MSI Z490 motherboards: MEG ACE, MPG Gaming Carbon, and MPG Gaming Edge

 MSI is rolling out a full lineup of new motherboards to support Intel’s 10th Gen Core desktop processors.

 The Z490 generation brings upgrades and new features to all of MSI’s board models.

 In this blog we’ll take a closer look at three options that are going to be particularly appealing to overclockers and PC gamers: 

The MEG ACE, the MPG Gaming Carbon, and the MPG Gaming Edge.

 Before we get into specific models, let’s start with a look at what you get from all MSI Z490 motherboards.

 First, these boards are built specifically to work with Intel’s new 10th gen processors, and to take advantage of everything the new CPUs have to offer - so they aren’t backwards compatible with older CPUs.

 Intel’s new lineup of CPUs brings more cores, threads, and speed to the game. 

The new processors all offer Intel’s Turbo Boost Max technology, which takes advantage of the power of the best-performing cores in your CPU to boost your performance.

 And with 10th gen, also comes support for 2.5G wired LAN connections, a significant speed improvement over Gigabit LAN.  Of course, you’ll only get access to that 2.5G speed if your motherboard model actually includes it, but fortunately all of MSI’s Z490 boards support that new feature.

 All of MSI’s boards are built with large aluminum heatsinks to provide the cooling required by these new, more powerful processors, many of which are overclockable.

 These heatsinks draw heat away from the VRM, making sure that the critical power delivery hardware in this area of the board can continue to operate properly even during heavy use. MSI’s boards are also built to last, with steel reinforcements and graphics card slots, to help support graphics cards which just seem to be getting bigger and heavier every year.

 And all of the MSI Z490 motherboards are PCIE Gen 4 ready, so you’ll be equipped for future upgrades. This new generation of CPUs and motherboards also brings with it support for higher memory speeds, and with MSI DDR4 Boost you can see potential speeds up to 4800MHz across the Z490 lineup - though of course reaching those speeds may involve some overclocking.

  Most of MSI’s Z490 boards also include RGB lighting controlled by MSI's Mystic Lightsoftware. The M-E-G ACE is one of MSI’s highest tier motherboard options, and it comes complete with gold accents so you know you’re getting something special.

 This is a board designed for builders who want to overclock their CPU, experiment with advanced cooling options, and really look to push their system to the limits.

 The big selling point of the M-E-G family of boards is the active-cooling built into the VRM heatsink.

 Designed using MSI’s Zero Frozr technology, there’s a small fan built in to the heatsink that will spin up to disperse heat when the VRM is loaded with power.

 While most motherboards employ only passive cooling elements, this active cooling tech means the ACE is better equipped to handle the kind of excess heat you’d get when overclocking the newest and most power-hungry CPUs.

 Speaking of overclocking, the M-E-G ACE also features a mirrored power arrangement specifically designed to help extreme overclockers looking to hit high benchmarks - and maybe even break records.

 The board has “I-S-L Phase Controllers” built in that deliver cleaner and more stable voltage signals to your CPU. Power supplies naturally deliver electricity to your processor in a “dynamic ripple” pattern, with peaks and valleys. When you overclock, you’ll run into problems and instability issues if one of the “valleys” of the power signal comes along at the same time as the peak of your CPU clock cycle - and that’s what MSI’s mirrored power arrangement is designed to mitigate.

 This particular feature might not be something you think twice about unless you’re really exploring the limits of overclocking - but it could mean we see some overclocking records broken on MSI boards with 10th gen CPUs into the hands of enthusiasts.

 The M-E-G ACE also features a sturdy metal backplate that strengthens the board’s edges and key connection areas.

 We know nobody watching this video would ever be rough on a motherboard when installing it in a new PC, but if something like that does happen, this backplate will help protect against damage that could be caused by forceful handling or accidental bending. The M-E-G Z490 ACE is an elite and specialized board from MSI, and at launch you can pick it up for $399.99 on Newegg. 

Now let’s take a look at two boards from MSI’s MPG family, engineered for gaming power and each coming with their own distinctive style.

 MSI’s Gaming Carbon Wifi board has a design dominated by black, textured pieces inspired by the look and feel of the carbon fiber on supercars.

 As the name implies, this board has built-in Wifi, employing the latest Wifi 6 technology. Combined with the new 2.5G LAN connection - which is up to 2 and a half times faster than the previous standard - you have a board that’s ready to provide you with internet speeds as fast as your network can support, whether you’re hardwired or fully wireless. The Gaming Carbon is a board that knows how hungry gamers are for connectivity, and it comes with 6 USB ports in the traditional Type-A form factor - four supporting USB 3.2 Gen 2 and 2 USB 2.0 ports. There’s also one Type-C port supporting USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 - and that lightning fast connection can reach speeds up to 20Gbps, four times faster than USB 3.2 Gen 1. This board does not have the active VRM cooling you’ll find in the ACE, but unless you’re doing extreme overclocking, you’re not going to miss it.

 The board’s enlarged heatsinks over the VRM and chipset areas should do the job just fine for high-performance PC gaming especially if you combine it with a watercooling system, which the Gaming Carbon supports via a built-in pump connector. The MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon Wifi is for sale right now on Newegg for $221.82.  The MPG Z490 Gaming Edge Wifi is another example of a board suited for high performance gaming led by a strong visual design.

 True to its “Edge” name, this board features hard lines and accents that come together to give the impression of a sleek weapon of war. Though this board has fewer RGB accents than some of the other MSI offerings, it makes up for it with its uniquely styled heatsinks, featuring an all-aluminum extended design that increases the heat dissipation surface.

 Like the Carbon, the Gaming Edge features a wide variety of connection options, including the USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port, as well as built-in Wifi and 2.5G Lan support.

 Both the Carbon and the Edge come with two M.2 slots for compatible SSDs and other devices, and both come with Shield Frozr covers for these slots that act as heatsinks and can help prevent SSD throttling.

 The Carbon has two Frozr covers while the Edge only has one, though in practical day-to-day use most gamers aren’t going to need to worry too much about M.2 drive heat, so your choice might be an aesthetic rather than practical one. If you do plan to run two M.2 drives and you’ll be putting them under heavy workload, though, that difference could be a reason to lean more towards the Carbon, rather than the Edge.

 Overall the differences between the Carbon and Edge are minor, with the Edge coming in at a slightly lower price point of $199.99 at launch. If you’re looking to take advantage of what Intel’s new 10th Gen processors have to offer, you need to have the right motherboard. And MSI has even more options than what we’ve detailed in this video. For example if you're truly an elite builder andoverclocker you might want to take a look at theultra-premium Godlike. And MSI also and MSI also offers Mini-ITX and Micro-ATX boards, in addition to a “Pro” model engineered with content creation in mind.

 You can check out the MEG ACE, MPG Gaming Carbon Wifi, and the MPG Gaming Edge Wifi all on Newegg, right now.

 Sound off in the comments below and let us know which of these three boards you would choose for your next PC build.