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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Andrew LB - Saturday, May 9, 2020 - link
So these boards bring Wifi6, PCI-Express 4.0, gigabit 2.5, and for people like myself who are upgrading from a Z87 board.... just about everything is a huge leap.... yet you think there is just 'more of the same'? I guess if you're one of those idiots who buys a new CPU every year, then clearly this is not the release for you. Nor would AMD's latest offerings if that same metric is applied.So what's your problem with Capitalism? Do incremental design improvements offend you? Or is it profit that does? Hate to break it to you, but its profit motive that fuels innovation. Collectivism is a cancer and by its very nature hinders progress due to it not rewarding exceptionalism. It's why countries like China don't innovate. Otherwise they wouldn't need forced technology transfers from those who manufacture goods in their country.
Zenzdeluxe - Wednesday, September 2, 2020 - link
Thanks for that. The hypocrisy of these people. Imagine imbibing in the fruits of the capitalist system which besides continuing innovation, provides more spoils at lower price points for everyone than ever before. The audacity of such entitlement and seemingly collectivist / marxist based criticism is mind boggling. Cognitive dissonance off the scale indeed.ilkhan - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
Details page for GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Pro AX (copy and paste because who can keep them straight otherwise) makes a big deal of no usb-C, but it's there in the picture...ecjp - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
Yeah, I noticed that too. Gigabytes site shows same picture and lists "1 x USB Type-C™ port on the back panel, with USB 3.2 Gen 2 support" in the specs, so I assume its an error in the article.gavbon - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
Thanks for picking that up. I must have been writing about the wrong board. Apologies, it's updatedregsEx - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
"Integrated into the Z490 chipset is an Intel Wi-Fi 6 CNVi which allows motherboard vendors to integrate its AX200 wireless solutions directly from the chipset with a CRF module."CNVi is an old generation 802.11ac controller. Here it is CNVio2. CRF module is AX201. AX200 is a standalone controller that can work on any system. X570 motherboards with 802.11ax support, for example, packs with AX200 card.
lunaticbunny - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
There are no boards under $200. Seems like this Z490 chipset got the X570 inflation treatment as well.drexnx - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
just like the X570 boards, they've all got seriously beefed up VRMsand maybe the pcie4 tax wasn't just a cash grab? we'll really see when AMD B550 comes out, where those board prices land
Andrew LB - Saturday, May 9, 2020 - link
Plenty of boards under $200.ASUS Prime Z490M-PLUS
GIGABYTE Z490 AORUS Elite
ASUS TUF Gaming Z490-Plus
ASUS TUF Gaming Z490-Plus wifi
GIGABYTE Z490 UD
MSI Z490-A PRO ProSeries
A bunch of Asrock boards will be under $200 as well. You can see many prices already on Amazon.
dgingeri - Friday, May 1, 2020 - link
It looks like, potentially, at least Gigabyte has decided to include a decent number of USB ports. I can't tell with the Asus board, but all the rest look to have only 6 USB ports, an annoyingly small number. I have been really annoyed with the lack of USB ports on boards for the last 5 years. Heck, with the old 440BX boards, we had 2 ps2, 4 or 6 USB, 1 or 2 serial, and a parallel port. We've lost the other ports, and internal drives in most computers, and not gained USB ports to compensate for it. External hubs aren't going to do it, either, as those stupid things keep dying in a matter of months.