The Intel Z690 Motherboard Overview (DDR5): Over 50+ New Models
by Gavin Bonshor on November 9, 2021 9:00 AM ESTMSI MAG Z690 Torpedo (DDR5) & Torpedo EK X (DDR5)
The MSI MAG Z690 Torpedo is a slightly cut-down version of the MAG Z690 Tomahawk WIFI, but with a slightly more affordable feature set and a futuristic styled deep bluey-grey aesthetic. Touching more on the aesthetic, all of the board's design includes a metallic grey and blue set of heatsinks, with alternating black and blue memory slots, and an all-black PCB. MSI is advertising an 18-phase power delivery operating at 16+1+1.
Diving into the specifications of the MAG Z690 Torpedo, MSI includes one full-length PCIe 5.0 x16 slot, with two full-length PCIe 3.0 slots operating at x4/x1, with a one smaller PCIe 3.0 x1 slot. Looking at storage options, there's a total of four M.2 slots, including three PCIe 4.0 x4 and one PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slot. Other options include six SATA ports with support for RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays. In the top right-hand corner are four memory slots that are capable of supporting DDR5-6400, with a combined capacity of 128 GB.
On the rear panel is one USB 3.2 G2x2 Type-C, three USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, two USB 3.2 G1 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports. One of the USB 2.0 ports supports BIOS Flashback for which there is a small button, while five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output are powered by a Realtek ALC4080 HD audio codec. The Torpedo doesn't include a wireless CNVi, but it does include an Intel I225-V 2.5 GbE controller. Finishing the rear panel is a pair of video outputs, including one DisplayPort 1.4 and one HDMI 2.1 output.
The MSI MAG Z690 Torpedo EK X addition is essentially the same as the Torpedo, except it comes with a custom EKWB monoblock, although we don't have any images or other information at the time of writing.
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Oxford Guy - Wednesday, November 10, 2021 - link
Creating more fiat bills has consequences. Congress literally printed money to give to lobbyists as part of ‘Covid relief’.fcth - Wednesday, November 10, 2021 - link
Sad to see only one mATX board, though at least it looks like a decent (if expensive) option.Mite - Wednesday, November 10, 2021 - link
Can ASUS Z690 Maximus Extreme run PCIe 5.0 x16 GPU and PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 SSD concurrently? Will the GPU (PCIe 5.0 x16 slot 1) drop to PCIe 5.0 x8 instead when SSD is installed on the PCIe 5.0 x4 (M2 slot)?Kakkoii - Wednesday, November 10, 2021 - link
MSI does show the Audio Codec... just not on the simplified summary. You guys have to click the "Detail" tab on the Specifications page for a given board. All the boards show which audio they're using.The Carbon for example has ALC4080.
gavbon - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - link
At the time of writing, even the detail sections of the specifications didn't show them. On top of this, all of the information we received prior to launch mentioned no specific HD audio codecs. I will update this though :)JackNJ - Friday, November 12, 2021 - link
The GIGABYTE Z690I Aorus Ultra is not DDR5 I think?chavv - Friday, November 12, 2021 - link
5 m2 slots?How is this useful for a normal user?!
Or 600$ mobo for desktop usage?!
World gone mad
mode_13h - Saturday, November 13, 2021 - link
For RAID, obviously. That borderline makes sense. If you're running a 4 or 5-drive RAID of SSDs in a consumer rig, it's more cost-effective and still plenty fast to use SATA. And I think it's not unreasonable to expect anyone using M.2 drives to put them in a PCIe carrier card, which will have better cooling potential anyhow.sunmobo - Friday, November 12, 2021 - link
You've included MSI's ITX variant in the list (MEG Z690I Unify) but I can't seem to find it on their website. Although if you google you'll find a few mentions on some shops, without pics. Is this because MSI is still working on the board, or?gavbon - Thursday, November 18, 2021 - link
It's likely to launch soon, but it does and will exist.