MSI's X99S MPower motherboard reviewed

Intel's X99 chipset and Haswell-E processor represent the most devastating combo in the desktop division. The chipset opens with a flurry of USB and SATA ports, plus a dash of M.2 and SATA Express. Then comes the thunder: a 22-nm CPU with quad DDR4 memory channels, up to eight Hyper-Threaded Haswell cores, and as many as 40 PCIe lanes. No other desktop duo comes close to that kind of firepower.

One's options are somewhat limited on the CPU front. Intel sells just three versions of the chip, and only the top model has ...