MSI has created a range of motherboards called ‘Project Zero’ that focuses heavily on minimalist design.
The range includes both Intel and AMD platforms, offering support for the latest processors. On the Intel side, the Z790 Project Zero motherboard offers support for 12th gen, 13th gen and 14th gen LGA 1700 socket processors, making it great for those PC builders that want to ensure they have a roadmap for the future. There’s also DDR5 (up to 7200MHz) support and WiFi 7, which will tick the boxes for many seeking the best performance from their gaming/productivity rig.
What I love about the design is that it’s so clean and that doesn’t happen by accident. The minimalist design is achieved through a back-connect design. This means the engineers at MSI relocated the CPU, SATA, Fans and other interfaces to the back of the board, allowing the front to remain clean of messy cabling and connectors.
On the front of the board, you’ll find a black background, with just a few interruptions, the first is the processor slot, flanked by 4 RAM slots, both dressed in black to blend into the design. You’ll also find a number of PCI Express slots for expansion cards like your GPU.
The rest of the board is covered in aluminium heat syncs that cover 4x M.2 storage slots in a brushed silver finish, complete with the 45-degree lines complimented by the Project Zero branding. This style extends to the bank of IO ports on the side which comes with a pre-installed I/O cover.
For me, the whole thing comes together really well and is easily one of the best aesthetics I’ve seen on a motherboard. There is however one challenge with this design and that’s the case support. Given the back connectors, you’ll need a case that offers the space required for cabling behind the board. At the bottom of MSI’s product page, they have a list of compatible cases.
You can get more information on the MSI Project Zero motherboards here.
