Review

MSI Z390 GAMING PLUS Motherboard Review

With the Intel's latest 9th generation processors showing a great interest in the market right now, we are also getting more Z390 motherboards for reviewing at PCTeKReviews.com, so today we are reviewing MSI MAG Z390 GAMING PLUS motherboard from MSI. A budget to midrange full ATX Z390 motherboard satisfying all that gamers need for Intel's latest 9th generation gaming system build.

MSI MPG Z390 GAMING PLUS is equipped with Extended Heatsink Design, Core boost, Twin Turbo M.2, Game Boost, Turbo USB and Intel CNVi connector and MSI latest Dragon Center APP

Now let's see what this MSI Z390 chipset gaming board have for us.

Features

• Supports 9^th / 8^th Gen Intel^® Core™ / Pentium^® Gold / Celeron^® processors for LGA 1151 socket
• Supports DDR4 Memory, up to 4400(OC) MHz
• Lightning Fast Game experience: 2x TURBO M.2, Intel Optane Memory Ready. Turbo USB 3.1 GEN2
• Set Core Power Free: Extended Heatsink Design, Core Boost, Game Boost, DDR4 Boost
• Intel CNVi Ready: Supports Intel CNVi Wi-Fi module, IEEE802.11 AC wave2, providing a high speed wireless network connection 
• Audio Boost: Reward your ears with studio grade sound quality for the most immersive gaming experience
• Dragon Center: A brand new software which integrates all MSI tools like GAME MODE, VOICE BOOST, LIVE UPDATE  with user friendly user interface. 

Specifications

Package

Board comes packed in big Red Black colour theme box securely. Looking at the front of the box, we see MSI logo with motherboard model no. At the rear of the box, we find that MSI goes into great detail on the specifications of the motherboard.

Inside the box

Beside motherboard, box includes a user manual booklet, a DVD driver disc, quick installation guide, a product registration card and two SATA cables (one straight and one angled).

Looks

Board is a solid build in the great looking black PCB with Red Black colour theme running across all over the board. Motherboard also feature big heatsinks over VRM and Chipset

Layout

Detailed layout of board.

1. LGA 1151 socket supporting Intel 9th and 8th generation processors

2. 4 DIMM Dual channel DDR4 memory slots supporting max. 64GB. Supports DDR4 4400(OC)/ 4300(OC)/ 4266(OC)/ 4200(OC)/ 4133(OC)/ 4000(OC)/ 3866(OC)/ 3733(OC)/ 3600(OC)/ 3466(OC)/ 3400(OC)/ 3333(OC)/ 3300(OC)/ 3200(OC)/ 3000(OC) / 2800(OC)/ 2666/ 2400/ 2133 MHz*

3. ATX Power connector (24-pin EATXPWR)

4. 8-pin ATX 12V power connector and 4-pin ATX 12V power connector.

5. Back Panel Connectors

6. 7. 15. 1 x CPU Fan connector, 1x 4-pin Water Pump connector and 5 x System Fan Connectors with EZ Debug LED

8. 2 x USB 3.1 Gen1 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 3.1 Gen1 ports)

9.6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors

10. 11. Front panel connector

12. 2 x USB 2.0 Connectors

13. Serial ports connector

14. 2 x 4-pin RGB LED connectors

16. Front panel Audio connector.

17. 2x M.2 slots

18. M.2 slot (Key E) for an Intel® CNVi wireless module only

19. Expansion Slots.

2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots, 4 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots

Removing Heat-sinks

MSI used dense and big aluminum heatsink in this board. Heatsinks base is having thermal pad installed.

Component Layout

Let's now see what all components MSI have planned for this board.

1. 2. 8 + 1stage CPU voltage regulator circuit uses pair of ON Semiconductor 4C024 and 4C029 MOSFETS with combined rating of 60A controlled by UPI Semiconductor uP9521P PWM Controller.

3. 2-Phase digital memory power supply section

5. Intel GI219V Gigabit LAN controller

6. NUVOTON NCT6797D – Super I/O Chipset

7. MSI Audio Boost Audio technology is powered by Realtek ALC892 chip which is a high-performance multi-channel High Definition Audio Codec that delivers an good audio listening experience with up to 95dB SNR.

A semi-transparent line on motherboard separates the whole audio section from the rest of the board in order to minimize interference. In addition MSI also used Chemi-Con audio capacitors.

RightMark Audio Analyzer (RMAA) suite is used for testing MSI High Definition audio against Asus Xonar U7 Sound card. You can see clearly the difference between Noise level, dynamic rang and Total harmonic distortion percentage produced by MSI High Definition audio.

RMAA Asus Xonar U7

RMAA Audio Boost Audio

8. Intel Z390 Chipset

9. MSI uses Windbond 2SQ128FVSQ a capacity of 128 Mb for storing UEFI BIOS.

Testing

BIOS

Bundled Software

Benchmarks

Overclocking

Power Consumption

Wattage reading as per displayed by APC Pro 1000VA (Model no. BR1000G-IN) UPS.

Pros

• Nice Red/Black Theme
• Lot of Fan headers
• Intel CNVi wireless support
• RGB LED support
• Nice big heatsinks
• Good Overclocking
• Good Price for a Z390 board

Cons

• UEFI interface have every setting displayed in central small area. Like single windowed interface.

Conclusion

At a price tag of just Rs. 14K, the MSI MAG Z390 GAMING PLUS motherboard is one of the best price to performance full ATX motherboard available for the Intel's latest 9th generation gaming system build. MSI MAG Z390 GAMING PLUS motherboard have nice Red/Black Theme and offers everything needed for a good gaming PC as well as have decent Overclocking potential, making it worthy of our PC TeK Reviews VALUE Award.

Manufacturers Info

Thanks.

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