The Intel Z490 Overview: 44+ Motherboards Examined
by Gavin Bonshor on April 30, 2020 10:00 AM ESTMSI MPG Z490M Gaming Edge WIFI
Similar in many ways including features and design to the MPG Z490 Gaming Edge WIFI, MSI has also released a Micro-ATX version, the MSI MPG Z490M Gaming Edge WIFI. Changing it up a little, MSI has included two full-length PCIe 3.0 slots with support for two-way NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFire, with a 2.5 G Ethernet port, Intel Wi-Fi 6 and BT 5.1 support, with two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, but all on a smaller PCB.
The Z490 and Z490M Gaming Edge WIFI share the same black and grey design, with primarily black heatsinks on a black and grey accented PCB. A large MSI Dragon logo is present on the rear panel cover, with a set of RGB LEDs integrated into the chipset heatsink which can be customized via the MSI Mystic Light RGB software. There are two full-length PCIe 3.0 slots which operate at x16, and x8/x8, with two further PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. Similar to the ATX version, the Z490M Gaming Edge WIFI has two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, with the top slot accompanied with a heatsink. The board also has four SATA ports with RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays supported. Also present is four memory slots with support for DDR4-4800, with a total capacity of 128 GB.
On the rear panel is single Ethernet port powered by a Realtek RTL8125B 2.5 G controller, with antenna connectors for the Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface, which also adds BT 5.1 support. For USB there is a single USB 3.2 G2 20 Gbps Type-C, one USB 3.2 G2 10 Gbps Type-A, two USB 3.2 G1 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports. The five 3.5 mm and S/PDIF optical output are controlled by a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec, and there are a DisplayPort and HDMI video output pairing for onboard graphics users. Finishing off the rear panel is a single PS/2 keyboard and mouse combo port.
The MSI MPG Z490M Gaming Edge WIFI pricing hasn't been announced as of yet, but it does represent a very small select group of micro-ATX Z490 models at launch. It has better full-length PCIe 3.0 support than its bigger ATX sized sibling but has fewer SATA ports as a result. It does, however, have two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, keeps a good networking combination of a 2.5 G and Wi-Fi 6 and has a nifty EZ LED control button to turn off RGB which can enable or disable RGB lighting with a simple press.
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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.