Intel Z390 Motherboard Overview: 50+ Motherboards Analyzed

MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon AC

The MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon AC as it stands is the premier model from the MPG (performance gaming) range and as such, encompasses some of the higher end controllers such as an Intel I219V Gigabit LAN and 2T2R supported Intel 9560 802.11ac wireless networking adapter. The aesthetic has that famed carbon styled look across the board's heatsinks and rear IO cover, which also has built-in RGB LED lighting too. The board has an all-black PCB and the bottom M.2 slot has an integrated heatsink which lines up alongside the chipset heatsink.

With a very similar PCB layout to the MPG Z390 Gaming Edge AC, the MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon AC has a total of three PCIe 3.0 full-length slots which operates (top to bottom) at x16, x8 and x4. This means that 3-way CrossFire and two-way SLI multi-graphics card configurations; also present is three PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. Storage wise the top MPG model has a pair of PCIe and SATA compatible M.2 slots, while the bottom slot gets paired up with a heatsink which integrates itself into the chipset heatsink. As with all of MSI's Z390 launch ATX motherboard lineup, MSI has opted to use all of the available six SATA ports provided from the Z390 chipset itself. Memory support is limited to DDR4-4400 and has the capacity for a total of up to 64 GB across all of the four available memory slots.

The rear panel as expected accommodates a larger number of USB real estate than other MPG series models with the Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon AC making the most of the USB 3.1 Gen2 integration with the chipset as three Type-A and a single Type-C are present. Rounding off the rear panel USB is two USB 2.0 ports while an additional four USB 3.0 and four USB 2.0 ports through the use of internal headers. Also present is a pair of video outputs which consist of a single HDMI and DisplayPort. The onboard audio and five 3.5 mm audio jacks take their direction from a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec while the single LAN port is controlled by an Intel I219V Gigabit networking chip.

MSI's suggested pricing of the MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon is $230 which seems very reasonable considering this is basically a cut-down version of the MEG Z390 ACE. Users looking to make use of the super fast 1.73 Gbps wireless network can do so thanks to the inclusion of an Intel 9560 2T2R Wave 2 capable WiFi adapter. Users who don't want to spend extra money on the wireless networking can save themselves $30 as MSI also lists a non-AC version of this board, the MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon for $200.