MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon WiFi Motherboard Review

When it comes to motherboards MSI actually has six gaming lines or series (talk about confusing right!). At the top you have MEG, then it goes down to MPG, then you have MAG. Today we are taking a look at the MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon WiFi motherboard, which sits as the highest-end motherboard in the MPG line. The tagline for this board is “Game without concessions” and we are going to see today if that is true. This board features a 12+1+1 digital power design, memory support up to 4800 MHz, dual M.2 slots, USB 2.2 gen 2×2, 2.5g LAN, WiFi 6, RGB lighting and much more!

Special thanks to MSI for providing us with the MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon WiFi motherboard to review.

Packaging

The MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon WiFi comes in MSI’s standard motherboard packaging. On the front we have what looks to be a car speeding off and it lets us know that this is a Z490 chipset motherboard, it supports Intel 10th generation processors and is Intel Optane Memory ready.

MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon WiFi Motherboard

Flipping over to the back there is a large picture of the board and many of the features are detailed. We also have a full list of specifications and overview of the rear I/O ports.

MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon WiFi Motherboard

Getting everything out of the box we have two SATA cables, 3 different RGB extension cables, MSI case badge, WiFi antenna, cable label stickers, a quick installation guide, M.2 screws, a driver and software CD, and the user’s guide.

MSI MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon WiFi Motherboard

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