The sub-flagship model MSI MEG Z790 ACE motherboard launched by MSI in the Z790 chipset this time provides sufficient expandability with the E-ATX specification, bringing users 192GB DDR5,PCIe 5.0 x16 graphics card slotfive M.2 SSDs, dual 2.5G LAN, Wi-Fi 6E/BT 5.3front double USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-Cfront Type-C 60W PD fast charging,rear 2x Thunderbolt 4 and other super expansion specifications, 24+1+2 SPS 105A power supply for Intel 12th/13th Core i9 processors, sufficient power supply performance and overclocking space.
MSI MEG Z790 ACE Specifications:
Size: E-ATX 277 mm x 304.8 mm
Processor support:12th/13th Gen Intel Core、Pentium Gold、Celeron
Processor pin: LGA1700
CPU Power Phases: 24+1+2 80A Duet Rail Power System (DRPS)
Chipset: Z790
Memory: 4x DDR5 DIMM, maximum capacity 192GB, DDR5 7800+(OC) MT/s
Memory certification: Intel XMP 3.0 (Extreme Memory Profile)iEXPO (EXTended Profiles for Overclocking)
Show output:Type-C、2x Thunderbolt 4
Expansion slots: PCIe 5.0 x16, PCIe 5.0 x8, PCIe 4.0 x4
Storage slots: 6x SATA 6Gb/s, M.2_1 22110/2280/2260 PCIe Gen4 x4、M.2_2 2280/2260 PCIe Gen4 x4、M.2_3 2280/2260 PCIe Gen4 x4 and SATA、M.2_4 2280 PCIe Gen5 x4、M.2_3 22110/2280/2260 PCIe Gen4 x4 and SATA
Network: Intel I226-V 2.5Gbps LAN
wireless:Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX211、BT 5.3
sound effects:Realtek ALC4082 + ESS ES9280AQ DAC/HPA 7.1 channel
USB ports (front expansion): 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (supports four front USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports), 2x USB 2.0 (supports four front USB 2.0 ports)
USB ports (rear I/O): 2x Thunderbolt 4、2x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C、7x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A、USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (Display port)
RGB：3x JARGB_V2(ARGB 5v-3Pin)、1x JRGB(RGB 12v-4Pin)
FAN：1x 4-Pin CPU Fan、2x 4-Pin PUMP FAN、5x 4-Pin System FAN
MSI MEG Z790 ACE unpack
MSI MEG Z790 ACE is the sub-flagship model launched by MSI in the Intel 700 series motherboard this time. In the flagship series MEG, there is also the top-level GODLIKE, and the lower-level positioning but only the Z690 chipset model. UNIFY, that is to say, the top three names of the MSI Z790 motherboard are:GODLIKE、ACE、CARBON, and MPG Z790 CARBON WIFI has been unboxed for everyone before. If your motherboard budget is around 15,000, if you are interested in this board, you can take a look at the unboxing.
∆ MEG Z790 ACE boxed.
∆ Basic product features on the back of the box.
MEG Z790 ACE is the most expandable E-ATX version, supporting 12th/13th generation Intel Core with LGA 1700 pin、Pentium Gold and Celeron processor, 4xDDR5 DIMM 192GB 7800+(OC) non-ECC、un-buffered memory, rear I/O provides two Thunderbolt 4 with 40 Gb/s transmission bandwidththe network part has wireless Wi-Fi 6E and wired dual 2.5G LAN ports, PCIe 5.0 x16 graphics card slot, Lightning M.2 Gen 5 x4 SSD expansion, USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 20Gb/s Type-C expansion with 60W fast charging on the front.
On the motherboard VRM power supply blockthe Z790 PCH chipset and all M.2 SSD expansion installation positions are equipped with large-area heat sinks to provide sufficient heat dissipation performance for chips with a certain amount of heat. Help Mosfet cool down through thermal pad, MEG Z790 ACE is aimed at Mosfet used 7W/mK thermal pad, combined with choke thermal pad to ensure that all cores can run stably with high performance.
∆ E-ATX version and large heat dissipation armor.
∆ Mounted on the backThe aluminum alloy strengthens the backplane, which improves the physical strength of the PCB and also helps Mosfet heat dissipation.
MEG Z790 ACE Adopting 24+1+2 Duet Rail Power System (DRPS) architecture VRM power supply design, the 105A Power Stage surrounds the CPU installation position in a C-shaped manner, in order to bring better overclocking performance to the 24+1+2 105A power supply,The Z790 ACE usesThe stacked cooling fins and heat pipes are connected to the MOS heat sink, which is somewhat similar to a graphics card cooling module when viewed from the side.
∆ 24+1+2 item 105A power supply.
∆ Dragon Soul RGB effect on heat sink.
The Z790 motherboard uses LGA 1700 processor mounting pins and supports Intel 12th/13th Gen Intel Core, Pentium Gold, and Celeron processors. The previous generation Z690 chipset also supports two generations of processors after updating the BIOS. If you need to spend a lot of money to upgrade the Z790 motherboard, it depends on the depth of your wallet.
∆ LGA 1700 processor mount.
Let’s take a look at it next MEG Z790 ACE For the various expansion and power supply slots on the motherboard, 8+8 Pin CPU power supply slots are set above the memory slots.
∆ ATX_12V dual 8-Pin processor power supply socket above the memory socket.
The 4x DDR5 UDIMM slots can expand the total capacity to 192GB, that is, support a single 48GB non-ECC, un-buffered memory. The memory overclocking part advertises that it supports a frequency of up to 7800 MT/s. If players buy mainstream dual-channel memory It can also be enabled through the BIOS Intel XMP 3.0 (Extreme Memory Profile) and iEXPO (EXTended Profiles for Overclocking) for one-click overclocking. The memory passes the EASY XMP of the MEG Z790 ACE internal button, which is certified by MSI OC lab. It is easier to automatically activate the power setting to obtain the best memory. Volume access speed and stability.
The 2 DIMMs dual-channel memory set that is often purchased when ordering is now recommended by the original factory to be installed in the A2 and B2 slots (the second and fourth slots from the left). In this position, the memory can operate at a higher frequency more easily. There is a decorative sheet next to the memory slot, but the actual use is only for decorative purposes, and there are no expansion slots under it.
∆ Single card DDR5 UDIMM memory slot, the total capacity of the four slots can be expanded up to 192GB, and supports memory XMP/iEXPO one-key overclocking certification.
Located near the memory slot on the upper right corner of the motherboard CPU_FAN and Debug LED lightsthe player can use the The two-digit error code displayed by the Debug LED is used to clearly identify the problems encountered by the motherboard during the self-testing process, which lead to the failure to boot normally.
The two JARGB V2 are actually regular 5V 3-Pin ARGB slots,The header can support up to 240 individually addressable RGB LED strips or devices with a maximum power rating of 3A (5V), and may cause issues if connecting ARGB Gen1 and ARGB Gen2 LED devices to the same socket header, so it is not recommended Connect ARGB Gen1 and ARGB Gen2 LED devices in series.
∆ CPU_FAN1、DeBug LED,two JARGB_V2(ARGB 5v-3Pin)。
EZ is set on the right side of the motherboard Debug lights、V-Check Points Lite (voltage detection point), PUMP_FAN, SYS_FAN, motherboard 24-Pin power supply slot, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C, PD fast charge power supply slot, two USB 3.2 Gen1 slots (supports four front USB 3.2 Gen1 ports), six SATA III 6Gb/s.
MEG Z790 ACE provides two front USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C expansions. In addition to the data transmission bandwidth up to 20Gbps, the JUSB6 on the right also supports 60W USB PD fast charging function, but if you want to use USB PD fast charging as a device For charging, it must be connected to the PCIe power supply slot (PD_PWR1) next to it.
∆ NO DeBugPUMP_FAN, SYS_FAN, motherboard 24-Pin power supply slot.
∆ Debug LED and NO Debug can quickly identify the source of errors.
∆ Two USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C expansion slots, after connecting the middle PCIe power supply, the right Type-C slot supports 60W USB PD fast charging function.
∆ Two USB 3.2 Gen1 slots (support four front USB 3.2 Gen1 installation ports), six SATA III 6Gb/s.
From right to left under the motherboard, there is a JARGBV2 (5V 3-Pin ARGB), JFP1/JFP2 System Front Panel Slot, JDASH1 (Debug Controller Header), Start and Reset Button, JCI1 (Chassis Open Header), JOC_RT1 (OC Retry Button Header), JSLOW1 (Slow Fast Mode Boot Jumper), JLN1~2 (Low Temperature Mode Boot Jumper), Two USB 2.0, Dual BIOS Switches, LED_SW1 (EZ LED Indicator Control), T_SEN1~2 (Temperature Sensor Connector), W_FLOW1 ( water flow meter connector), PUMP_FAN2, four SYS_FAN case fan slots, one JRGB1 (12V 4-Pin RGB), HD_AUDIO audio source slot.
∆ JARGB v2system front panel slot, start and reset button, two USB 2.0.
∆ Dual BIOS switch, multiple fan slots, JRGB, front audio source.
MEG Z790 ACE provides three metal reinforced x16 slots, but the bandwidth provided by each PCIe slot is different, namely: PCIe 5.0 x16, PCIe 5.0 x8, PCIe 4.0 x4, the first two PCIe slots provide the latest PCIe 5.0 specifications, and are directly connected to the channel by the processor; the third PCIe 4.0 x4 slot is through the PCH channel.
Players should pay attention to one place when using it, because PCI_E1 shares channel bandwidth with PCI_E2 & M2_4 slots, so if there are devices installed in PCI_E2 or M2_4 slots, PCI_E1 slots will be automatically downgraded to PCIe 5.0 x8 bandwidth operation, in addition, PCI_E2 and M2_4 can only be used one by one, and cannot be used for expansion at the same time.
∆ Three x16 length metal reinforced PCIe 5.0 x16, PCIe 5.0 x8, PCIe 4.0 x4 slots.
MEG Z790 ACE There are a total of five M.2 SSD installation positions on the board. The M.2_1/M.2_4 installation positions are directly connected to the processor through the channel. The fourth M.2_4 supports PCIe Gen5 x4 2280 NVME SSD, so if you want to use the latest Remember to install the PCIe Gen5 x4 SSD in this position. The other four support 2280/2260 PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 SSD installation. If you want to install the longer specification 22110 SSD, you can install it in M.2_1/M.2_5. Early M.2 SATA SSDs can be expanded by M.2_3/M.2_5.
∆ A total of five M.2 SSD installation locations, supporting one PCIe Gen5 x4 and four PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 SSD installations.
∆ M.2_1 The heat sink adopts SCREWLESS M.2 fixed design, which can be opened by pressing on the left side of the heat sink.
∆ Thermal pad and heat sink.
∆ Each M.2 SSD is equipped with thermal pads and heat sinks. There are RGB metal contacts on the first heat sink. Pay attention when disassembling and assembling.
∆ Display of M.2 and PCH RGB lighting effects.
∆ EZ M.2 CLIP。
The rear I/O uses an integrated baffle, so you don’t have to worry about forgetting to install it. It provides Clear CMOS, Flash BIOS, Smart function keys,USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Type-C Display port)、2x 2.5G LAN、7x USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps (Type-A)、2x Thunderbolt 4 40Gbps (Type-C)、2x Mini Display Import、Wi-Fi 6E/BT 5.3Optical S/PDIF Out, audio interface.
The rear I/O interface provided by MEG Z790 ACE is quite sufficient. In addition to Clear CMOS, which is often used for overclocking, it also provides a Flash BIOS function for quickly updating the BIOS. The Smart function key can be set in the BIOS as: Reboot/ Multiple convenience features such as LED control/safe boot/fan running at full speed,One of the USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports is marked with a gold frame. When using the Flash BIOS update function, you need to insert the USB flash drive with the BIOS file in this slot and then perform the BIOS update operation.
two Thunderbolt 4 (Intel JHL8540 controller) has a transmission bandwidth of 40Gbps. A single interface can provide three Thunderbolt 4 devices or five Thunderbolt 3 devices. If there is a need for image output, connect the Mini DP cable to the display card and motherboard After Mini Display input, you can use two The Thunderbolt 4 interface outputs images and supports up to 8K resolution.
∆ Rear I/O port, USB 3.2 Gen 2Dual 2.5G LAN、7x USB 3.2 Gen 2、2x Thunderbolt 4Wireless Wi-Fi 6E/BT 5.3。
MEG Z790 ACE YesLots of accessories, WiFi antennaDrive USBfront system integration wire、4x SATA2x temperature sensing wire1/2 RGB cableARGB extension cable2x DP to Mini PD cableM.2 screw/copper column/clip and so on.
∆ Lots of accessories.
∆ Shark fin WiFi antenna with magnetic suction base, the angle cannot be adjusted.
∆ The front system integrates cables.
This motherboard performance test uses the MSI MEG Z790 ACE motherboard, which is equipped with an Intel i9 13900K processor with 8 P-Cores and 16 E-Cores, a total of 24 cores and 32 threads. The memory uses Kingston FURY Renegade RGB A 6000MT/s 16GBx2 dual-channel memory set is used to build a test platform. In addition to turning on XMP 3.0 and CPU GAME BOOST for the memory during the test, the motherboard default mode is used for the rest.
testing platform
Processor: Intel Core i9 13900K
heat sink:Valkyrie C420 ARGB
motherboard:MSI MEG Z790 ACE (7D86v12)
Memory: Kingston FURY Renegade RGB 6000mt/s 16GBx2
Graphics card: MSI GTX 1070 Quick Silver 8G OC
power supply : MONTECH TITAN GOLD 1200W
HDD: Micron Crucial P3 Plus 1TB Gen4 NVMe SSD
Operating System: Windows 11 Home Edition 21H2
Firstly, CPU-Z checks the hardware information of this test platform. The processor Intel Core i9 13900K code-named Raptor Lake is Intel-7 10nm process. The number of 8 P-Core+16 E-Core cores totals 24 cores and 32 execution threads. And update the motherboard BIOS to 7D86v12 Version, the memory uses DDR5-6000 MHz dual-channel capacity with a total capacity of 32GB. At the same time, it ran the CPU-Z built-in test CPU and scored 931.7 points for single-threading and 17253.4 points for multi-threading.
∆ CPU-Z information overview and Version 17.01.64 built-in test results.
Then there are the common processor benchmarking software CINEBENCH R20 and R23, which are often used to evaluate the 3D rendering and drawing performance of the processor itself. This software is developed by MAXON based on Cinema 4D.
In the Release 20 version, the Intel i9 13900K achieved multi-core 15204pts and single-core 883pts in the test, while the new version of R23 achieved multi-core 41430pts and single-core 2300pts.
∆ CINEBENCH Release 20。
∆ CINEBENCH R23。
AIDA64 memory and cache test This time using DDR5 6000MT/s 16Gx2 dual-channel memory to open the XMP configuration file for testing, the read speed is 95608 MB/s, the write speed is 83546 MB/s, and the copy speed is 86332 MB/s s, while the delay is 67.4 ns.
∆ AIDA64 cache and memory test.
3D Mark CPU Profile This test will test the performance of MAX, 16, 8, 4, 2, and 1 threads respectively, and the performance above 16 threads is more used for 3D rendering or professional audio-visual work. Currently, the mainstream Most of the DX12 game performance can refer to the scores of 8 threads, and the scores of 4 and 2 threads are related to the old games developed with DX9.
The i9-13900K’s maximum thread score is 17228 points, while the 8 threads and 4 threads that mainstream gamers need to pay attention to are 9141 and 4803 points respectively.
∆ 3D MARK CPU Profile。
In addition, the author also used 3D Mark Fire Strike and 3D Mark Time Spy, which are commonly used in game performance simulation tests, and used NVIDIA GTX 1070 graphics card for testing. In Fire Strike, which simulates 1080p quality DX11 situational game simulation tests, the score of 59102 was obtained. Physical score, while simulating 1440p quality DX12 situational game simulation test in Time Spy, got 23320 CPU score.
∆ 3D Mark Fire Strike。
∆ 3D Mark Time Spy。
PCMark 10 also simulates the test situation to obtain the overall performance of the computer. Commonly used basic function items include application startup, web browsing and video conferencing tests. The productivity item simulates the writing of documents and spreadsheets. The last item is the image Content creation includes professional tests such as photo editing, video editing, and rendering.
In this test, the commonly used basic functions have 10556 points, 11252 points for productivity, and 13550 points for video content creation.
∆ PCMark 10 test.
MSI MEG Z790 ACE Summary
The sub-flagship model MSI MEG Z790 ACE motherboard that I unpacked this time has absolute rolling capacity in terms of expandability, 4x DDR5 DIMM, two front USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C (one of which is 60W PD fast charging), Five M.2 SSD installations, PCIe 5.0 x16, dual 2.5G wired network holes, wireless WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (Display screen output), 2x Thunderbolt 4 and other interface slots, These expanded usability are already super overflowing specifications for ordinary and serious PC DIY players.
Equipped with 24+1+2 items of SPS 105A power supply, it has absolutely sufficient power supply performance for Intel i9 13900K/KS processors. If you have time to believe that this board can also bring better overclocking performance, but suffer from The author is really busy these days, and I don’t have enough time to explore the overclocking performance of the motherboard. It’s a pity that I didn’t show the overclocking performance this time. MSI MEG Z790 ACE is currently priced at NT$22,890, compared to The other two sub-flagship models are slightly more expensive, but they have better power supply and expandability. If your wallet is deep…please support me.
The above is today’s unboxing~ If you have any questions, please leave a message for discussion~ I will reply when I have time
This is Yun_top, the ancient supernatural double-headed war elephant AKA the scumbag man in the casing! Thank you for watching today~88~~