Final Thoughts on the MSI MPG Z890 Carbon WiFi Motherboard
This being our second Z890 motherboard we’ve had the chance to take a look at we are very impressed. The MSI MPG Z890 Carbon WiFi has robust power delivery, PCIe 5.0 support, multiple M.2 slots, lots of USB ports, and cutting-edge networking capabilities. As such, it caters to gamers, content creators, and PC enthusiasts alike.
When it comes to power delivery you are getting direct 20+1+1+1 power phases with 110A power stages for the CPU. VRM cooling is solid so if you did plan on running a high-end processor or want to do any overclocking you won’t have to worry. It was interesting to see the MSI move the dual 8-pin EPS connectors over closer to the memory slots. This does make them much easier to access, especially once you have a CPU cooler installed. The CPU fan header is also moved further away from the socket for easier access.
This board gives you a total of five M.2 slots with the top one being the Gen5 slot (the remaining four are Gen4). All of these slots are completely tool-less, so removing the M.2 heatsinks and installing / removing your drives takes no tools at all. The top graphics card slot has a button that will release your graphics card too! All PC builders definitely appreciate these little features that just make the installation / removal process of hardware so much easier. It was also nice to see MSI have buttons on the rear I/O rather than on the board itself, just easier to access these once you have your system installed.
For those looking for connectivity you have quite a lot of USB ports as well as dual Thunderbolt 4 ports on the rear I/O. The internal USB 3.2 gen 2×2 header can also provide up to 27W for fast charging devices. Like many new motherboards so you do get WiFi 7, but you are also going to get 5G LAN here.
MSI has also done an excellent job on the Click BIOS X. It seems like one of the most organized and up to date BIOS’s that I’ve used lately.
If anything I was sort of missing the “Carbon” on this board. Previous MSI Carbon motherboards really took that product name to heart with a lot of carbon fiber elements. With this board it seems that is toned back a bit. That is not to say this isn’t a good-looking board, but more carbon elements would definitely be appreciated.
Right now you can pick this board up at our favorite online retailer for $499.99. Overall ThinkComputers gives the MSI MPG Z890 Carbon WiFi Motherboard a 9 out of 10 score.
Pros:
– Solid VRM design
– Five M.2 slots
– All M.2 slots are tool-less
– Graphics card release button
– Lots of connectivity (USB & Thunderbolt 4)
– WiFi 7 & 5G LAN
– Excellent BIOS
Cons:
– Not much “Carbon” on the board
