The MPG Z390 Gaming Edge AC falls at the
less expensive end of the motherboards
we tend to review, but it’s no less
impressive for it. Initial examination
had us hopeful—despite it only being a
standard ATX size, MSI has worked hard
to cram a lot of features on to this board.
Designed to support eight and ninth-
generation Intel Core CPUs, the Edge AC
comes with a veritable slew of ports and
pins, meaning it’s more than capable of
carrying a high-end build, despite costing
less than two hundred dollars.
MSI is a trusted household name when
it comes to PC building, so its products
come with a certain expectation of
quality. Thankfully, this Z390 doesn’t
disappoint; it might not crack the overall
performance of some motherboards, but
it can keep up with boards almost twice
its price. Even while running Prime95 to
heavily stress the processor, this board
only drew a maximum of 148W of power.
Other benchmarks came back identical to
tests with more expensive boards, which
was satisfying to see.
Statistics only tell half the story,
though, so we turn to the physical board
itself. The true judge of a mobo is the
variety of its features, and this Z390 is
fully loaded. The rear I/O comes equipped
not just with standard USB 3.1 ports, but
also a USB Type-C connector, along with
Price-smart performance
MSI MPG Z390
Gaming Edge AC
9
verdict MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Edge ACLooking Sharp Fully equipped
rear I/O; low power draw; good
integrated audio; plenty of connectors.
CLiff EdgE No heatsinks for M.2
drives; BIOS is hard to navigate; weak
at overclocking.
$190, http://us.msi.comSPECIFICATIONSChipset/Socket Z390/LGA1151
form factor ATX
Memory Support 64GB (4x 16GB)
@ 4,400MHz
M.2/U.2 Support 2x M.2
SaTa Support 6x SATA 6GB/s
Max pCie Support 3x 16 (x8x8x4)
rear i/o 3x USB 3.1 Type-A, 1x
USB 3.1 Type-C, 2x USB
2.0 Type-A, 1x HDMI, 1x
Intel Gigabit Ethernet,
Wireless A/C, PS/2
combi port, 5.1 audio
out, optical audio outMSi Mpg Z390 gaming Edge aC asus Maximus Xi gene
Tech ARP’s X264 (fps) 31.08 29.68
Cinebench R15 Multi (Index) 1,370 1,389
Fry Render (m:s) 02:23 02:23
AIDA64 Memory Latency (ns) 52 47
CrystalDisk QD32 Sequential Read (MB/s) 548 550
CrystalDisk QD32 Sequential Write (MB/s) 525 495
Power Draw Idle/Load (Watts) 40 / 148 42/307
Total War: Warhammer II (Avg fps) 56 56
Lowest Voltage @ 5.0GHz (Volts) 1.36 1.22
Maximum OC Achieved (GHz @ V) 5.0 @ 1.36 5.1 @ 1.32BENChMArkSBest scores are in bold. Our test bed consists of an Intel Core i7-8700K, 16GB of Corsair Dominator Platinum
DDR4 @ 3,200MT/s, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080, and a 250GB Samsung 850 Evo. Total War: Warhammer II
was performed at the ultra preset at 1440p.both HDMI and DisplayPort cables for
those looking to use integrated graphics.
Beyond that, there’s the usual selection
of audio ports, and support for a few older
formats, such as the faithful PS/2 port.CloCk-watChing
On the main body of the board, there’s
another wealth of connectors. The
standard eight-pin CPU power connector
is joined by a supplementary four-pin
connector, for supplying extra power to
the processor to improve overclocking
potential. This isn’t a board for hardcore
overclockers, but if you’re inclined to
squeeze a bit more power from your rig,
it should have you covered. The (fairly
ugly) BIOS comes with a function called
Game Boost, which automatically shunts
your CPU up a few megahertz, but doesn’t
push its limits. Proper overclocking is
possible, but we struggled to get a stable
overclock of more than 5.0GHz out of our
Core i7-8700K processor.
For more esoteric builds, there are
three types of lighting connectors: two
standard four-pin RGB LED ones, joined
by a three-pin rainbow LED connector,
and a three-pin specialized connector for
Corsair LEDs. The Z390 comes with its
own RGB lighting, although it’s a fairly
simple affair. Being an MSI product,
though, it does come with the company’sMystic Light software, which allows
for some flashy arrangements with
compatible hardware. Elsewhere, we’ve
got support for five system fans, a water
pump for liquid-cooled builds, even a
TPM module. If you’re craving speedy
data transfers, the Z390 can be fitted
with a Thunderbolt add-on card, too.
While this board does come with some
heat spreaders, there’s no integrated
heatsinks for the two M.2 drive slots,
which feels like a missed opportunity.
Audio is a pretty big deal with
this mobo. It features Audio Boost 4,
which includes a high-definition audio
processor, amplifiers, and capacitors, all
of which is isolated from the main board
circuitry to improve audio signal. This
is powered by Nahimic audio software.
MSI’s marketing material purports that
Audio Boost 4 functions like a dedicated
soundcard, and while this doesn’t quite
ring true in practice, it’s a good feature.
When we look at this board, it doesn’t
make our hearts sing with excitement,
but it is still very good. It can prop up far
more expensive components with ease,
and its sensible price point means that it
represents a solid starter motherboard
for those building an Intel system for the
first time. Wi-Fi compatibility is a nice
bonus, too, although any serious user is
likely to have this plugged in via Ethernet.
When it comes down to it, we have no
qualms giving the MPG Z390 a hearty
recommendation. –ChrisTian GuyTonmaximumpc.com aug 2019 MAXIMUMPC 83