MSI MEG Z490 GODLIKE Motherboard Review

A Closer Look

Well, MSI certainly know how to armour a motherboard. There’s a LOT of raw materials in this thing, and that’s immediately apparent from the weight of it. It’s a bit of a beast. Aesthetics are on point though, with a stunning design that flows from one panel to the next with matching angles. Much more organised than the new Carbon motherboard.

The massive heatsink design is continued around the back too. Albeit, this will also help distribute it’s own weight too, so it’s not putting stress on the motherboard.

For those planning to overclock, I don’t think you’ll have any issues here. However, I suspect the GODLIKE will be a prime candidate for some new world records too thanks to that beastly 16+1+1 digital power phase design. It uses 8 x Intersil Phase Controller (PWM with ISL69269), into 16 x 90A Smart Power Stage, then into 16 x Titanium Choke III’s, then to your CPU, and to glory I guess.

All that power comes from these two 8-pin headers and well, why aren’t they armoured? I know they don’t need to be, but I suspect their rivals will have done it.

The heatsink on the chipset and the M.2 drive mounts is enormous. Without a doubt, it’s keeping things safe and cool. Albeit, it also just looks great, and aesthetics are a big factor in the modern PC market. There are three full-size PCIe lanes here too, which are all armoured and Gen4 ready.

At the back, you’ve got some gold capacitors sticking out, but otherwise, the AMP/DAC hardware is under a shroud that says “Audio Boost HD” which seems a bit pointless to me, it’s not catchiest of slogans or names.

Another shiny panel with RGB display behind it, we’ll see that lit up in the videos later.

Down the side, you’ll find plenty of, well, everything! SATA ports, double USB 3.0 ports, USB C front panel headers, fan headers, etc.

On board power controls, perfect for all you overclockers.

The rear I/O shield is pre-installed and comes packed full of connectivity options. There’s a wide range of USB ports, as well as a pair of Thunderbolt ports for 40Gbps transfer speeds. Networking comes in both 10G and 2.5G sizes and is backed up with WiFi 6. Finally, we have gold-plated audio jacks with an additional S/PDIF port. Plus, the built-in amp will drive headphones of up to 600 Ohm, which is impressive for a motherboard!