MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi review: Excellent 12th Gen Intel performance with impressive expansion
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
The 12th Gen Intel family unit of processors is finally upon the states, and nosotros've got some shiny new motherboards to play around with. If you're wanting to upgrade or build a new PC with the latest CPUs from Intel, you'll need to consider the Z690 chipset. Partnered manufacturers have numerous Z690 motherboards already available and today we're taking a expect at i from MSI.
The MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi is one of these launch motherboards with a listing of enticing specifications. You've got PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 support, not to mention five M.2 slots, a hefty VRM setup with an 18+1+ane ability delivery blueprint, and a stunning subtle pattern that will work well with nigh PC cases. Information technology'southward certainly poised for a seat on the best motherboards list, but it might be too much for some.
MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi
Bottom line: MSI did a stellar job with the MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi. It has everything you lot need for a powerful 12th Gen Intel PC build, including 5 K.two slots, solid power delivery, and DDR5 support.
The Skillful
- Stunning lath blueprint
- Plenty of I/O
- DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 back up
- Splendid performance
- Five Thousand.2 slots
The Bad
- Only 2.5Gb LAN
- Pricey
- Overkill for almost PC builds
- Four USB 2.0 ports
MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi: Cost and availability
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Primal
The MSRP for the MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi is $400, which is near in line with previous generations for a mid-range motherboard. It's a full $200 more affordable than an ASUS Z690 board nosotros'll be comparison this one confronting, though you'll miss out on an included PCIe Thou.ii expansion card, RGB and fan hub, besides as a few other notable features.
But really, when yous're in a higher place $200 for a motherboard, there's little wiggle room between motherboards in terms of operation and this board should be correct upward there with the best. It may seem like quite a chunk of a budget, just the motherboard is what connects everything together inside the chassis.
MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi: What's good
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Cardinal
The packaging is the commencement thing you lot'll see and it provides some insight into how the board itself is designed. MSI opted to go with a clean expect and experience, and removed unnecessary ataxia. Inside, you'll find the motherboard, as well as manuals and stickers, and all the usual internal cabling and antenna for the Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.0.
Wait at the unboxed motherboard and you lot'll realize information technology'due south a stunner. Only shades of blackness and dark greyness are used throughout the PCB and shrouds, and you wouldn't even retrieve at that place was RGB lighting installed. In terms of specifications, the MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi is anything but subtle. To handle twelfth Gen Intel processors, MSI uses an 18+one+i phase design with 75A MOSFETs, assuasive for some serious headroom for overclocking.
| Category | MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi |
|---|---|
| Size | ATX |
| CPU | Intel twelfth Gen |
| Socket | LGA 1700 |
| Power delivery | 18+one+i |
| RAM | 4x DDR5 DIMM (upwards to DDR5-6666+), 128GB limit |
| Chipset | Intel Z690 |
| Expansion | 2x PCIe five.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8) 1x PCIe four.0 x16 |
| Storage | 6x SATA (6Gbps) 4x 1000.two 2242/2260/2280 (PCIe 4.0 x4, SATA) 1x Thou.2 2242/2260/2280 (PCIe iii.0 x4) |
| Audio | Realtek ALC4080 |
| Rear ports | BIOS FlashBack Button 5x USB-A iii.2 Gen 2 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2x2 4x USB 2.0 1x DisplayPort 1x HDMI 1x 2.5Gb LAN 1x Optical S/PDIF out 5x Gold-plated audio jack |
| NVIDIA SLI | ✓ |
| AMD CrossFire | ✓ |
| Dimensions | 305 x 244 mm |
| Launch price | $400 |
For RAM, y'all can install up to 128GB of DDR-6666 MT/s, which is seriously fast compared to the previous generation DDR4 DIMMs. The Intel Z690 chipset also unlocks two PCIe 5.0 x16 slots for GPUs and expansion cards with a farther PCIe 4.0 x16 slot. And so there are five (aye, 5) Thou.two slots located on the board without the need for a separate PCIe carte du jour.
A dual eight-pivot header setup is located in the top-left of the board for supplying clean and reliable power, though you could get away with using just ane if you don't plan on pushing the arrangement difficult. MSI, like ASUS, includes an LED debugging screen that'south invaluable to quickly diagnose boot issues.
Along the side are the usual USB 3.0 and USB-C headers, as well equally fan headers and the 24-pin ATX power input. Below the CPU socket are the PCIe and M.2 slots, the latter of which are covered by heatsinks that actually do help in keeping drives absurd. To the right of this configuration of slots are six SATA 6Gb/s ports for iii.5-inch and 2.v-inch drives.
In that location are more than plenty headers for hooking up all your instance fans, and everything is well laid out for those who are building their get-go PC. For rear I/O, it's more of a mixed bag. There are four USB 2.0 ports, which is foreign to run into on a $400 motherboard, just thankfully MSI does provide an additional v USB-A 3.2 Gen two and i USB-C 3.ii Gen 2x2 port to play with.
The MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi is a great deal for early platform adopters.
MSI did a solid chore with the heatsinks that encompass the voltage regulator modules (VRMs), which can get rather toasty when under load, peculiarly with an overclocked Intel Core i9-12900K. At that place are also heatsinks for the M.2 slots that come in handy if y'all're making utilise of PCIe four.0 SSDs.
To put the MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi to the test, we installed the lath in two exam rigs, both with an Intel Core i9-12900K, like RAM modules, and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080. The results were in line with expectations and traded blows against the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero, though the latter did manage to edge out, especially later overclocking was carried out.
The BIOS is straightforward to use and there were no stability concerns with the board through use. The array of M.2 slots is clearly a highlight, especially with four of them capable of running at PCIe 4.0 speeds. The fact that you tin actually push button fifty-fifty Intel'due south Core i9 processor across its factor gear up limits without encountering issues makes the MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi a great bargain for early platform adopters.
MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi: What'southward not good
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Cardinal
There are a few modest complaints worth pointing out, particularly if you're looking to drop $400 on a new motherboard. The rear I/O but includes a 2.5Gb LAN port, which is a shame and would have been a nice touch to encounter MSI exit and install a 5Gb or 10Gb port. And then, at that place are the odd four USB 2.0 ports, which should have been swapped out for 3.0 at least.
If you've got power-hungry accessories, these USB 2.0 ports may struggle to go on up. Only if you don't really need that additional bandwidth, the motherboard itself is a piddling overkill for most PCs. Non anybody needs such keen overclocking support. Equally same, $200 is when you'll beginning to encounter plenty of solid motherboards with a slap-up list of features.
And you will need to have that antenna plugged in to utilize the Bluetooth without dropouts and quality issues.
MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi: Competition
Source: Rich Edmonds / Windows Central
The closest competitors are probably the ASUS ROG Strix Z690 Gaming and Gigabyte Z690 AORUS Master, but we've only reviewed the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero thus far. It's a very similar motherboard considering there's a $200 difference in the MSRP. Bank check out the specifications of the 2 boards below.
| Category | MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi | ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ATX | ATX |
| CPU | Intel 12th Gen | Intel 12th Gen |
| Socket | LGA 1700 | LGA 1700 |
| Power delivery | 18+1+ane | xx+1 |
| RAM | 4x DDR5 DIMM (up to DDR5-6666+), 128GB limit | 4x DDR5 DIMM (up to DDR5-6400+), 128GB limit |
| Chipset | Intel Z690 | Intel Z690 |
| Expansion | 2x PCIe 5.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8) 1x PCIe iv.0 x16 | 2x PCIe 5.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8) 1x PCIe 4.0 x16 |
| Storage | 6x SATA (6Gbps) 4x M.2 2242/2260/2280 (PCIe 4.0 x4, SATA) 1x M.ii 2242/2260/2280 (PCIe 3.0 x4) | 6x SATA (6Gbps) 2x Thou.2 2242/2260/2280 (PCIe 4.0 x4, SATA) 1x M.2 2242/2260/2280 (PCIe iii.0 x4) ROG Hyper M.ii expansion card (1x Chiliad.2 2242/2260/2280 (PCIe 5.0, SATA) ROG Hyper One thousand.two expansion menu (1x K.2 2242/2260/2280 (PCIe iv.0, SATA) |
| Sound | Realtek ALC4080 | Realtek ALC4082 |
| Rear ports | BIOS FlashBack Button 5x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2x2 4x USB 2.0 1x DisplayPort 1x HDMI 1x two.5Gb LAN 1x Optical S/PDIF out 5x Gilded-plated audio jack | BIOS FlashBack Button Clear CMOS push button 1x 2.5G LAN 1x ASUS Wi-Fi 2x Thunderbolt iv 6x USB-A 3.two Gen 2 (up to 10Gbps) 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen two 2x USB-A ii.0 1x HDMI 1x Optical S/PDIF out 5x Gold-plated audio jack |
| NVIDIA SLI | ✓ | ✓ |
| AMD CrossFire | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dimensions | 305 x 244 mm | 305 10 244 mm |
| Launch price | $400 | $600 |
The MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi is really rated to handle faster SSR5 RAM at 6666 MT/southward, but generally everything else is the same. You've got a like PCIe setup, audio codec, rear ports (though the MSI has two more USB ii.0), BIOS Flashback button, and back up for a multi-GPU PC build.
We'd recommend sticking with the Z690 chipset for the latest 12th Gen Intel processors, especially if you plan to overclock the CPU or RAM. It really boils down to your personal preference on which brand you accept had the best experience with and which board has a design that fits your PC case and other components best.
MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi: Should you buy it?
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
You should buy this if ...
- You lot take a twelfth Gen Intel CPU
- Y'all want to use DDR5 and PCIe 5.0
- You plan to practice some overclocking
- Y'all prefer to use PCIe NVMe SSDs
- Y'all don't mind spending $400 on a motherboard
You shouldn't buy this if...
- You want to utilize DDR4 RAM
- You want a budget-friendly motherboard
- You don't plan to overclock your CPU
- Y'all desire a flashier blueprint with plenty of RGB
You'll struggle to see a notable difference in benchmarks and games betwixt motherboards with the Z690 chipset. There volition be some discrepancies similar with the ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero, just this is a considerably more expensive motherboard with a hefty VRM setup. This allows for far more strong overclocking.
But the MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi is an extremely capable foundation for a PC build. Information technology has pretty much everything you'll need without unnecessary bloat or inflated price. I'g talking dual PCIe 5.0 slots, DDR5 support, five M.2 slots, 2.5Gb LAN and Wi-Fi 6E networking, and an 18+1+1 power delivery blueprint that tin handle an overclocked Intel Cadre i9-12900K.
We similar the blueprint of the motherboard, which provides a more than subtle look that focuses attention on all the RGB lighting inside the chassis for showcasing all your other components. There are some onboard LEDs, but they're far from obnoxious. Not all Z590 motherboards back up DDR5 RAM and have multiple PCIe five.0 slots so MSI has a strong offering with the MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi.
MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi
Bottom line: If y'all want a Z690 motherboard that offers enough in terms of features and overclocking stability without decimating your PC build budget, await no further than the MSI MPG Z690 Carbon WiFi.
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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/msi-mpg-z690-carbon-wifi-review
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