USB Type-C is (thankfully) becoming more and more popular around the tech world — we’re seeing it appear in new phones like the LG G5 and HTC 10, as well as in laptops like the new Razer Blade Stealth and Apple’s own MacBook. Hardcore desktop PCs are getting it on their rear I/O panels, too, but this new top-of-the-line gaming motherboard from MSI is the first with pin-outs for a USB Type-C port on the front of your machine. Now we just have to wait for a case to put it in.
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The MSI X99 Gaming Pro Carbon, in all its black-on-black-on-black glory, is built around Intel’s LGA 2011-3 socket and the X99 chipset — it’s made for the ridiculously powerful octa-core Core i7-5960X Extreme Edition CPU, as well as the hexa-core i7-5820K. Supporting eight sticks of DDR4 and with four SLI slots, this is for the hardcore system builder that’s either creating the world’s most powerful 4K or VR gaming rig or something for some incredibly intensive video editing, CAD or post-production work.
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But, for us, it’s the inclusion of a USB Type-C port pin-out on the motherboard layout — as well as one on the rear I/O too — that is the biggest step forward here. It may only be a USB 3.1 Gen 1 port, which means it runs at USB 3.0 speeds rather than USB 3.1 Gen 2’s blazing 10Gbps, but it’s having the port there in the first place that matters most. Of course, you’ll need a USB-C compatible desktop PC case, and that means you’ll be waiting for one — like Silverstone’s still-nascent TJ08 Pro — for a little while longer. [MSI]