The Intel Z490 Overview: 44+ Motherboards Examined

MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Edge WIFI

Still aimed at gamers, the MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Edge WIFI sits below the Z490 Gaming Carbon WIFI with less overall features, but still has plenty for gamers to sink their teeth into. Some of the primary features include two PCIe 3.0 x4 slots and six SATA ports, with an Intel Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface, a single Realtek 2.5 G Ethernet port, and four memory slots with support for up to DDR4-4800.

With a design reminiscent of the Z490 Gaming Carbon WIFI, but without the carbon, the MSI Z490 Gaming Edge WIFI has a consistent and subtle theme throughout with black heatsinks, and a black and grey accented PCB. This board does have integrated RGB LEDs for those looking to add some flair, with one zone located underneath the chipset heatsink. On the board is two full-length PCIe 3.0 slots which run at x16+4, and two PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. For storage is two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, with the top slot featuring a heatsink. There are also six SATA ports supporting RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 arrays. A total of four memory slots are present with support for up to DDR4-4800 memory, with a maximum capacity of up to 128 GB. 

On the rear panel is one USB 3.2 G2 20 Gbps Type-C, one USB 3.2 G2 10 Gbps Type-A, four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports. Powering the five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output is a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec, while the single Ethernet port is powered by a Realtek RTL8125B 2.5 G controller. The board does include Wi-Fi 6 support through an Intel AX201 wireless interface, which also adds support for BT 5.1 devices. Finishing off the rear panel is a single PS/2 combo port for users looking to use older generation keyboard and mice, with an HDMI and DisplayPort video output offering integrated graphics support.

The MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Edge WIFI looks to be a highly competitive option for users looking to build a single GPU based gaming system. It has plenty of features with 2.5 G Ethernet becoming the go-to choice in the midrange, with MSI cutting down the price on things like a third full-length PCIe 3.0 slot, and giving gamers a choice within its own range. MSI hasn't provided any pricing information at this time.