MSI MPG Z690 EDGE WIFI DDR4 Gaming Motherboard, ATX - Supports Intel Core 12th Gen Processors, LGA 1700 - Direct 16 Phase VRM 75A, Memory Boost 5200MHz/OC, 1 x PCIe 5.0 x16, 4 x M.2 Gen4, Wi-Fi 6

Product Information

Generally there is a "popping" type sound when Audio hardware is detected as the PC Starts to boot. That is missing with this boards ALC4080. I put the motherboard in a different PC and experienced the same thing. Z690 is the enthusiast chipset from Intel, and this motherboard is powered by it. It also marks the dawn of a new era; Intel's Alder lake processors are a wholly new and faster architecture. We have written a lot about it. The new processors will have energy and performance cores to balance power consumption in idle and load conditions. With the Alder lake platform, new features are brought to the table. DDR5 and PCIe Express 5.0 are among the first-ever for intel products. Lightning Fast Game experience: PCIe 5.0 slots, Lightning Gen 4 x4 M.2, Front & Rear USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 20G.

Starting on the bottom left side, we see a full exposed audio section with the Realtek ALC4080 codec. Of the comparable (similarly priced DDR4) boards, this Edge board and the Gigabyte Aero G are the only ones that use a current-generation solution. While this isn’t a big deal as the ALC1220 codec sounds good too, it’s great to see it implemented on a board focused more on the budget side of things. Along with the codec, we spy an audio separation line to keep the audio bits away from the rest of the board (EMI mitigation), and several Chemicon-branded dedicated audio caps. Starting with the top half of the board, we get a closer look at the large heatpipe-connected heatsinks to cool the power delivery. On top, the MSI dragon RGBs are saturated and colorful, while not being too bright and overwhelming. The board gives off a glow that lights up the inside of your case, but does not make it the center of attention. Just above the heatsinks, we spot two 8-pin EPS power connectors (one required) to power the processor. Starting with the launch of the Z690 chipset, we’ve updated our game tests. We’ve updated Far Cry: New Dawn to Far Cry 6 and shifted from F1 2020 to F1 2021. We run the games at 1920x1080 resolution, using the Ultra preset (details listed above). As the resolution goes up, the CPU tends to have less impact. The goal with these settings is to determine if there are differences in performance at the most commonly used resolution with settings that most people use (or at least strive for). We expect the difference between boards in these tests to be minor, with most falling within the margin of error. We've also added a minimum FPS value, as that can affect your gameplay and immersion experience.

MSI MPG Z690 Edge WIFI (DDR4)

LAN with LAN Manager and Intel Wi-Fi 6E Solution: Upgraded network solution for professional and multimedia use. Delivers a secure, stable and fast network connection

Moving around to the rear I/O area, we see MSI has included a pre-installed I/O shield, which seems pretty standard these days. Starting from the left, we have a BIOS flash button that enables a BIOS update with only power to the board needed; CPU and memory are not necessary. You will need a formatted flash drive in FAT32 and rename the BIOS file to MSI.ROM and save it to the root directory of the flash drive. A specific USB port is used for this and labeled as such. Extreme Power Design: Premium digital PWM, direct 19+1+2 phases with 105A Smart Power Stage, Titanium Choke III and dual CPU power connectors to unleash the true power of your processors. Micro-Star International (MSI) is not a new name in the PC enthusiast market. Established in 1986 in Taiwan, they produced mainly motherboards and graphics cards. Today MSI has expanded into the gaming market with its own “Gaming” line of PC components, laptops, monitors, coolers, and peripherals. They also have their hands in robotic automation, industrial-grade servers, and the automotive industry with a global presence in over 120 countries. Lightning Fast Game experience: PCIe 5.0 slots, Lightning Gen 4 x4 M.2, Dual Front USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 20G. While the pricing for Alder Lake non-K CPUs appears to be quite favorable, their success will also be contingent on the cost of the H670, B660, and H610 motherboards. Additionally, it will be interesting to observe AMD's reaction to the new Alder Lake processors. AMD's Ryzen 5000 (Zen 3) had dominated the market before Alder Lake arrived and stole the show, but a slight price decrease might reintroduce Ryzen.I would also like to note the odd results in WPrime 1024. Since we first started testing the new Alder Lake CPUs, the WPrime 1024 results seemed a bit off now with some updates, and they’re more in line with what we were expecting. Gaming Tests Across the bottom are a ton of headers. We’ll just put these in a bulleted list for ease of reading (from Left to Right). Dual 2.5G LAN with latest Wi-Fi 6E: Onboard dual 2.5G LAN with LAN manager and latest Wi-Fi 6E solution which supports 6GHz spectrum delivering the best online gaming experience. The PCB design has been optimized for higher bandwidth and faster transfer speeds, which is also beneficial for reliable circuit transmission.