core CPU speed by 100 MHz and the single-core speed by 100 MHz as well, yielding 4.4 GHz and 4.8 GHz clocks.

Storage

On the storage side of things, the MSI Z370-A Pro gives users the full complement of six SATA ports and has one M.2 slot for high-speed storage.

USB Connectivity

For USB connectivity, there are a total of six ports on the back (four USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0) along with internal headers for a total of 14 possible USB ports (eight USB 3.0 and six USB 2.0). Missing is USB 3.1 support which if needed will have to come from an add-in card.

PCle Slots

The board includes a total of six PCIe slots, two full-length, and four x1 size slots.

Everlasting Quality

It includes the finest quality components and integrating the latest technological innovations delivers the best possible professional experience. Rigorous quality testing under the most extreme conditions ensures a super reliable, long-lasting, and high-performance motherboard.

Cooling

Cooling your PC is essential for reliable performance. This includes enough fan headers with full control to allow you to cool your system to the max.

Professional Sound Quality

MSI Audio Boost delivers the highest sound quality through the use of premium quality audio components. This lets you enjoy breathtaking, game-changing sound to create the most dynamic soundscapes.

DE-POP Protection

Audio Boost protects your ears by eliminating those annoying loud popping sounds when you plug/unplug devices or turn your PC on/off.

These are some of the many key features of this particular motherboard that are worth looking at in greater detail, as they stand apart from other motherboards, especially of the older and outdated variety.

Quality

This motherboard is made up of Military Class 5 and MilitaryClass 6 components. These types of components are durable and strong enough to protect against a variety of twists and turns of life.

MSI designed this model to take into account humidity, temperature, circuitry, ESD, and EMI. These protections are necessary because many other motherboards are known to be damaged by moisture and temperature. MSI claims its Z370-A Pro is “stronger than steel. Surprisingly, this is not an exaggeration.

This motherboard has heavily plated heat sinks and even actual steel armor to protect VGA cards from bending and electromagnetic interference.

Compatibility

As mentioned above, it is designed to be used with 8th generation processors. There is an LGA1151 socket. The socket type is compatible with older processors, but the generation and compatibility of the chipset is different. Although this is not necessarily a bad thing, because the 8th generation processors are very good, it may affect the decision.  You should purchase it according to the construction situation.

There is also a PS/2 connection. This port can be used for all old mice and keyboards that do not have a USB port. They are not modern ports but may be useful in certain situations.

It should also be noted that there is only one display port and no HDMI. Devices that require HDMI support also require an adapter.  Of course, if the GPU used with the build has HDMI, the adapters will not be necessary.

Price

The MSI Z370 PC Pro is a price-sensitive product, meaning its unique selling point in a marketplace full of expensive gaming options is its low price (£110/$120). However, it should still be noted that there are a number of Z370 motherboards that are more affordable. MSI, for instance, produces the Z370A-Pro (£90/$100) and Z370 Tomahawk (£100/$110) while rival motherboard vendors produce models such as the ASUS Prime Z370-P (£110/$120), ASRock Z370 Pro4 (£95/$100) and Gigabyte Z370P D3 (£90/$105).

Price need not comprise the entire narrative as it is one thing to produce a low-cost Z370 motherboard, but another to produce one that’s still worthy of purchasing. While consumers appreciate a lower price point, the trade-offs that are made to bring that price down are crucial and should inform the buying decision.

The type of decisions MSI has made to keep retail pricing down include a fairly basic CPU VRM implementation, a decade-old audio codec, no official SLI support, and trimming back on “nice to haves” such as power and reset buttons, M.2 cooling, or a front-panel USB 3.1 connection.

That said, MSI has still managed to include features like dual M.2, onboard RGB lighting, USB 3.1, Intel Gigabit LAN, and a sleek-looking matte-black design at a very affordable price.

To Sum Up

The MSI Z370-A PRO [7B48-001R] motherboard supports 8th generation Intel processors (Coffee Lake series). The boards have a larger number of PCI-e slots for connecting and using multiple graphics cards at the same time. With its relatively low price, it is ideal for mining.

It is one of the cheapest motherboards for Intel Coffee Lake (Z chipset for 1151v2 sockets) with ATX format with good quality and functionality. It is an excellent choice for mining,

It is an excellent choice for mining, both in its functionality and reliable base of electrical components.

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