The MSI MPG Z790I EDGE WIFI comes in a small box with the signature design of the MPG series.

Contents

MPG Z790I EDGE WIFI Form factor Specifications Peripheral functionality: USB ports, network interfaces, I/O CPUZ How We Test MSI MPG Z790I EDGE WIFI?Cinebench R23 PCMark 10 3Dmark Advanced Edition Passmark Benchmark Ashes of the Singularity Escalation BaseMark GPU Heaven Benchmark SuperPosition Batman Arkham Origins Sleeping Dog MSI MPG Z790I EDGE WIFI Quality Value Design Performance Pros Cons

The accessories set include quick installation guide, SATA cables, there is an antenna for the built-in Wi-Fi / BT module, screws for M.2 slots and bonus stickers.

MPG Z790I EDGE WIFI

Supports 13th /12th Gen Intel^® Core™ / Pentium^® / Celeron^® processors for LGA 1700 socket
Supports DDR5 Memory, up to 8000+(OC) MHz
Lightning Fast Game experience: PCIe 5.0 slots, Lightning Gen 4 x4 M.2, USB 3.2 Gen 2×2
Enhanced Power Design: Direct 10+1+1 phases power, Core Boost, Memory Boost
Premium Thermal Solution: Enlarged heatsink with heat-pipe, MOSFET thermal pads rated for 7W/mk, additional choke thermal pads and M.2 Shield Frozr are built for high performance system and non-stop gaming experience
2.5G LAN and Intel Wi-Fi 6E Solution: Upgraded network solution for professional and multimedia use. Delivers a secure, stable and fast network connection
AUDIO BOOST 5: Reward your ears with studio grade sound quality for the most immersive gaming experience
High Quality PCB: 12-layer PCB made by server grade level material
Pre-installed I/O Shield: Better EMI protection and more convenience for installation

Form factor

The MPG Z790I EDGE WIFI motherboard measures 170x170mm in Mini-ITX form factor and has 4 mounting holes for chassis installation.

The reverse side is not empty (and this is logical, because the compactness of the PCB forces engineers to place part of the important element base on the back side), there are a number of controllers, some IC and one slot for an M.2 drive. The textolite is well processed: at all soldering points, not only the sharp ends are cut off, but everything is well polished. On the same side, a aluminum plate is installed. Also, the plate helps to remove heat from the back of the PCB through the thermal interface and provides rigidity to the motherboard.

Intel’s 13th generation CPUs will feature higher core clock speeds, feature more E-cores, support an additional USB 3.2 Gen2x2 connection, and support faster DDR5 memory.

Raptor Lake will not support Intel’s AVX-512 instructions, a feature that was removed from Intel’s desktop CPU lineup with Alder Lake after it was added with their 11th Generation Rocket Lake processors.

Specifications

The Z790 system chipset received 28 PCI-e lanes (20 downstream PCIe Gen 4 lanes and up to 8 downstream PCIe Gen 3 lanes), a total of 38 high-speed ports (High Speed In Out, HSIO), up to 4x integrated USB 3.2 Gen2x2 (up to 20 Gb / s) ports (although each of them requires support from two USB 3.2 Gen2, no matter from the Z790 itself or third-party hubs). The 13th generation of processors gives another 20 PCIe lanes, while 16 lanes are PCIe 5.0, 4 lanes are PCIe 4.0.’

Supported Processors	Intel 12th and 13th Gen
Processor socket	LGA 1200
Chipset	Intel Z790
Memory	2 × DDR5, up to 96 GB, up to DDR5-8000 (XMP/Expo), two channels
Audio	1 × Realtek ALC4080 (7.1)
Network Controllers	1 × Intel Ethernet 2.5Gbps 1 × Intel Dual Band Wireless (Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax (2.4/6 GHz) + Bluetooth 5.3)
Expansion Slots	1 × PCI Express 5.0 x16
Drive Connectors	4× SATA 6 Gb/s (Z790 Chipset) 1× M.2 (CPU, PCIe 4.0 x4 for 2260/2280/22110 devices) 1x M.2 (Z790 PCIe 3.0 x4 for 2260/2280/22110 devices) 1x M.2 (Z790 PCIe 4.0 x4 for 2260/2280/22110 devices)

Peripheral functionality: USB ports, network interfaces, I/O

Now it’s the turn of USB ports and other I/O. And let’s start with the back panel, where most of them are displayed.

On the back I/O panel of connections including 1x HDMI (iGPU) 1x DisplayPort (iGPU), 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen1 (5Gb/s), 3 x USB-A 3.2 Gen2 (10Mb/s), 1x USB-C USB 3.2 2×2 (20Gb/s), 1x 2.5GBase-T (Intel 2.5Gbe), Intel WiFI 6E, Also present on the rear panel feature for the bios flashback and Clear CMOS is included.

The MSI board has two DIMM slots for installing memory modules. The board supports unbuffered DDR5 (non-ECC) memory, and the maximum memory capacity is 64 GB. Of course, XMP profiles are supported.

The PCIe x16 slot has stainless steel reinforcement that increases durability (which can be important if you change graphics cards quite often, but more importantly, such a slot can more easily withstand bending loads in case of installing a very heavy top-level graphics card. In addition, such protection protects the slot from electromagnetic interference.

The two M.2 receives data from the CPU & Z790 PCH Chipset (PCIe 4.0 & PCIe 3.0) and is mounted alongside the PCH heatsink.

M2_1 support PCIe 4.0
M2_2 support PCIe 3.0 and SATA

Single ATX12V (8 pins) powering the CPU.

CPUZ

How We Test MSI MPG Z790I EDGE WIFI?

MSI MPG Z790I EDGE WIFI is a midrange motherboard from MSI. As such, our workstation, based on a MPG Z790I EDGE WIFI motherboard and Intel Core i9 13900K 24 cores 32 threads processor. The ram we will be using XPG DDR5 6000Mhz memory kit. Zotac RTX 4070Ti Trinity OC and Samsung 980Pro PCIe 4.0 2TB SSD is used as well to run with benchmark.

Cinebench R23

Improvements to Cinebench Release 20 reflect the overall advancements to CPU and rendering technology in recent years, providing a more accurate measurement of Cinema 4D‘s ability to take advantage of multiple CPU cores and modern processor features available to the average user

PCMark 10

PCMark 10 features a comprehensive set of tests that cover the wide variety of tasks performed in the modern workplace. With a range of performance tests, custom run options, Battery Life Profile, and new Storage benchmarks, PCMark 10 is the complete PC benchmark for the modern office.

3Dmark Advanced Edition

3DMark includes everything you need to benchmark your PC and mobile devices in one app. Whether you’re gaming on a smartphone, tablet, notebook, or a desktop gaming PC, 3DMark includes a benchmark designed specifically for your hardware.

Passmark Benchmark

PassMark runs heavy mathematical calculations that stress the CPU’s performance at compression, encryption, and physics-related tasks.

Ashes of the Singularity Escalation

As a real-time strategy title, Ashes is all about responsiveness during both wide open shots but also concentrated battles. With DirectX12 at the helm, the ability to implement more draw calls per second allows the engine to work with substantial unit depth and effects that other RTS titles had to rely on combined draw calls to achieve, making some combined unit structures ultimately very rigid.

BaseMark GPU

Basemark GPU is a professional evaluation tool to evaluate and compare graphics performance across mobile and desktop platforms. Uniquely, it supports all major graphics APIs and operating systems.

Heaven Benchmark

Extreme performance and stability test for PC hardware: video card, power supply, cooling system. Check your rig in stock and overclocking modes with real-life load! Also includes interactive experience in a beautiful, detailed environment.

SuperPosition

Batman Arkham Origins

Taking place before the rise of Gotham City’s most dangerous criminals, the game showcases a young and unrefined Batman as he faces a defining moment in his early career as a crime fighter that sets his path to becoming the Dark Knight.

Sleeping Dog

In this open world game, you play the role of Wei Shen, an undercover cop trying to take down the Triads from the inside out. You’ll have to prove yourself worthy as you fight your way up the organization, taking part in brutal criminal activities without blowing your cover.
Torn between your loyalty to the badge and a criminal code of honor, you will risk everything as the lines between truth, loyalty and justice become permanently blurred.