MSI MEG X299 CREATION User manual

1
Quick Start
DDR4 Memory
Graphics Card
SATA Hard Disk Drive SATA DVD Drive
Phillips Screwdriver
Chassis
Power Supply Unit
A Package of Screws
Thermal Paste
Quick Start
Thank you for purchasing the MSI®MEG X299 CREATION motherboard. This Quick
Start section provides demonstration diagrams about how to install your computer.
Some of the installations also provide video demonstrations. Please link to the URL to
watch it with the web browser on your phone or tablet. You may have even link to the
URL by scanning the QR code.
Preparing Tools and Components
Intel®LGA 2066 CPU
CPU Fan

2Safety Information
Safety Information
yThe components included in this package are prone to damage from electrostatic
discharge (ESD). Please adhere to the following instructions to ensure successful
computer assembly.
yEnsure that all components are securely connected. Loose connections may cause
the computer to not recognize a component or fail to start.
yHold the motherboard by the edges to avoid touching sensitive components.
yIt is recommended to wear an electrostatic discharge (ESD) wrist strap when
handling the motherboard to prevent electrostatic damage. If an ESD wrist strap is
not available, discharge yourself of static electricity by touching another metal object
before handling the motherboard.
yStore the motherboard in an electrostatic shielding container or on an anti-static pad
whenever the motherboard is not installed.
yBefore turning on the computer, ensure that there are no loose screws or metal
components on the motherboard or anywhere within the computer case.
yDo not boot the computer before installation is completed. This could cause
permanent damage to the components as well as injury to the user.
yIf you need help during any installation step, please consult a certified computer
technician.
yAlways turn off the power supply and unplug the power cord from the power outlet
before installing or removing any computer component.
yKeep this user guide for future reference.
yKeep this motherboard away from humidity.
yMake sure that your electrical outlet provides the same voltage as is indicated on the
PSU, before connecting the PSU to the electrical outlet.
yPlace the power cord such a way that people can not step on it. Do not place anything
over the power cord.
yAll cautions and warnings on the motherboard should be noted.
yIf any of the following situations arises, get the motherboard checked by service
personnel:
Liquid has penetrated into the computer.
The motherboard has been exposed to moisture.
The motherboard does not work well or you can not get it work according to user
guide.
The motherboard has been dropped and damaged.
The motherboard has obvious sign of breakage.
yDo not leave this motherboard in an environment above 60°C (140°F), it may damage
the motherboard.

3
Safety Information
Installing a Processor
1
2
3
6
4
5
789
10
11
12
13
https://youtu.be/ecdkLMmkya4

4Safety Information
Installing DDR4 memory
http://youtu.be/T03aDrJPyQs
1
2
2
3
DIMMC1

5
Safety Information
Connecting the Front Panel Header
http://youtu.be/DPELIdVNZUI
RESET SW
POWER SW
POWER LED+
POWER LED-
HDD LED
HDD LED
RESET SW
JFP1
HDD LED HDD LED -
HDD LED +
POWER LED -
POWER LED +
POWER LED
1
2 10
9
+
+
+- -- -
+
Power LED
HDD LED Reset Switch
Reserved
Power Switch
JFP1
1 HDD LED + 2 Power LED +
3 HDD LED - 4 Power LED -
5 Reset Switch 6 Power Switch
7 Reset Switch 8 Power Switch
9 Reserved 10 No Pin

6Safety Information
Installing the Motherboard
1
2

7
Safety Information
Installing SATA Drives
http://youtu.be/RZsMpqxythc
1
23
4
5

8Safety Information
1
Installing a Graphics Card
http://youtu.be/mG0GZpr9w_A
2
3
4
5
6

9
Safety Information
Connecting Peripheral Devices

10 Safety Information
Connecting the Power Connectors
http://youtu.be/gkDYyR_83I4
ATX_PWR1
PCIE_PWR1
CPU_PWR1 CPU_PWR2
CPU_PWR3

11
Safety Information
Power On
1
4
2
3

12 Contents
Contents
Quick Start ............................................................................................................. 1
Preparing Tools and Components.......................................................................... 1
Safety Information................................................................................................. 2
Installing a Processor............................................................................................. 3
Installing DDR4 memory ........................................................................................ 4
Connecting the Front Panel Header....................................................................... 5
Installing the Motherboard..................................................................................... 6
Installing SATA Drives............................................................................................. 7
Installing a Graphics Card...................................................................................... 8
Connecting Peripheral Devices .............................................................................. 9
Connecting the Power Connectors....................................................................... 10
Power On............................................................................................................... 11
Specifications....................................................................................................... 15
ThunderboltM3 Card Specification....................................................................... 21
JCORSAIR1 Connector Specification.................................................................... 21
Package contents................................................................................................. 22
Block Diagram .................................................................................................... 23
Rear I/O Panel...................................................................................................... 24
2.5G LAN Port LED Status Table .......................................................................... 24
1G LAN Port LED Status Table ............................................................................. 24
Audio Ports Configuration.................................................................................... 25
Realtek Audio Console ......................................................................................... 26
Installing Antennas............................................................................................... 27
Overview of Components .................................................................................... 28
CPU Socket ........................................................................................................... 30
DIMM Slots............................................................................................................ 31
PCI_E1~5: PCIe Expansion Slots.......................................................................... 34
PCIe and M2_3 slot bandwidth table.................................................................... 34
U2_1: U.2 Connector............................................................................................. 37
M2_1~3: M.2 Slots (Key M) ................................................................................... 38
Installing M.2 XPANDER-AERO Card ................................................................... 39
SATA1~8: SATA 6Gb/s Connectors ....................................................................... 41
VRAID1: Virtual RAID on CPU Connector............................................................. 41
JFP1, JFP2: Front Panel Connectors................................................................... 42
JAUD1: Front Audio Connector ............................................................................ 42
CPU_PWR1~3, ATX_PWR1, PCIE_PWR1: Power Connectors.............................. 43
OC1: GAME BOOST Knob ..................................................................................... 44

13
Contents
OC_RT1: OC Retry Jumper................................................................................... 46
OC_FS1: OC Force Enter BIOS Jumper................................................................ 46
JSLOW1: Slow Mode Booting Jumper.................................................................. 46
CPU_FAN1, PUMP_FAN1, SYS_FAN1~4, EXS_FAN1~2: Fan Connectors ........... 47
W_FLOW1: Water Flow Meter Connector............................................................. 48
T_SEN1: Thermal Sensor Connector................................................................... 48
JTBT1: Thunderbolt Add-on Card Connector ...................................................... 48
Installing ThunderboltM3 Card ............................................................................ 49
JUSB3~4: USB 3.1 Gen1 Connectors ................................................................... 50
JUSB1~2: USB 2.0 Connectors............................................................................. 51
JUSB5: USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C Connector............................................................. 51
POWER1, RESET1: Power Button, Reset Button ................................................. 52
JBAT1: Clear CMOS (Reset BIOS) Jumper........................................................... 52
JCI1: Chassis Intrusion Connector....................................................................... 53
BIOS_SW1: Multi-BIOS Switch............................................................................. 54
JRGB1, JRAINBOW1~2: RGB LED connectors..................................................... 55
JCORSAIR1: CORSAIR Connector ........................................................................ 56
Onboard LEDs ...................................................................................................... 57
EZ Debug LED....................................................................................................... 57
DIMM LEDs ........................................................................................................... 57
XMP LED ............................................................................................................... 57
Multi-BIOS LEDs................................................................................................... 58
JPWRLED1: LED power input............................................................................... 58
Debug Code LED................................................................................................... 59
Hexadecimal Character Table .............................................................................. 59
Boot Phases.......................................................................................................... 59
Debug Code LED Table ......................................................................................... 59
ACPI States Codes................................................................................................ 64
CPU Temperature ................................................................................................. 64
Installing OS, Drivers & Utilities ......................................................................... 65
Installing Windows®10......................................................................................... 65
Installing Drivers .................................................................................................. 65
Installing Utilities ................................................................................................. 65
MYSTIC LIGHT...................................................................................................... 66
Device LED effect control screen ......................................................................... 66
Nahimic 3 ............................................................................................................. 69
Installation and Update ........................................................................................ 69
Audio Tab .............................................................................................................. 69
Microphone Tab .................................................................................................... 70
Sound Tracker Tab................................................................................................ 71

14 Contents
Settings Tab .......................................................................................................... 71
BIOS Setup ........................................................................................................... 72
Entering BIOS Setup............................................................................................. 72
Resetting BIOS...................................................................................................... 73
Updating BIOS....................................................................................................... 73
EZ Mode ................................................................................................................ 75
Advanced Mode .................................................................................................... 77
SETTINGS.............................................................................................................. 78
Advanced............................................................................................................... 78
Boot....................................................................................................................... 84
Security................................................................................................................. 85
Save & Exit............................................................................................................ 86
OC.......................................................................................................................... 87
M-FLASH .............................................................................................................. 94
OC PROFILE.......................................................................................................... 95
HARDWARE MONITOR.......................................................................................... 96
RAID Configuration.............................................................................................. 97
Enabling Intel®Rapid Storage Technology........................................................... 97
Creating RAID Volume ......................................................................................... 98
Removing a RAID Volume .................................................................................... 99
Resetting Disks to Non-RAID............................................................................. 100
Rebuilding RAID Array........................................................................................ 101
Installing RAID Driver......................................................................................... 102
Installing Intel®Rapid Storage Technology Software ........................................ 102
Intel®Optane™ Memory Configuration ............................................................ 103
System Requirements ....................................................................................... 103
Installing the Intel®Optane™ memory .............................................................. 103
Removing the Intel®Optane™ memory ............................................................. 105
Troubleshooting ................................................................................................ 106

15
Specifications
Specifications
CPU Supports Intel®Core™ X-Series Processor Family for
LGA2066 Socket
Chipset Intel® X299 Chipset
Memory
y8x DDR4 memory slots
yQuad channel memory architecture with the CPU that
supports up to 4-channels DDR4**
Quad channel support up to 128GB
X-series processor support DDR4 4200(OC)/ 4100(OC)/
4000(OC)/ 3800(OC)/ 3733(OC)/ 3600(OC)/ 3466(OC)/
3400(OC)/ 3333(OC)/ 3200(OC)/ 3000(OC)/ 2933(OC)/
2800(OC)/ 2666/ 2400/ 2133 MHz*
yDual channel memory architecture with the CPU that
supports up to 2-channels DDR4**
Dual channel support up to 64GB
X-series processor support DDR4 4133(OC)/ 4000(OC)/
3866(OC)/ 3800(OC)/ 3733(OC)/ 3600(OC)/ 3466(OC)/
3400(OC)/ 3333(OC)/ 3200(OC)/ 3000(OC)/ 2933(OC)/
2800(OC)/ 2666/ 2400/ 2133 MHz*
ySupports Intel®Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
* Please refer www.msi.com for more information on compatible memory.
** Please refer the DIMM Slots section for more details.
Expansion Slot
y4x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots
Support x16/x0/x16/x8, x8/x8/x16/x8 mode with the
44-lane CPU.*
Support x16/x0/x8/x4, x8/x8/x8/x4 mode with the 28-
lane CPU.*
Support x8/x0/x4/x4 mode with the 16-lane CPU.*
y1x PCIe 3.0 x1 slot
* Please refer to page 34 for PCIe 3.0 bandwidth table.
Multi-GPU ySupports NVIDIA®SLI™Technology
ySupports AMD®CrossFire™Technology
LAN y1x Intel I219-V Gigabit LAN controller
y1x Realtek RTL8125-CG 2.5G LAN controller
Wirsless LAN &
Bluetooth®
Intel®Wireless-AC 9260
ySupports 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, MU-MIMO Rx, 2.4GHz/ 5GHz
(160MHz) up to 1.73Gbps
ySupports Bluetooth®2.1, 2.1+EDR, 3.0,4.0, 5
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16 Specifications
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Storage
Intel®X299 Chipset
y8x SATA 6Gb/s ports*
y3x M.2 slots (Key M)
M2_1 & M2_2 support up to PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA 6Gb/s,
2242/ 2260/ 2280/ 22110 storage devices
M2_3 supports up to PCIe 3.0 x4, 2242/ 2260/ 2280
storage devices**
Intel®Optane™ Memory Ready for M2_1, M2_2 slots ***
y1x U.2 port
Supports PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe storage
* The SATA1 connector will be unavailable when a SATA M.2 SSD has been
installed in the M.2_1 slot.
* The SATA2 connector will be unavailable when a SATA M.2 SSD has been
installed in the M.2_2 slot.
** M2_3 slot and PCIe slots share the bandwidth. Please refer to page 34 for
details.
*** Before using Intel®Optane™ memory modules, please ensure that you have
updated the drivers and BIOS to the latest version from MSI website.
RAID
Intel®X299 Chipset
ySupports RAID 0, RAID1, RAID 5 and RAID 10 for SATA
storage devices
ySupports RAID 0 and RAID 1 for M.2 PCIe storage devices
USB
yIntel®X299 Chipset
4x USB 3.1 Gen1 (SuperSpeed USB) ports available
through the internal USB connectors
6x USB 2.0 (High-speed USB) ports(2 ports on the
back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB
connectors)
yASMedia®ASM3142 Chipset
3x USB 3.1 Gen2 (SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps) ports (1
Type-C and 1 Type-A port on the back panel, 1 Type-C
internal connector)
yASMedia®ASM1074 Chipset
6x USB 3.1 Gen1 (SuperSpeed USB) ports on the back
panel
Audio
y1x Realtek®ALC1220 Codec
7.1-Channel High Definition Audio
Supports S/PDIF output
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17
Specifications
Continued from previous page
Back Panel
Connectors
y1x BIOS FlashBack button
y1x Clear CMOS button
y1x PS/2 keyboard/ mouse combo port
y2x USB 2.0 Type-A ports
y6x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports
y1x 2.5G LAN (RJ45) port
y1x 1G LAN (RJ45) port
y1x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A port
y1x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C port
y2x Wi-Fi Antenna connectors
y5x OFC audio jacks
y1x Optical S/PDIF OUT connector
Internal Connectors
y1x 24-pin ATX main power connector
y3x 8-pin ATX 12V power connectors
y1x flat 4-pin ATX 12V power connector*
y8x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
y1x U.2 port
y2x USB 2.0 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 2.0
ports)
y2x USB 3.1 Gen1 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 3.1
Gen1 ports)
y1x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C port
y1x 4-pin CPU fan connector
y1x 4-pin Water Pump connector
y4x 4-pin system fan connectors
y2x 4-pin extend system fan connectors
y1x 3-pin Water Flow connector
y1x Front panel audio connector
y2x System panel connectors
y1x TPM module connector
y1x Chassis Intrusion connector
y1x 2-pin Thermal Sensors connector
y1x Virtual RAID on CPU connector
y1x Thunderbolt Add-on Card Connector
* Provides additional power to PCIe x16 slots
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18 Specifications
Continued from previous page
LED Connectors
y1x 4-pin RGB LED connector
y2x 3-pin RAINBOW LED connectors
y1x 3-pin CORSAIR LED connector
OC Connectors y1x OC retry connector
y1x OC force enter BIOS connector
Internal Buttons
y1x GAME BOOST knob
y1x Power button
y1x Reset button
Switches y1x Multi-BIOS switch
Jumper y1x Slow mode jumper
y1x Clear CMOS jumper
Debug LED y1x 2-Digit Debug Code LED
y4x EZ Debug LED
I/O Controller NUVOTON NCT6797 Controller Chip
Hardware Monitor
yCPU/System temperature detection
yCPU/System fan speed detection
yCPU/System fan speed control
Form Factor yE-ATX Form Factor
y12 in. x 10.7 in. (30.5 cm x 27.2 cm)
BIOS Features
yDual BIOS
y2x 128 Mb flash
yUEFI AMI BIOS
yACPI 6.1, SMBIOS 3.0
yMulti-language
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19
Specifications
Continued from previous page
Software
yDrivers
yDRAGON CENTER
yMYSTIC LIGHT
yNahimic Audio
yCPU-Z MSI GAMING
yMSI App Player (BlueStacks)
yIntel®Extreme Tuning Utility
yGoogle Chrome™, Google Toolbar, Google Drive
yNorton™ Internet Security Solution
Dragon Center
Features
yGAME OPTIMIZATION
yOC Performance
yHardware Monitor
yEyerest
yLAN Manager
yLive Update
Please refer to http://download.msi.
com/manual/mb/DRAGONCENTER2.
pdf for more details.
Special Features
yAudio
Audio Boost 4
Nahimic 3
yNetwork
GAMING LAN with Gaming LAN Manager
Dual LAN (2.5G+1G)
Intel WiFi
yStorage
Turbo U.2
3 x Turbo M.2
yFan
Pump Fan
Smart Fan Control
yPerformance
Multi GPU – SLI Technology
Multi GPU – CrossFire Technology
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20 Specifications
Continued from previous page
Special Features
yLED
Mystic Light 3
Mystic Light Extension (RGB)
Mystic Light Extension (RAINBOW)
Mystic Light Extension (CORSAIR)
Mystic Light Sync
EZ DEBUG LED
yProtection
DDR4 Steel Armor
M.2 FORZR
PCI-E Steel Armor
U.2 Steel Armor
yDDR4 Boost
GAME Boost(go to 11)
OC Engine(Clock gen)
Lightning USB(3142)
Front Lightning USB(20PIN)
yStability
7000+ Quality Test
yVR
VR Ready
yGamer Experience
GAMING HOTKEY
GAMING MOUSE Control
yBIOS
Click BIOS 5
Flash BIOS Button
Dual BIOS
yCertification
Quadro SLI Ready
Quadro Ready
GAMING Certified