New Intel CPUs usually mean new motherboards, and MSI is diving into Coffee Lake with confidence. The company has at least a baker's dozen of Z370 boards ready to go for prospective Coffee Lake builders, and the Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC is the last stop so far before one ascends to the Z370 Godlike Gaming in the lineup.

MSI is using the transition to Z370 as an opportunity to freshen its mainstream boards' styling cues. The Pro Carbon still takes after automotive themes, but I daresay it's grown up a bit since our experience with its Z270 cousin. No, we're not looking at real carbon fiber on this board's I/O shroud, but the subtle patterning on these accents is pleasant-looking enough.

I wish the company had lacquered over these accents for additional flair as it does on its higher-end Pro Carbon boards, but that's an entirely personal preference. Even without that gloss, the MSI and Pro Carbon logos screened onto the board's chipset heatsink and I/O shroud seem like they were applied at Maaco instead of in a pro's paint shop. Maybe this is a sample defect, since other Pro Carbons I've seen in the wild have cleaner, more vivid white logos.