MSI MEG Z490 Unify Motherboard Review

A Closer Look

I do love a good motherboard design, and this one is certainly up there. My eyes are immediately drawn to what must be one of the largest rear I/O shrouds I’ve ever seen, it’s freaking enormous. However, it’s not the size, but the design that caught my eye.

That embossed MSI Dragon, a raised border, brushed aluminium finish and MSI logo; seriously, that’s one kick-ass design.

For getting the most out of your new 10th Gen CPUs, you’ll find the socket is powered through a 16 phase design with 90A SPS. MSI has deployed their Titanium Choke III hardware, premium capacitors, and a durable 6-layer PCB. Of course, all that is topped with a pair of thick heatsinks and a heatpipe to ensure it all stays nice and cool.

Power comes from an 8-pin header, however, there’s an additional 8-pin should you wish to add more voltage stability, particularly when pushing big overclocks.

The motherboard packs in three M.2 mounts, all of which come with heatshields, and all three full-size PCIe lanes are armoured too. I’m a little surprised they didn’t armour the DIMM slots too, but it’s hardly a deal breaker.