PC Gamer - UK (2022-04)

MPG Z690 Carbon WIFI

MSI £410

On the edge of expensive

4

An MSI Carbon
motherboard is never a
bad bet. Each one I’ve
used has been built to a high
standard and comes with a
competitive set of features.
Much like the other Z690
motherboards we’ve tested, the
MSI comes with serious power
delivery. The Carbon’s VRM is
made up of 18+2 phase design
with 75A stages. That’s not as
powerful in raw current as the
105A boards, but those really are
overkill for most gamers. Simply
put: the MSI won’t run into issue
with any 12th Gen chip. MSI has
also fitted 10 USB ports to the

rear I/O of the Carbon, which is a

little slimmer than some, but

makes up for it with plenty of

capacity for speedy SSDs thanks

to five M.2 NVMe slots.

The MSI MPG Z690 Gaming

Carbon is a solid Z690

motherboard, but that’s at its

launch price. If it trends

downwards in price over the next

few months relative to its

competitors, it might begin to

really stand out.

SPECS SOCKET: INTEL LGA 1700 / FORM FACTOR: AT X / STORAGE: 5X M.2; 6X SATA / USB: UP TO 1X USB 3.2 GEN2X2, 6X
USB 3.2 GEN 2, 2X USB 3.1 GEN 1, 8X USB 2.0 / VIDEO OUT: 1X HDMI 2.1, 1X DP 1.4 / NETWORKING: INTEL WI-FI 6E; INTEL
I225V 2.5G LAN / AUDIO: REALTEK ALC4080 7.1 CHANNEL HD AUDIO

3

33

GROUP TEST

THE MSI

COMES WITH

SERIOUS

POWER

DELIVERY

ROG Maximus Z690 Apex

ASUS £570

Professional overclockers only

Most of us will glance at

the Asus ROG

Maximum Z690 Apex’s

price tag and then immediately

elsewhere. It’s understandable, as

it is one of the most expensive

motherboards we’ve ever tested.

It’s also one of the most

well-made, though what more

makes it worth that gargantuan

pile of cash is up for debate.

Asus has fitted the Apex Z690

with a 24+2 VRAM with 105A

stages, which puts it at the

cutting-edge of VRM design. You

can safely overclock any 12th Gen

chip to its limit, though you’d

probably be doing yourself a

disservice by not running an Intel

Core i9 12900K. Since this

motherboard is tailored to

overclocking, it only comes with

two DDR5 DIMM slots. Though

the more gaming-focused user

may find solace in its ability to fit

up to five NVMe SSDs, through

the use of the included PCIe 5.0

add-in card. That said, there’s not

a great deal in this board for

gamers, and that makes it terribly

difficult to recommend.

SPECS SOCKET: INTEL LGA 1700 / FORM FACTOR: AT X / STORAGE: 5X M.2; 6X SATA / USB: UP TO 2X USB 3.2 GEN2X2, 5X

USB 3.2 GEN 2, 8X USB 3.1 GEN 1, 4X USB 2.0 / NETWORKING: INTEL WI-FI 6E; INTEL I225V 2.5G LAN / AUDIO: RE A LTEK

ALC4080 7.1 CHANNEL HD AUDIO

Bulletproof build quality and VRM

PCIe 5.0 M.2 card included

Overkill for the vast majority of users

VERDICT

Five M.2 slots available

Decent value, relatively speaking

Solid VRM configuration

VERDICT

3