MSI’s latest motherboard has been designed in partnership with EK. Featuring a custom EK water block “that aesthetically blends with the motherboard”, MSI claims the new MPG Z490 Carbon EK X offers outstanding cooling performance for both the motherboard’s VRM and the CPU.



Using MSI’s carbon fibre aesthetic and Mystic Light RGB on both the motherboard and the water block, the MPG Z490 Carbon EK X “offers a more attractive way to decorate your gaming rig”. The Mystic Light RGB system allows you to synchronise and customise the look of your system, providing 16.8 million colours and 29 effects.
The MPG Z490 Carbon EK X motherboard uses a 12+2 VRM design, dual CPU power connectors (8+4-pin), and the company’s Core Boost technology. Using EK’s custom-designed water block for enhanced cooling, this ATX motherboard should handle the latest 10th Gen Intel Core processors without a hitch.

Featuring advanced connectivity options, the MSI MPG Z490 Carbon EK X supports Bluetooth 5.1, and Intel Wi-Fi 6. Additionally, it’s equipped with a Realtek 8125B 2.5G network interface, Realtek ALC1220 codec, multiple USB 3.2 and USB 2.0 ports (Type-A and Type-C), 2x M.2 slots, 6x SATA III ports, and 2x PCIe 3.0 slots. There’s also 4x DIMMs for memory modules (128GB max), which can be clocked as high as 4800MHz.
According to Edvard König, founder of EK, the aim when designing the MSI MPG Z490 Carbon EK X was to deliver a “liquid-cooled gaming motherboard to the mainstream market”, offering premium cooling features at a more reasonable price.




The MSI MPG Z490 Carbon EK X motherboard is available to pre-order at official retailers for $399.99
  • https://us.msi.com/