Page 1: MSI MPG Z 490 GAMING CARBON WIFI in the test – carbon look incl.USB 3.2 Gen2x2

MSI’s GAMING- (PRO) -CARBON mainboards from the MPG product range (MSI Performance Gaming) are of great interest to many people who want to upgrade, because in most cases these models strike the balance between good equipment and an acceptable price. So we didn’t let it be missed and the MSI MPG Z 490 GAMING CARBON WIFI through our LGA 1200 – Mainboard test course sent.

Last summer we introduced the MSI MPG Z 490 GAMING EDGE WIFI ( Hardwareluxx test), which was able to convince in the important areas. The MPG Z 490 GAMING CARBON WIFI also comes from the MSI performance series, but can – and this much is revealed in advance – stand out in a few points.

The basis between the two models is quite similar. In addition to the CPU socket, four DDR4 memory banks and six SATA 6GBit / s ports, two M.2 interfaces and various USB connections are usually used. In order to do justice to the model name, the corresponding optics are of course only used in the CARBON variant.

MSI has not only applied the carbon look to the large chipset cooler, but also to the I / O panel cover. The MPG Z 490 GAMING CARBON WIFI was designed in the classic ATX format, whereby the PCB itself is black and has been given some bright accents. Except for the two M.2 and the VRM cooler, the circuit board is generally kept dark.

The technical properties

These are the technical data of the MSI MPG Z 490 GAMING CARBON WIFI:

Manufacturer and

Designation

graphic interfaces

The data of the MSI MPG Z 490 GAMING CARBON WIFI in the overview

Mainboard format	ATX
MSI MPG Z 490 GAMING CARBON WIFI
CPU socket	LGA 1200 (for Comet Lake-S )
	Power connections	1x 24 – ATX pin 1x 8-pin EPS 12 V 1x 4-pin + 12 V
Phases / coils	15 (14 x CPU (12 + 1 + 1 ), 1x RAM)
Price	from 244 Euro
Website	MSI MPG Z 490 GAMING CARBON WIFI
	Southbridge / CPU features
Chipset	Intel Z 490 Express chipset
Memory banks and type	4x DDR4 (dual-channel), max. 5. 000 MHz
Memory expansion	Max. 128 GB RAM UDIMM Non-ECC
SLI / CrossFire	SLI (2-Way), CrossFireX (3-Way)
	Onboard features
PCI-Express	2x PCIe 4.0 x 16 (electrical with x 16 / x8) via CPU (PCIe 4.0 only with Rocket Lake-S!) 1x PCIe 3.0 x 16 (electrical with x4) via Intel Z 490 2x PCIe 3.0 x1 via Intel Z 490
PCI	–
Storage	6x SATA 6 GBit / s via Intel Z 320 2x M.2 with PCIe 3.0 x4 via Intel Z 490 (M-Key, 32 Gbit / s)
USB	1x USB 3.2 Gen2x2 (20 Gbit / s, 1x external) via ASMedia ASM 3241 5x USB 3.2 Gen2 (10 GBit / s, 4x external, 1x internal) via Intel Z 490 2x US B 3.2 Gen1 (5 Gbit / s, 2x internal) via Intel Z 320 6x USB 2.0 (2x external, 4x internal) via Intel Z 490
1x HDMI 1.4b 1x DisplayPort 1.2
WLAN / Bluetooth	WiFi 802. 11 a / b / g / n / ac / ax over Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX 201 CNVio, dual band, Max. 2.4 GBit / s, Bluetooth 5.1
Thunderbolt	–
LAN	1x Realtek RTL 8125 B 2.5 Gbit / s LAN
Audio codec and connections	8-Channel Realtek ALC 1200 Codec 5x 3.5 mm audio jacks 1x TOSLink
FAN and WaKü header	1x 4-pin CPU FAN header 1x 4-pin water pump header 6x 4-pin system FAN header
LED lighting	Chipset cooler, I / O panel cover 1x 4-pin RGB header 2x 3-pin ARGB header 1x 3-pin CORSAIR header
Onboard comfort	Status LEDs, LED switch

The supplied accessories

• Mainboard manual
• Driver and software DVD
• Quick Installation Guide
• two SATA cables
• 2T2R-WLAN-Atenne

3 -Pin ARGB extension cable

Corsair RGB LED extension cable

RGB-LED-Y-ext connection cable

MSI case sticker

Information card for product registration

MSI product booklet

Housing screw instructions

SATA cable sticker

Be MSI is generous in terms of accessories and puts a little more in the box. The manual, the support data carrier, the 2T2R WiFi antenna and of course the M.2 screws are among the mandatory items. But we were also able to find a quick start guide, short instructions for screwing the case, the MSI gaming case sticker, and numerous SATA identification stickers. Also on board are numerous cables, such as two SATA cables, a 3-pin ARGB extension cable, a CORSAIR RGB LED extension cable and a 4-pin RGB Y adapter cable.

Finally, with the small product booklet, MSI gives an outlook on many other MSI products and with the info card MSI encourages product registration, which of course also gives the buyer some advantages.

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Features and layout (1)