Looking for a review of the MSI MPG Z790 Carbon WiFi? Like its sibling, the MSI MPG Z790 Carbon WiFi is much more expensive than its Z690-based predecessor and supports the same processors. However, the Z790 motherboard features an M.2 port with PCIe 5 support, and the USB 3.2 Type-C header now supports Gen 2x2.
Moreover, the I/O panel now has a Clear CMOS button and a Smart button that can be used to reboot the computer, set all fans to maximum speed, or perform a number of other tasks via EFI.
Specifications MSI MAG Z790 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4
Here are the specs of the MSI MPG Z790 Carbon WiFi:
| Dimensions (mm) | 305 x 244 |
| Chipset | Intel Z790 |
| CPU socket | Intel LGA1700 |
| Memory support | 4 slots: max 128GB DDR5 (up to 7600MHz) |
| Sound | 8-channel Realtek ALC4080 |
| Networking | 1 x Intel 2.5 Gigabit LAN, 802.11ax Wi-Fi |
| Охлаждение | Seven 4-pin fan headers, VRM heatsinks, VRM heatpipe, M.2 heatsinks |
| Ports | 6 x SATA 6Gbps, 1 x M.2 PCIe 5, 4 x M.2 PCIe 4, 6 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 2 x USB 3, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C header, 1 x LAN, 3 x surround audio out |
MSI MPG Z790 Carbon WiFi Specifications
You'll also get a toolless M.2 port and heatsink like we saw on the MSI MPG B650 Carbon WiFi, as well as an additional power phase for the CPU, providing a 19+1+1 power system.
However, that price is still high, especially when the cheaper Asus ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming WiFi D4 offers similar features minus the PCIe 5 M.2 port. However, there is a lot to see here. The MPG Z790 Carbon WiFi board looks great, with massive heatsinks covering the M.2 and VRM ports, the latter connected by heat pipes. All M.2 ports are equipped with heatsinks, and SSDs are cooled on both sides. Additionally, the board has an LED indicator for POST codes, and MSI's EFI interface is much easier to navigate than ASRock's.
However, MSI's software is not very user-friendly and is easily inferior to Asus boards. The latter has better fan control in both software and EFI, as well as additional options for temperature sources, including thermal sensor headers that will come in handy when creating custom water cooling loops.
As you'd expect, you also get 2,5 Gigabit Ethernet, and the extra money over ASRock boards gets you 802.11ax Wi-Fi and Realtek ALC4080 audio. Additionally, you get a total of eight USB Type-A ports.
MSI MPG Z790 Carbon WiFi Performance
During testing, we unfortunately saw the same drop in all-core performance as the MSI MAG Z790 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4: our Core i5-13600K clock speed dropped from 5,1 GHz to 5 GHz, but it still performed better than Tomahawk in our multi-threaded video encoding test: 1 points vs. 029.
In Cinebench's multi-threaded test, the Carbon also failed to score 24 points, falling behind boards from other manufacturers, albeit by only a few hundred points. That score rose to 000 points at 25 GHz for the P cores of our Core i963-5,7K.
Meanwhile, the Realtek ALC4080 audio system has a dynamic range of 106 dBA and a noise level of -106 dBA, but both Asus boards were able to achieve better results in RightMark Audio Analyzer. Finally, our PCIe 4 SSD stayed under 59°C under load, with read speeds of 7 MB/s and write speeds of 059 MB/s. The VRM Carbon temperature did not rise above 6 °C after overclocking.
Conclusion of the MSI MPG Z790 Carbon WiFi review
Even though it's a solid motherboard, the MSI MPG Z790 Carbon WiFi doesn't feel worth $500 - it lacks the necessary spice, generous feature set and wow factor you'd expect for the price.
If you're looking to fork out the cash, we recommend spending the extra cash on the luxurious Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero, but if you don't need DDR5 support and a PCIe 5 M.2 slot, we recommend most people save some money and go for the Asus ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming WiFi D4.
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