MSI X99A Gaming 9 ACK Extended-ATX Motherboard

The MSI X99A Gaming 9 ACK Extended-ATX Motherboard features a larger-sized form factor than a standard ATX motherboard to support up to five PCI-Express 3.0 x16 expansion cards and Intel's Extreme Edition of processors. It comes with an LGA 2011-3 socket that is capable of handling eight-core processors with 40 PCI lanes. For gaming or industrial-graphics builds, you can link up to four dedicated graphics cards utilising AMD CrossFire or NVIDIA SLI technologies. To complement your high-performance processor as well as GPUs, eight memory slots allow you to build a gaming system or workstation with up to 128GB of DDR4 RAM. This motherboard also comes armed with OC Engine and OC Genie 4 to overclock the CPU, memory, and GPU.

MSI has outfitted this motherboard with various storage-compatibility options such as PCI-based SSDs to SATA hard drives. It offers a single M.2 PCIe slot that has a bandwidth of 32 Gb/s. For your existing optical and storage drives, ten SATA ports give you the ability to build a system with multiple burners or a file server with a RAID array. In addition, this motherboard provides an internal SATA Express port along with two USB 3.1 Type-A ports that deliver data transfer rates up to 10 Gb/s.

This Gaming 9 ACK motherboard sports Killer DoubleShot Pro that combines the integrated 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Gigabit LAN controllers so you can experience unmatched online gaming performance. For audio, Audio Boost 2 is included so you can enjoy 7.1-channel sounds through five OFC audio jacks as well as an optical S/PDIF connector. Aside from these connections, this motherboard is equipped with a single PS/2 combo port and Bluetooth 4.1 as well as two USB 2.0 ports and six USB 3.0 ports.

Features

USB 3.1

Faster than SATA III, USB 3.1 allows for speeds up to 10 Gb/s, doubling the speed compared to USB 3.0 and up to 20x faster than legacy USB 2.0.* Up to 2x faster than USB 3.0

• Up to 20x faster than USB 2.0
• Up to 10 Gb/s data transfer bandwidth
• Boost transfer rate between your PC and external storage devices

Killer DoubleShot Pro

Killer DoubleShot Pro is a combination of Killer Gigabit Ethernet and Wi-Fi adapters to deliver fast online speeds and low latency. It also incorporates Advanced Stream Detect that automatically classifies and prioritises the latency-sensitive applications for online games. Through the detection and prioritisation of gaming traffic, you can fully utilise your network without fear of being kicked from an on-line game because of high ping. This enables multi-tasking without manually enabling or disabling applications, updates, and installations. Killer networking actually allows you to use your PC 24-hours a day.

ACK

Wireless AC Killer delivers 2.9x times faster data throughput when compared to traditional Wireless-N solutions, providing up to 3.5x times lower latency than other Wi-Fi solutions.

Team Up Killer LAN with Killer Wi-Fi

Smart teaming combines the integrated LAN and wireless for an improved gaming experience. The Killer Network Manager decides which apps run on which connection for gaming traffic optimisation.

Streaming Engine

Since X99 lacks an integrated GPU, Intel Quicksync is not available to help while streaming your gaming activities. MSI's Streaming Engine is a dedicated hardware solution that captures videos in real time, without sacrificing CPU and graphics performance. It lets you record your gaming activities at 1080p quality with a 60 Mbps bitrate.* AVerMedia encoding chip

• HD H.264 Hardware Compression
• 1080p Full HD recording
• 60 Mbps bitrate
• No CPU and GPU performance impact
• Optimised for XSplit Gamecaster

XSplit Gamecaster & XSplit Broadcaster

XSplit Gamecaster & Broadcaster V2 helps you easily record your gaming moments and broadcast your live gameplay sessions to Twitch, YouTube, UStream, and more. It's simple, easy to use, and suitable for sharing your gameplay with friends, family, or the world.

Video Editor: assemble and edit your recordings Game Capture Auto Detect: allows for automatic streaming when starting a game Realtime Notes: draw attention while casting with in-game annotations Record & Stream: Use XSplit Gamecaster to stream and record all of your gaming activities

OC Engine

Have you run into unstable situations when pushing your CPU to the limit? This occurs because the internal clocks are linked through the 100 MHz BCLK strap. Thanks to an integrated Clock Generator, MSI motherboards support more flexible BCLK adjustments, from 100 / 125 / 167 MHz straps. Using these straps helps prevent system crashing while overclocking. MSI X99 motherboards come with the Clock Generator, offering even lower jitter and power consumption resulting in even higher stability under extreme conditions.

DDR4

MSI engineers have made sure you can enjoy high-speed DDR4 compatibility. DDR4 brings higher memory speeds with power usage as low as 1.2 V. DDR4 offers higher volume sticks, meaning that memory configurations are possible up to 128 GB.

Dragon Armour

Much like the design of the I/O cover, this protective shield helps keep the audio signal pure, preventing interference from other components.

Protective I/O Cover

A black design I/O cover with Gaming 9 imprinted protects your components from Electro-Magnetic interference, making sure you receive a pure signal.

Audio Boost 2

With MSI Audio Boost 2 and Sound Blaster Cinema 2, you can enjoy clear sound and music through 8-channel HD Audio.

Isolated Audio PCB

With traditional onboard audio, the signal is distorted by electromagnetic signals from the rest of the PCB. Audio Boost 2 acts like a dedicated soundcard by physically isolating the audio circuitry which is separated by a red LED path. Less interference gives you an audio signal with more clarity.

Direct Audio Power

Enjoy a heavy calibre audio experience with Direct Audio Power. A dedicated power input to Audio Boost 2 allows for a more powerful and stable power delivery, resulting in a more explosive and pure sound experience.

Creative Sound Blaster Cinema 2

Thanks to Creative Sound Blaster Cinema 2, you're getting amazing surround sound with just stereo headphones or speakers. Creative Sound Blaster Cinema 2 enables you to clearly hear specific sounds in gaming environments. Hear your enemies perfectly, and make your ears a decisive tool to finish on top.

EMI Shielding

To shield the audio core from EMI (electromagnetic interference) caused by other add-in cards, the audio chip is protected by an EMI cover with backlight illumination.

Dual Headphone Amplifiers

The built-in dual headphone amplifier rewards your headphones with studio level sound quality up to 600 ohms delivered from your gaming PC. MSI Gaming motherboards are designed to be easy to use, featuring front and rear audio outputs fuelled by Audio Boost 2.

Audio Capacitors

With the use of professional Nichicon Japanese capacitors specially designed for audio purposes, MSI Gaming motherboards provide the high level audio signal filtering, delivering high fidelity sound with strong acoustics and realism.* Acoustic series

• Lower Tolerance
• Lower Dielectric Absorption
• Lower ESR
• Lower Leakage Current
• Higher Stability

Golden Audio Connectors

With golden audio connectors you get the best possible signal output with less chance of distortion.* Up to 600 ohms sound with strong acoustics

• Dedicated amplified output (red) optimised for studio-grade headgear
• Superb signal conductivity and will not wear over time

USB Audio Power

When connecting multiple USB devices, most motherboards will be unable to deliver a strong 5V power signal to all USB ports. This is highly noticeable with external USB DACs where sound quality degrades as the motherboard is unable to deliver a perfect USB signal.

MSI USB Audio Power continuously delivers a stable 5V current to the USB ports on motherboards, making sure you can continue to enjoy the audio standard you expect. Benefits:* Enhances the USB audio quality

• Stable 5V power and improved signal transmission over USB

SATA Express

SATA Express is a solution in high speed storage through PCI-Express, providing more bandwidth for the SSDs up to 10 Gb/s.

Push Your SSD to the Limit with Turbo M.2

Turbo M.2 is the successor to M.2 10 Gb/s, offering up to 3x more performance up to 32 Gb/s using Gen 3 x4. M.2 uses a small form factor and is compatible with three different sizes to fit most storage solutions.

SteamOS Support Out of the Box

MSI is committed to PC gaming and that is why MSI Gaming motherboards support SteamOS by default. Because of this, MSI works close with numerous tier 1 system integrators that release their SteamBOX PCs.

Military Class 4 Components

Military Class 4 includes high quality components. The Hi-c CAP, Super Ferrite Choke, and Dark CAP will help make sure that your PC runs more stable under extreme gaming conditions.

Hi-C Cap A Hi-c Cap is a very small but efficient capacitor. Besides helping to ensure enough spacing around a CPU socket to instal large coolers, it also allows for 93% energy efficiency

Super Ferrite Choke Super Ferrite Choke uses a ferrite core that is super-permeable. This allows the choke to run at a 35°C lower temperature, have a 30% higher current capacity, a 20% improvement in a power efficient, and improved overclocking stability

Dark Cap With their aluminium core design, Dark CAP's have been a staple in motherboard design and helps to provide lower Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR) as well as its over 10-year lifespan

Guard Pro

Circuit Protection Carefully selected materials, multiple PCB layers, and shielding result in the circuit protection for our GAMING motherboards

ECO Power With the MSI ECO Centre, you can physically cut the power to unused chips to save up to 29% power usage

Humidity Protection A 10% reduction in moisture absorption helps prevent "Conductive Anodic Filament." Untreated PCB's can have a 10x higher failure rate

High Temperature Protection All key components used in MSI motherboards have all passed military testing to help ensure stable operation in harsh environments

ESD Protection Each and every I/O port is protected against the hazards of Electro Static Discharge

EMI Protection All MSI motherboards comply with American FCC regulations and help to reduce the impact of Electromagnetic Interference

Gaming Device Port

The MSI Gaming Device Port is optimised to deliver the connectivity for high end gaming mice to fully utilise its speed. This results in a faster and smoother mouse response in games.

Gaming Benefits:* More responsive

• Smoother gameplay
• Faster reactions Technical Benefits:* 3x more gold than regular connectors
• 10x longer lifetime when plugging/un-plugging
• Helps prevent oxidation

OC Genie 4

OC Genie is a built-in hardware overclocking technology on motherboards. With this one-second overclocking option, just hit the button and your PC gets another adrenalin shot. This will deliver up to 20% of extra performance for the CPU, memory, and iGPU.

Boost Your Frame Rate

Outperform your competition with the MSI Gaming app, which allows simultaneous control of both your motherboard and graphics card's overclocking.

Simply select your preferred mode with the click of a button:* Silent

• Gaming
• OC These modes allow you to tune the system to your preference without any technical knowledge of overclocking. Additionally, Scenamax quickly adjusts the colour temperature and contrast to the viewing scenario.

Click BIOS 4

The MSI Click BIOS 4 is UEFI BIOS with optimisations for Windows 8 that reacts faster, runs smoother, and has better mouse support.

Optimised for Multiple Graphics Cards

The X99A Gaming 9 motherboard supports Quad SLI / CrossFire. The PCI-Express slot placement also helps allow for better fitting and airflow.

Software

Live Update 6 MSI's Live Update automatically downloads and instals drivers, BIOS, and software updates

Command Centre MSI's Command Centre software is a tool that helps push your motherboard to the max. With an intuitive touch-ready interface, Command Centre allows users to tune settings to help increase system stability, maximise overclocking performance, and adjust cooling features.

Unlimited RAMdisk MSI Command Centre integrated an unlimited RAMdisk. With a RAMdisk, you can create a virtual drive from your system memory, helping to enable speeds up to 20x faster than an SSD. With a RAMdisk, you can speed up system performance, load complete game images, as well as speed up games, apps, and Internet browsers

Super Charger With the MSI Super Charger, you can deliver more power than regular USB chargers to your smartphone, tablet, USB game controller, or portable console. This allows you to quickly charge these devices for use when you're not gaming on your PC, eliminating the need for wall power sockets

USB Redrivers USB 3.0 signal integrity suffers with longer cable lengths. The USB 3.0 Redrivers on MSI Gaming motherboards, connected to the internal USB 3.0 ports, enable you to use longer USB 3.0 cables, especially in longer chassis

Smart Fan Control Smart Fan Control gives you control of all the fans on the motherboard. This is beneficial for gamers and overclockers. Users will be able to real-time monitor the status of the system fans, create profiles, and record fan speed, voltage, and temperature status into a log file

Dragon Heatsink This motherboard features an oversized heatsink to help provide increased thermal transfer and heat dissipation to enable your system to run intensive gaming sessions

OC Essentials

OC Essentials are a small set of tools that help get the best performance out of your motherboard:* Increase stability

• Assist in troubleshooting
• Allow you to keep your complete system in cheque
• Allow for simple management With OC Essentials, you can keep your mind on gaming and be confident that you have the tools to maximise your performance

Connectivity

Be sure to take advantage of all the ports that this motherboard provides:

Audio Boost 2 30µg Gold plated Audio Connectors Amplified Audio

USB Audio Power Optimised stable 5V USB ports Good sound quality for external DACs

Gaming Device Port Optimised for high-rate gaming keyboards and mice Triple gold plating for an extended operational use

Specifications