The Intel Z490 Overview: 44+ Motherboards Examined
by Gavin Bonshor on April 30, 2020 10:00 AM ESTMSI MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon WIFI
MSI's MPG models represent a more affordable gaming-centric option when compared with the MEG range. Starting with the top MPG model out of three for Z490, the MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon WIFI has two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, six SATA ports, dual Ethernet on the rear with a Realtek 2.5 and Intel Gigabit controller pairing, as well as Intel's Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface.
Its design consists of carbon look heatsinks across the board with integrated RGB LED lighting at the top of the rear panel cover, and again on the chipset heatsink which can be customized via the MSI Mystic Light RGB software. Following a similar design is the PCB, which is black with grey lined printing. For expansion is three full-length PCIe 3.0 slots which operate at x16, x8/x8, and x8/x8+4, with two PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. The board has two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots with individual heatsinks, while the six SATA ports support RAID 0,1, 5, and 10 arrays. The MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon WIFI has support for DDR4-4800 memory across four memory slots, with a total capacity of up to 128 GB.
Being the top model of its Z490 gaming-focused MPG range, the MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon WIFI has plenty on the rear panel. Starting with networking, there is a Realtek RTL8125B 2.5 G Ethernet port, Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface antenna connectors which has BT 5.1 support, as well as a PS/2 combo port for legacy keyboard and mice. Looking at USB, MSI has included a single USB 3.2 G2 20 Gbps Type-C, four USB 3.2 G2 10 Gbps Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports. A Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec powers the five 3.5 mm audio connectors and S/PDIF optical output, while a DisplayPort and HDMI video output pairing make it possible to use integrated graphics on supported Comet Lake processors.
The MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon WIFI slots into the competitive Z490 mid-range segment. It ticks a lot of boxes with good USB 3.2 G2 support, with Intel's Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface and a Realtek 2.5 G Ethernet controller. It has support for multi-graphics setups, as well as users looking to utilize the Intel integrated graphics, and has enough storage capacity for gamers to utilize in creating a solid Intel-based gaming system. MSI hasn't provided information on pricing at this time.
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DanNeely - Thursday, April 30, 2020 - link
I really hate when new articles are inserted below the lead spot because it's hit or miss if I ever notice them. I missed this one during several visits to the site and only found it when Google suggested it in response to a search I made.Jedibeeftrix - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
agreed, i found this by accident, and check AT twice or more a day.sunshinerevans55 - Sunday, May 3, 2020 - link
I basically make about $12,000-$18,000 a month online. It’s enough to comfortably replace my I was amazed how easy it was after I tried it . This is what I’ve been doing old jobs income, especially considering I only work about 10-13 hours a week from home… www.iⅭash68.ⅭomYB1064 - Monday, May 4, 2020 - link
This must have taken some writing. Kudos to the author(s). A good one stop article for anybody planning on going the Intel route. Intel seem to be adept at packaging old milk (not wine) in a new bottle. At least increase the number of PCIe lanes...boozed - Monday, May 4, 2020 - link
I recommend using the RSS feed, then you get everything and you get it chronologically.Exodite - Wednesday, May 6, 2020 - link
+1 on RSS!The "magazine layout" that plagues many sites and makes it impossible to distinguish between old articles, new articles and commercials can thankfully still be avoided through RSS.
Wardrop - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
Funny that ASRock are the only manufacturers to have a mATX X570 motherboard for AMD's platform, yet for Intel they're the only one's NOT to have a mATX motherboard.Beaver M. - Saturday, May 2, 2020 - link
You mean they are relevant again, because they have fixed their stereotypical USB issues?Marlin1975 - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
So in other words a re-spin of previous chipset with little to no real useful extra features but will require a new board. Classic intel. This is one of many reasons my last system was Intel and my new system is AMD now.Unless you are a intel fanboy why keep supporting this?
regsEx - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
New networking controllers, support for PCIe 4 CPUs (RKL-S that will be released in future).Some boards also have USB Gen 2x2 support with external ASMedia controller. I know no any X570 board with USB Gen 2x2 support. Only Gen 2x1.