A quick overview of all MSI motherboards for the new Intel Core 10 Series processors.
MSI has announced a whole line of motherboards based on the Z490 chipset for the new, tenth series of Intel processors. By tradition, all models are divided into three segments – premium, medium and budget. Let’s look at the new colorful variety of boards and see what they are interesting for the end user.
Four products are included in the premium segment (MEG series) – Z490 GODLIKE, Z490 ACE, MEG Z490I UNIFY and Z490 UNIFY.
Z490 GODLIKE
Z490 ACE
MEG Z490I UNIFY
MEG Z490 UNIFY
The boards are made in the form factors of E-ATX, ATX and mini-ITX, focused on use in high-performance systems. Naturally, there are all the necessary tools and options for fine-tuning and overclocking components.
The most important of them is the power subsystem. Top processors of the tenth series under load can consume 300 or more watts, so MSI engineers, unlike competitors, did not save and installed a 16-phase power system on the entire three boards, allowing current up to 90 A through one power switch on the Z490 GODLIKE model, Z490 ACE and Z490 UNIFY. Heat removal from the converter is provided by an active cooling system, consisting of a type-setting radiator with a heat pipe and a fan with ball bearings, covered by a plastic casing. Thus, when using any processor cooling system – air or liquid – the temperature of the power section of the converter will remain within acceptable limits, overheating is completely eliminated. It is worth noting that the flagship board – Z490 GODLIKE – is equipped with a second fan of the converter cooling system.
For increased operating frequencies, MSI uses a trapezoidal slot layout. This solution allows reaching frequencies above 5000 MHz, which was not available on previous motherboards based on the Z390 chipset. Also worth mentioning is support for the fourth version of the PCI Express bus.
Network connections were not left without attention. The Z490 GODLIKE has two Ethernet, 2.5 and 10 Gb / s, the Z490 ACE has two 2.5 and 1 Gb / s Ethernet, and the Z490 UNIFY has one 2.5 Gb / s Ethernet controller. The whole three are equipped with Bluetooth 5.1 and a Wi-Fi adapter on the Intel AX201 controller that supports the 802.11ax standard.
Modern drives of the M.2 form factor did not stand aside. On the line of full-format MEG series boards, there are three slots for M.2 SSD with SATA and NVMe interfaces, each equipped with its own radiator for cooling the drive. Due to the small size, only two M.2 slots were lit on the MEG Z490I UNIFY.
A nice addition from MSI is USB 3.2 Gen. 2×2 with a bandwidth of 20 Gb / s on the ASMedia 3241 controller. An excellent addition to the standard four USB 3.2 Gen ports. 2 10 Gbps
Of the decorative elements, it is worth noting the RGB backlight on the Z490 GODLIKE and Z490 ACE models, customizable from the Mystic Light proprietary application.
MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon WIFI
MAG Z490 Tomahawk
Mid-range solutions include the MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon WIFI and MAG Z490 Tomahawk boards. These ATX form factor boards are designed for medium and high power systems. In them you can see many successful solutions from the MEG series.
So, the processor power supply system on both boards is 12-phase, allowing a maximum current of power switches from 45 to 60 A. Two massive heatsinks, which are additionally connected by a heat pipe to the Z490 Gaming Carbon WIFI, cool the power part.
The frequency of RAM can reach 4800 MHz or more (using peer-to-peer modules), which is possible due to the high-quality wiring of signal lines from the processor socket to the DIMM slots.
Under M.2, the drives provided two slots, each of which is equipped with its own heatsink and is able to work with both NVMe and SATA drives.
The wired network on both boards is 2.5 GB Ethernet, built on the basis of the Realtek RTL8125B-CG controller. The Z490 Gaming Carbon WIFI is additionally equipped with 802.11ax and Bluetooth 5.1 wireless networks.
The ASMedia 3241 USB controller installed on the MEG series can also be seen on both models of the middle price segment. In total, one to five USB 3.2 Gen. services are available to the user. 2 with a bandwidth of 10 Gb / s and one USB 3.2 Gen. 2×2 at 20 Gb / s.
The decorative RGB backlight controlled from the Mystic Light application has been preserved here too – the LEDs are built into the plastic casing of the rear panel and under the radiator of the system logic.
The low-end segment of the MSI Z490 boards is represented by the Z490M GAMING EDGE WIFI and MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Plus models. The first is the ATX form factor, the second is mATX. Both solutions are suitable for frugal users who prefer to find a balance between price and performance.
Z490M GAMING EDGE WIFI
MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Plus
As if hinting at the possibility of overclocking, MSI installed a powerful 12-phase power system on both boards, supplemented by separate phases for the System Agent and the integrated graphics core. Power mosfets are crowned by two large aluminum radiators, and Core Boost technology allows you to accurately select the voltage on the processor core so that the system works stably under any loads with the lowest possible heat dissipation.
DDR4 RAM can operate at frequencies of 4800 MHz and more – high-quality wiring has migrated from a more expensive segment of boards, in case of buying successful sets of peer-to-peer strips, you can try to squeeze the most out of them, not forgetting, of course, about the safe limits of the supply voltage.
There are two pieces of M.2 slots on the boards, and the one closest to the processor is equipped with a heat sink. It certainly won’t interfere with fast SSDs with NVMe interface, and SATA SSDs, as less “hot” ones, can be placed in the slot farthest from the processor.
The wired network is the same 2.5-gigabyte Ethernet on Realtek RTL8125B, its MSI even installs on inexpensive solutions, as well as Wi-Fi 802.11ax with Bluetooth 5.1 – it boasts the Z490M GAMING EDGE WIFI model.
Both models are equipped with RGB-backlight of the chipset heatsink. It is also possible to connect an LED strip.
Conclusion
To summarize, let’s say that the MSI assortment has boards for every taste and budget. The company does not save on such critical nodes as the power system, cooling, network, and takes into account the “filling” of the board based on the price segment, maintaining a positive balance between the range of options available to the user and the cost of the final product.
