Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
The 1440p results are pretty typical as this resolution relies more on the GPU than the CPU. 3DMark Results 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme Results 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. As with the 2D benchmark results we saw previously, the gaming benchmarks were similar regardless of the settings. However, it does appear that the same updates did help in some of our game titles, specifically Far Cry6, where the 12900K got a 20 FPS increase since we first started testing in November. 1440p Gaming Benchmarks Above the DRAM slots are 4-pin fan headers and RGB headers. In this location, there are CPU_FAN1 and PUMP_FAN1 headers, plus six others on the board for a total of eight. All headers support both PWM and DC-controlled fans. CPU_FAN1 defaults to auto control and outputs up to 2A/24W. PUMP_FAN1 defaults to PWM mode and outputs up to 3A/36W, while the SYS_FAN1-6 headers default to DC mode and output 1A/12W. There are plenty of headers and power to support your cooling ecosystem through the board. You can control the fans through the BIOS as well as MSI’s Center software. Unleash and sustain maximum performance with an aggressive VRM design built with a total of direct 16 +1+1 power phases. Combining 2x 8-pin power connectors and exclusive Core Boost technology, the MPG series motherboard is ready to sustain heavy daily work.
H610 appears to be a relatively entry-level model. There is still a PCIe 5.0 slot, which is surprising, as well as DDR5 support, but there is no PCIe 4.0 slot, which means your NVMe SSD will work at PCIe 3.0 speeds only. It significantly reduces expansion potential, with only eight total PCIe 3.0 lanes on the chipset. Additionally, the number of USB 3.0 ports is limited. H610 boards are supposed to be affordable, and as long as the VRMs are not heatsink-less trash, they should be capable of performing well in entry-level systems. The PCB design has been optimized for higher bandwidth and faster transfer speeds, which is also beneficial for reliable circuit transmission.
For PCIe, we have three full-length PCIe x16 slots, of which only the top one is x16 electrically; we have supplied a bandwidth breakdown in the table below. The top full-length PCIe slot features MSI’s PCI Express Steel Armor technology for added strength with reinforced, heavy solder points and EMI shielding for signal integrity. The upper slot (from CPU) will run in PCIe Gen 5.0 mode, and the two lower full-length PCIe slots (from PCH) are Gen 3.0×4. We also have a single PCIex3 slot for supporting add-in cards. Dual Thunderbolt 4 ports: Thunderbolt USB-C at true 40 Gb/s speeds, 8K display support, Daisy-Chaining and Multi-Port Accessory Architecture provide reliable connectivity and better user experience. The most expensive chipset for motherboards of course is the Z690 chipset, which is the highest-end model released first. The CPU has 16 (or 2 times 8 PCIe 5.0 lanes), which can be used for graphics or storage, in addition to four NVME 4.0 lanes. What was previously said appears to be correct; the chipset has 12 times gen4 and 16 times gen3 processors. Additional features include support for two DIMMs per memory channel and dual-channel DDR4-3200 or DDR5-4800 with two DIMMs per memory channel. Lightning Fast Game experience: PCIe 5.0 slots, Lightning Gen 4 x4 M.2, Front & Rear USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 20G. Moving to the right is the Z690 chipset covered by a good-sized heatsink that sports the EDGE logo six SATA 6 Gb/s ports. Only four of the SATA 6 Gb/s get bandwidth from the PCH and support RAID functionality. The upper two ports labeled “A” and “B” are driven by an ASMedia ASM1061 controller.
If you can’t find it in the OC section, head to the Settings section, as you’ll most likely find it here. We see the Boot settings, Save & Exit, and Advanced subsections here. The Advanced subsection has the remaining system control settings for storage, USB, and Power Management, to name a few. 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. LAN with LAN Manager and Intel Wi-Fi 6 Solution: Upgraded network solution for professional and multimedia use. Delivers a secure, stable and fast network connection 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. Another issue with ALC4080 while I'm on the subject is that you cannot install the Realtek HD Audio Manager with it.It was time for a new architecture, created from the ground up with a hybrid design; meet Alder Lake, which you've probably already heard a lot about. They will also be the first to adopt a hybrid architecture, similar to ARM's BIG.little, that combines high-performance cores combined with efficient ones, making them the first of their kind for Intel. Furthermore, this new generation is now proven to be the first to support DDR5 memory (DDR4 compatible memory controllers as well) and PCI-Express 5.0, making it the first generation to do so. The power section on the z690 EDGE consists of a 16+1+1 phase configuration. Power comes to the board via the dual 8-pin EPS connectors feeding a 20-phase Renesas RAA229131 digital PWM controller. Power is routed directly into 75 A Dr.MOS type Renesas RAA 220075R0 MOSFETS. They terminate with premium alloy chokes and long-life capacitors for a high-quality power delivery system. This setup provided ample power for our i9 12900K at 5.1 GHz. MSI MPG Z690 EDGE WIFI DDR4 Enhanced Power Design: Direct 16+1+1 phases power, dual 8-pin CPU power connectors, Core Boost, Memory Boost 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.
Enhanced Power Design: 16+1+1 Duet Rail Power System, dual 8-pin CPU power connectors, Core Boost, Memory Boost 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.Our memory tests show that the different RAM generations make little difference in the CPU and FPU tests aside from Photoworx, which appears to get a significant boost from the extra bandwidth. The DDR5 also had an advantage in the memory benchmark with increased bandwidth but sacrificed latency by nearly 30 ns compared to the EDGE. Looking at the two DDR4 options, the MPG Z690 EDGE pulled ahead in most tests, but the gains are marginal. Real-World Tests Cinebench, Corona, and 7Zip Benchmarks Cinebench R11.5/R15, POVRay, x265 (HWBot), 7Zip – Raw Data Latest DDR5 Memory: A huge step of DDR performance enhancement with the latest DDR5 memory. Combines with dedicated SMT welding process and MSI Memory Boost technology, it is ready to deliver the world class memory performance. DDR5 is available, as is the most recent Intel Z690 chipset, which has been tuned for it as well. We've tried the platform, and while my overall impression is positive, I believe that DDR5 might have been launched a bit too early and too soon. The MSI MPG Z690 Edge Wi-Fi DDR4 motherboard is up for review today, and it's a good one. Yes, you read it correctly: a Z690 platform with the most up-to-date memory interface is being introduced. In addition to meeting the requirement for a new platform, this one retains DDR4 capability at its core. Extreme Power Design: Premium digital PWM, direct 19+2 phases with 105A Smart Power Stage, Titanium Choke III and dual CPU power connectors to unleash the true power of your processors.
Enhanced Power Design: Direct 18+1+1 phases power, dual 8-pin CPU power connectors, Core Boost, Memory Boost Alder Lake will enable PCI Express 5.0, which will more than double the bandwidth available from Gen 4, reaching a whopping 64 GB/s over 16 lanes, as predicted by rumors and now confirmed by Intel. Comparatively, PCIe Gen 3.0 (which is fast) can carry 16 GB/s across 16 lanes. Interconnects will be required to connect everything together. AMD refers to this as the infinity fabric, whereas Intel refers to it as the compute fabric; two distinct names for the same concept. The DMI interface between CPU and chipset also has received a massive upgrade to DMI 4.0, 16GT/s (PCIe 4.0 x8). The chipsetsStarting 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. 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
Great Deal 
New Comment