MSI MPG Z790 CARBON WIFI Review

Final Score: 90 out of 100

With over a hundred hours of testing, stressing, and generally just using the MSI MPG Z790 Carbon WiFi to the utmost of its abilities, we can firmly say that we both trust and really like this motherboard. It is about as bullet proof a board as (just about) anyone could hope to buy. As such, if you are the type of enthusiast who has zero interest in 10GbE networking, but are interested in boundary pushing air or water overclocking, this board would be a very good choice. Conversely, if you are the type of consumer who just wants a system that is dead nuts reliable… the MPG Z790 Carbon WiFi is also an excellent choice.

Make no mistake. It is not a one-trick pony. Nor is it a ‘two-trick’ pony. This is not some singularly designed board that is only good for either overclocking or extreme stability niches. Instead, it is choke full of features and (figuratively) oozes value. Value added features are a tricky thing to get right – as typically what one person will consider a great addition… someone else will simply consider it a MSRP inflator. With the MPG Z790 Carbon WiFi few will take issue with its feature set. This is because MSI’s design team put the effort in to do things right… and not just add in things to tick boxes on a sales brochure / web page. Yes, the included features have been both well thought out and executed exceedingly well and we like many took note of this attention to detail. Everything from the easy to use, and surprisingly razor-sharp BIOS; to even the small things like the magnetic attachment system for the top mounted heatsink has been included to make you the owner’s life a little bit easier.

This combination of excellent features, extreme user-friendliness, and generally no hassle feature set not only shows that MSI’s design team are experienced builders themselves who love what they are doing but also that they take pride in their work. It’s been a long while since we worked with a motherboard where we could say that… unironically. Most of the time it is a case of overcoming a given boards… quirks. Then trying to figure out who said quirks were intended to help.

With the MSI MPG Z790 Carbon WiFi the opposite is true. It is actually hard to come up with many groups of buyers who will not be completely happy with what it has to offer. So much so it more a case of it boiling down to the asking price, lack of 10GbE NIC (and / or secondary NIC), and a few nitpicks like lack of a secondary USB 5Gbps front header. Of these only the asking price will be deal-breakers – as an Add In Card (or two) fixes the others issues for the minority they will impact.

We honestly get it. For some, spending more on the motherboard than the CPU is simply going to be a non-starter. There is nothing anyone can say or do to convince you otherwise. We will not even try, even if this board is easily worth its asking price. Instead, we simply say that if any above 4 bill motherboard is a hard pass, we would suggest starting with the MPG Z790 Edge DDR4 (about $350), then looking at the MSI PRO Z790-A (about $260). Based on numerous Z690 variants of those boards we used in the recent past the first will offer similar, albeit lowered (though still at or above Strix -F and / or TUF Plus) build quality without the DDR5 tax… and the latter is so head and shoulders above typical ‘budget’ boards that it is not even funny.

For those that can afford the ~$480 asking price this is a motherboard that will satisfy your need for both speed and future proofing options. Furthermore, it will do so for many years to come. So, if you are looking for a motherboard that is as reliable as it is pretty, one that is relatively inexpensive, and is a veritable bargain the MSI MPG Z790 Carbon WiFi demands to be on your short list. For the reasons listed above we have no qualms with conferring it multiple awards. Congratulations MSI for exceeding our already high expectations.