276°
Posted 20 hours ago

MSI MAG Z790 TOMAHAWK WIFI Motherboard ATX - Supports Intel Core 12/13th Gen Processors, LGA 1700, DDR5 Boost (7200+MHz/OC), 1 x PCIe 5.0 x16, 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16, 5 x M.2 Gen4, 2.5Gbps LAN, Wi-Fi 6E

£169.995£339.99Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

The rear I/O is particularly impressive, with a total of ten USB ports, topped by USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 and Gen 2 Type-C ports. Add to that another four USB Gen 2 ports and four Gen 1 ports. There's 2.5G LAN and Wi-Fi 6E, a full set of audio ports powered by a Realtek ALC4080 codec, CMOS and BIOS flash buttons, and finally HDMI 2.1 and DP 1.4 ports.

Audio Boost 5 - Isolated audio with a high quality audio processor for the most immersive gaming experience A stable baseline is a good thing. If nothing else, a solid and reliable Z790 mid-range board like the Z790 Tomahawk Max Wifi showed that it'll happily mate with a high end combination like an i9 14900K and RTX 4090, even though such a combination will be rare in the real world. Memory Boost - Advanced technology to deliver pure data signals for the best performance, stability and compatibility

Promoción

Lightning Gen 5 - The latest PCIe 5.0 solution with up to 128GB/s bandwidth for maximum transfer speed That’s a very well-rounded set of options, especially at this price where USB4 or Thunderbolt 4 is not expected. They’re the kinds of features that makers use to justify boards costing twice as much. You already have a Z690 or Z790 board.If you've already got a previous generation LGA 1700 board, you're probably better off updating its BIOS and going 14th Gen with that. A typical gamer needs to ask themselves what they value most in a motherboard. As the performance differences between third generation motherboards mostly falls within a margin of error, your choice will come down to features, aesthetics and if you're so inclined, brand loyalty. If features are at the top of your list, then the inclusion of WiFi 7, 4x M.2 plus 8x SATA, a high quality VRM capable of powering anything from the 12th, 13th and 14th Generations, and rear mounted USB 20Gbps port should all rate highly.

The Handbrake video encoding test benefits greatly, the file compression test even more so, while in other cases the differences are within a margin of error. M.2 Shield FROZR - Strengthened built-in M.2 thermal solution, Keeps M.2 SSDs safe while preventing throttling, making them run faster The MSI BIOS presents you with a simplistic CPU TDP selection upon first boot. There's a default 'Boxed Cooler' setting which enforces Intel's power limits, a 'Tower Cooler' option which raises TDP to 288W, and finally a 'Water Cooling' option which removes all limits. Not that you'll ever need it, but this allows a hypothetical 4096W! When it comes to gaming, the differences apply to specific games. Now that DDR5 prices have fallen, it makes sense to opt for the DDR5 Tomahawk over the DDR4 one. Of course, a better graphics card or CPU will deliver more tangible performance benefits.

Product Reviews

Memory Support 5333/ 5200/ 5066/ 5000/ 4800/ 4600/ 4533/ 4400/ 4266/ 4000/ 3866/ 3733/ 3600/ 3466/ 3333(O.C.)/ 3200/ 3000/ 2933/ 2800/ 2666/ 2400/ 2133(By JEDCE & POR) Available only on processors featuring integrated graphics. Graphics specifications may vary depending on the CPU installed. The PCIe slot complement is around par, as M.2 slots take up PCB space that used to be reserved for expansion card slots. The primary PCIe slot supports Gen 5 speeds. It's joined by a PCIe 4.0 x16 slot (x4 electrical) and a PCIe 3.0 x1 slot. Both are positioned away from the primary slot allowing you to use them unhindered by a triple slot graphics card. M.2_3 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 / SATA mode, supports 2280/2260/2242 devices Core Boost - With premium layout and fully digital power design to support more cores and provide better performance

I was fortunate to get my hands on both the DDR4 and DDR5 versions of the Z790 Tomahawk. That gives us a great opportunity to look at like-for-like systems with both types of memory. The takeaway—and it's a consistent takeaway when talking about memory—is that fast memory only helps in very specific situations. In this case I was using a good set of DDR4-3600 C14 memory, meaning the DDR4 results are near enough to as good as it gets unless you've got some really top shelf B-Die memory at 4000MHz+.Looks are always in the eye of the beholder, but I love the understated look of the Tomahawk Max. Its splashes of green and the absence of retina scalding RGB branding and logos is pleasing to me. You be the judge if that's important to you. You can still add RGB to your rig, but this way you can do it in a style of your own without having MSI or Aorus or ROG advertisements in your face. Minimalism is not a common trait among motherboard makers. Though MSI, particularly with its Unify range, leads the way.

I decided after around 6 years to upgrade my computer, I was looking around everywhere to ensure that the parts I chose were compatible and the best they could be etc. This motherboard has not let me down, It was super easy to install, the BIOS is super nice and easy to use too and all the connectivity parts are super simple. The Z790 Tomahawk comes with seven SATA ports. For bulk storage, SATA still has a place and those seven ports alone may be a deal maker for some users. Some boards costing a lot more come with only four SATA.The MSI Z790 Tomahawk Max WiFi is an excellent offering with a high quality set of features that make it a very competitive offering in its price range. MSI deserves credit for not pushing the price of the Max version above its non-Max predecessor. That's a pretty rare thing for any product in today's inflation hit economy, so well done MSI. Now its time for my usual memory test. As has been the case across my testing, I was able to hit DDR5-8000 but moving past that required unreasonable levels of IMC voltage. Soon I'll be getting my hands on a Teamgroup DDR5-8200 kit, and that's something that will require a capable BIOS to run properly. If at all! Lightning USB 20G - Built-in USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port, offers 20Gbps transmission speed, 4X faster than USB 3.2 Gen 1 Extended Heatsink Design - MSI extended PWM heatsink and enhanced circuit design ensures even high-end processors to run in full speed

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment