MSI unveils a host of Z690 chipset-based motherboards with DDR5 and PCIe Gen5 for Intel 12th gen Alder Lake processors

Intel just announced the 12th gen Alder Lake desktop processors, which means it's also time for motherboard manufacturers to showcase their latest offerings. With Alder Lake, Intel is moving to the 600-series chipsets with the Z690 being the flagship PCH offering. MSI has now announced a slew of new offerings for various requirements. 

According to MSI, all of its Z690 offerings come with support for PCIe Gen5, though it must be emphasized here that the PCIe Gen5 lanes only come from the CPU. The chipset offers a total of 28 lanes of which 16 are PCIe Gen3 and 12 are PCIe Gen4. Some of the boards are also available in distinct DDR4 and DDR5 offerings.

MSI's Z690 offerings include:

MEG Z690

The flagship MEG series is led by the Z690 ACE with 19+1+2-phase VRMs and 105 A Smart Power Stage (SPS) MOSFETs. The MEG Z690 ACE sports an all-aluminum design with a large backplate for effective heat dissipation, four M.2 Gen4 x4 slots, two PCIe Gen 5 x16 slots, dual 2.5G LAN, and dual 20G front USB Type-C. The Z690 ACE also sports a shiny 24K gold coating on the surface instead of conventional RGB.

Other members of the MEG series include the MEG Z690 Unify, MEG Z690 Unify-X, and the MEG Z690I Unify. The MEG Z690I Unify comes in a mini-ITX form factor, uses a 1 oz copper PCB, and features a single PCIe Gen5 x16 slot along with three M.2 slots.

MPG Z690

The MPG series is targeted at enthusiast gamers and offers several upgrades over the previous generation. The MPG series is comprised of the MPG Z690 Carbon Wi-Fi, Z690 Edge Wi-Fi, and Z690 Force Wi-Fi models.

The MPG Z690 Carbon Wi-Fi and Z690 Force Wi-Fi offer two PCIe Gen5 x16 slots and a total of five M.2 slots of which four are Gen4 x4. Additionally, both these boards offer 16 VRM phases and 75 A SPS MOSFETs.

The MPG Z690 Edge Wi-Fi comes in both DDR5 and DDR4 variants.

MAG Z690

Up next is the MSI MAG Z690 series with two offerings: the MAG Z690 Torpedo that comes in a unique pacific blue color scheme and the MAG Z690 Tomahawk Wi-Fi. Both the boards feature 16-phase VRMs, 70 A SPS MOSFETs, one PCIe Gen5 x16 slot, and three M.2 Gen4 x4 slots. The Z690 Tomahawk Wi-Fi comes in a DDR4 version as well.

PRO Z690

The PRO series is aimed at content creators and enterprises and is comprised of the PRO Z690-A, PRO Z690-A Wi-Fi, and PRO Z690-P offerings. The PRO Z690 series sport a more subdued design given their target demographic and offer a single PCIe Gen5 x16 slot and four M.2 slots. 

The PRO Z690-A Wi-Fi and the PRO Z690-A are available in both DDR4 and DDR5 variants while the PRO Z690-P supports only DDR4 memory.

MSI said that all Z690 motherboards have at least a 16-phase DrMOS VRM design and offer dual 8-pin power connectors. Also on offer is a server-grade PCB with 2 oz thickened copper. Other common features across the lineup include:

• 2.5G LAN
• Front panel USB Type-C
• At least four M.2 slots including 3 M.2 Gen4 x4 slots.
• Built-in TPM 2.0
• System Diagnosis for backups and MIXER software for RGB effects

For today's launch, only boards with the flagship Z690 chipset are being announced by OEMs. Motherboards based on the H670, B660, and H610 chipsets will follow early next year.

More information and specifications of individual MSI motherboard SKUs can be seen at the Source link below.

Buy the MSI MEG Z590 ACE on Amazon