In one of many coolest collaborations of the 12 months up to now, MSI and EK Water Blocks have come collectively to create a brand new Z490 motherboard, the MSI MPG Z490 Carbon EK X. It is armed with an EKWB CPU block with built-in RGB LEDs which additionally supplies cooling to the ability supply, it features a 12+1 VRM design, with two PCIe 3.zero x4 M.2 slots, Realtek 2.5 G Ethernet, and an Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6.
One of an important points to think about when shopping for Intel’s Comet Lake 10th technology processors is cooling. The Core i9-10900Okay is a scorching CPU, even at inventory, and with the efficiency gained through Intel’s Thermal Velocity Boost, efficiency cooling is extra necessary than it ever has. There are solely a handful of Z490 fashions that embody water blocks, they usually aren’t low-cost. The ASRock Z490 Aqua is $1100, whereas the GIGABYTE Z490 Aorus Xtreme WaterForce is $1299. This mannequin is anticipated to retail for $400.
Enter the MSI MPG Z490 Carbon EK X, which appears to supply the advantages of customized water cooling on Intel’s scorching operating 10th technology desktop processors, however with a way more wallet-friendly price. Its most important promoting level is the EKWB customized monoblock which cools each the CPU and the 12+1 section energy supply. The built-in RGB LEDs within the monoblock may be managed with MSI’s Mystic Light software program. There are three full-length slots which might function at x16/x0/x+Four or x8/x8/x+4, with two PCIe 3.zero x1 slots too.
The 4 reminiscence slots can help as much as DDR4-4800 with a most capability of as much as 128 GB, whereas two PCIe 3.zero x4 M.2 and 6 SATA ports make up the board’s storage functionality. The design is predicated on its pure carbon impressed theme with black carbon patterning throughout the rear panel and sections of the monoblock, in addition to the PCIe armor and chipset heatsink.
There can also be a variety of connectors together with a USB 3.2 G2 20 Gbps Type-C, 4 USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, and two USB 2.zero ports on the rear panel. For customers wanting to make use of Intel’s UHD built-in graphics, MSI has included a DisplayPort 1.Four and HDMI pair of video outputs, whereas a PS/2 combo caters to customers with legacy peripherals. For networking the Z490 Carbon EK X is utilizing a Realtek RTL8125B 2.5 G Ethernet controller, whereas an Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 provides help for BT 5.1 gadgets. In regards to inside connectors, MSI features a single USB 3.2 G2 Type-C header, one USB 3.2 G1 Type-A header which helps two ports, and two USB 2.zero headers which help as much as 4 ports.
The MSI MPG Z490 Carbon EK X has an MSRP of $400, which may be very affordable for the entire board’s options, together with the customized EKWB monoblock which cools the processor and energy supply elements. So far that is the third Z490 mannequin to incorporate a monoblock by default and prices a 3rd of what GIGABYTE are charging for its flagship Z490 Aorus Xtreme WaterForce mannequin. It’s not as high-end, however the Z490 Carbon EK X affords a extra inexpensive entry level into the customized water cooling market with the Carbon EK X, and it appears good too.
