The Intel Z590 Motherboard Overview: 50+ Motherboards Detailed
by Gavin Bonshor on January 19, 2021 10:15 AM ESTMSI MPG Z590 Gaming Carbon WiFi
A mainstay from the MPG performance gaming series, the MSI MPG Z590 Gaming Carbon WiFi is using a carbon fiber inspired design throughout. Opting for a more aggressive and futuristic look compared to its Z490 Gaming Carbon WiFi model. From the black PCB to the black and slightly dark grey heatsinks throughout its design, MSI looks to stamp a new style to its motherboard range. Notably, the heatsink fan array on the power delivery heatsink is very striking, with an RGB-enabled rear panel cover, and more RGB LEDs integrated into the chipset heatsink.
The MSI MPG Z590 Gaming Carbon WiFi doesn't just look fresh, but it has some very impressive features. This includes three full-length PCIe slots, with two operating at PCIe 4.0 x16 and x8/x8, with the other operating at PCIe 3.0 x4. There is also one PCIe 3.0 x1 slot, with a trio of M.2 slot heatsinks flanking the PCIe slot area. MSI includes one PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot, with two PCIe 3.0 x4/SATA slots, with six SATA ports offering support for RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays. There is also support for up to DDR4-5200 memory, with a total combined capacity of up to 128 GB available across four memory slots.
On the rear panel is a single USB 3.2G2x2 Type-C port, with three USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, two USB 3.2 G1 Type-A, and four USB 2.0 ports. There is one DisplayPort and an HDMI video output pairing for users looking to leverage Intel's integrated graphics. A Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec powers five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output. MSI uses an Intel I225-V 2.5 GbE controller for word networking, while an Intel AX210 Wi-Fi 6E interface takes care of the wireless and adds support for BT 5.2 devices.
Representing the mid-range, the MSI MPG Z590 Gaming Carbon WiFi has an MSRP of $324. The MPG series is catered towards the mid-range of the Z590 market, and it has plenty of features to make it a solid option, including USB 3.2 G2x2 Type-C, 2.5 GbE, and Wi-Fi 6E.
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Oxford Guy - Tuesday, January 19, 2021 - link
You’ll never be able to block all the spyware with a firewall. Windows is just one component of it. Don’t forget things like stealth CPUs that are built into the CPU, like the little friend on Lando’s shoulder. Etc.lmcd - Tuesday, January 19, 2021 - link
What, the tinfoil hat isn't enough anymore? The "spyware" is just as present on any Windows era.If you want to disable built in telemetry, pay for pro and disable it in the registry. It's not hard if you're really that into privacy.
Spunjji - Wednesday, January 20, 2021 - link
@lmcd - but that would require *effort* - why waste that effort on customising a modern OS, when he could expend more effort cobbling together a barely-working platform on a 12-year-old one? 😂Makaveli - Wednesday, January 20, 2021 - link
lol all I saw in my head reading those post are "old man yells at clouds"Oxford Guy - Friday, January 22, 2021 - link
That’s due to the fact that the old man has just as much chance of getting the spyware out of Windows and CPUs (and the rest) as you lot have a chance of saying something relevant.Oxford Guy - Friday, January 22, 2021 - link
Call us when the shuttle lands, Pauline.Slash3 - Tuesday, January 19, 2021 - link
Z590 only provides six native SATA ports.ASRock's Z590 Taichi has eight ports, with two via an ASMedia ASM1061 controller.
Silver5urfer - Wednesday, January 20, 2021 - link
Got it thanks. I suppose that's how the EVGA Dark got it's 8 SATA ports too.weilin - Thursday, April 29, 2021 - link
Z590, if i remember correctly... has 30 HSIO lanes total:6 of which are dedicated to USB (and can be ganged in pairs for 20Gb/s ports)
4 more that is either USB 10Gb/s or 5Gb/s or PCIe.
2 of them which can be Ethernet or PCIe,
2 of them which can be SATA, Ethernet, or PCIe.
6 of them which can be SATA or PCIe.
10 dedicated PCIe
So everything all together means theoretically maximum of:
4 LAN ports
8 SATA ports
10 USB ports
24 PCIe ports
It's up to motherboard manufacturers to configure them as they see fit. It seems like the popular choice is to maximize USB, leave SATA at 6 and put the rest on PCIe ports (take 1 or 2 away for Ethernet, and 4 away for Thunderbolt if present).
weilin - Thursday, April 29, 2021 - link
If anyone's interested in see the doc:https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/produc...
On to left its under "Technical Documentation" -> "Intel® 500 Series Chipset Family Platform Controller Hub Datasheet, Volume 1 of 2" -> bottom of page 18