Overall and Final Verdict
Having run through the features, software, and performance of the MSI Z270 SLI Plus I can finally put it all together and see how the board compares to everything else on the market. First off I really like the flat black board and heatsinks with just silver for an accent color. It is simple and is going to look amazing in every single build. The Rear I/O cover helps clean things up as well. Honestly, this is basically the Kylo Ren motherboard, especially if you look at the design on the I/O cover. To keep things simple the SLI Plus also just has white accent lighting, but MSI did slip an RGB header on there as well to control case lighting as needed, though the software looks to only let you set that to 7 different colors, so I would avoid it.
The board isn’t really packed with features, but you do get all of the connections you should need for any current build with its 6 SATA connections, enough PCIe for SLI or Crossfire, and two M.2’s. The metal shields for the memory and PCIe x16 slots are a nice touch as well. Even the M.2’s have steel armor as well. Really my only complaint was that there aren’t any of the other future connections other than the m.2’s so you don’t get SATA Express, U.2, and the new internal USB 3.1 header. Of those I really only think that new USB header is going to be an issue, I really don’t see the other two taking off at this point.
With all of the features you might need, a simple but good look, and MSIs software the Z270 SLI Plus is a great board and with an MSRP of $149.99 it actually ends up being a good value. I did, however, spend a lot of time comparing it with the MSI Z270 SLI and frankly, if you are just looking at the two specification listings and the boards you might think they are the same board with just a little less of the silver accents. This really caught my eye because the SLI Plus costs even less. But here is a quick run through the differences. The Plus has the Steel Armor on the memory and m.2’s, the RGB header for case lighting, and VR Boost. Really for $10 less, the Z270 SLI ends up being a better buy. I would prefer to have the Steel Armor protection on the M.2 and DDR connections, but all of the other differences are negligible. Either way, both boards end up being great buys for anyone building a Z270 build that just wants a simple non-RGB build.
Live Pricing: HERE