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Next to the flash button are two USB 2.0 ports for your mouse and keyboard and the video-out options for CPUs with integrated graphics capabilities. The EDGE has one Display Port 1.4 with HBR3 (High Bit Rate 3) with a maximum resolution of 4K 60Hz. We also have an HDMI 2.1 port with HDR (High Dynamic Range) with a maximum resolution of 4K 60Hz. LAN with LAN Manager and Intel Wi-Fi 6E Solution: Upgraded network solution for professional and multimedia use. Delivers a secure, stable and fast network connection Enhanced Power Design: 16+1+1 Duet Rail Power System, dual 8-pin CPU power connectors, Core Boost, Memory Boost
Z690 is the enthusiast chipset from Intel, and this motherboard is powered by it. It also marks the dawn of a new era; Intel's Alder lake processors are a wholly new and faster architecture. We have written a lot about it. The new processors will have energy and performance cores to balance power consumption in idle and load conditions. With the Alder lake platform, new features are brought to the table. DDR5 and PCIe Express 5.0 are among the first-ever for intel products. Another issue with ALC4080 while I'm on the subject is that you cannot install the Realtek HD Audio Manager with it. Quintuple M.2 Connectors: Onboard 5x M.2 connectors for the maximum storage performance with quad Lightning Gen 4 solution. Double-sided Shield Frozr design keeps M.2 SSDs safe while preventing throttling, making them run faster. H610 appears to be a relatively entry-level model. There is still a PCIe 5.0 slot, which is surprising, as well as DDR5 support, but there is no PCIe 4.0 slot, which means your NVMe SSD will work at PCIe 3.0 speeds only. It significantly reduces expansion potential, with only eight total PCIe 3.0 lanes on the chipset. Additionally, the number of USB 3.0 ports is limited. H610 boards are supposed to be affordable, and as long as the VRMs are not heatsink-less trash, they should be capable of performing well in entry-level systems. AIDA64 Cache and Memory Benchmark AIDA64 Memory Benchmarks AIDA64 Cache and Memory Benchmark – Raw Data
USB connectivity is also plentiful on the Z690 EDGE, with 15 connections between onboard headers and the rear I/O shield. The rear IO shield has seven Type-A ports, five of which are USB 3.2 Gen2 (10 Gbps) plus two USB 2.0 and a single USB 3.2 Gen2x2 (20 Gbps) Type-C port for a total of eight. The remaining USB connections are headers on the motherboard consisting of two USB 2.0 (for four ports), one USB 3.2 Gen2 (for two ports), and one USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C internal header. The integrated graphics is based on Xe, and it has up to 96 EUs for the GPU and 32 EUs for media functions only, according to the manufacturer. For a fully equipped processor, you'll receive eight performance cores as well as eight energy-efficient cores; the performance cores have SMT (hyper-threading), which means you'll end up with a total of 24 CPU threads for the fully enabled processor. In the following chapters, we'll dive into greater depth about architecture. This board breaks from the typical Z690 motherboard on the networking front and offers only a single Intel I225-V 2.5 Gbs port. We also have Intel Wi-Fi6 / Bluetooth 5.2 wireless connectivity out of the box with an included Wi-Fi antenna that connects at the rear I/O shield.
Enhanced Power Design: Direct 18+1+1 phases power, dual 8-pin CPU power connectors, Core Boost, Memory Boost Starting at the left is a large shroud covering the I/O. Unlike most, this shroud is part of the aluminum heatsink with access beneath for the RGB LEDs that illuminate the MSI Gaming dragon. We also have a smaller heat sink for the upper VRM connected via a heat pipe with the “MPG” series embossed on it. Our memory tests show that the different RAM generations make little difference in the CPU and FPU tests aside from Photoworx, which appears to get a significant boost from the extra bandwidth. The DDR5 also had an advantage in the memory benchmark with increased bandwidth but sacrificed latency by nearly 30 ns compared to the EDGE. Looking at the two DDR4 options, the MPG Z690 EDGE pulled ahead in most tests, but the gains are marginal. Real-World Tests Cinebench, Corona, and 7Zip Benchmarks Cinebench R11.5/R15, POVRay, x265 (HWBot), 7Zip – Raw Data Several headers are placed across the bottom, including USB and SATA ports, RGB, etc. Below is a complete list of all the headers across the bottom of the board: Starting on the bottom left side, we see a full exposed audio section with the Realtek ALC4080 codec. Of the comparable (similarly priced DDR4) boards, this Edge board and the Gigabyte Aero G are the only ones that use a current-generation solution. While this isn’t a big deal as the ALC1220 codec sounds good too, it’s great to see it implemented on a board focused more on the budget side of things. Along with the codec, we spy an audio separation line to keep the audio bits away from the rest of the board (EMI mitigation), and several Chemicon-branded dedicated audio caps.AUDIO BOOST 5: Reward your ears with studio grade sound quality for the most immersive gaming experience Dual 2.5G LAN with latest Wi-Fi 6E: Onboard dual 2.5G LAN with LAN manager and latest Wi-Fi 6E solution which supports 6GHz spectrum delivering the best online gaming experience. As with the 2D benchmark results we saw previously, the gaming benchmarks were similar regardless of the settings. However, it does appear that the same updates did help in some of our game titles, specifically Far Cry6, where the 12900K got a 20 FPS increase since we first started testing in November. 1440p Gaming Benchmarks Micro-Star International (MSI) is not a new name in the PC enthusiast market. Established in 1986 in Taiwan, they produced mainly motherboards and graphics cards. Today MSI has expanded into the gaming market with its own “Gaming” line of PC components, laptops, monitors, coolers, and peripherals. They also have their hands in robotic automation, industrial-grade servers, and the automotive industry with a global presence in over 120 countries.
Generally there is a "popping" type sound when Audio hardware is detected as the PC Starts to boot. That is missing with this boards ALC4080. I put the motherboard in a different PC and experienced the same thing. The MPG series from MSI sits at the higher end of their products but is still quite affordable. The z690 EDGE we have here today is a sleek-looking motherboard and appears to be well equipped so let’s dive in. Specifications and Features Dual Thunderbolt 4 ports: Thunderbolt USB-C at true 40 Gb/s speeds, 8K display support, Daisy-Chaining and Multi-Port Accessory Architecture provide reliable connectivity and better user experience.
The 3DMark Firestrike results are very similar across the board as well. Power Consumption Power Consumption Comparison The power section on the z690 EDGE consists of a 16+1+1 phase configuration. Power comes to the board via the dual 8-pin EPS connectors feeding a 20-phase Renesas RAA229131 digital PWM controller. Power is routed directly into 75 A Dr.MOS type Renesas RAA 220075R0 MOSFETS. They terminate with premium alloy chokes and long-life capacitors for a high-quality power delivery system. This setup provided ample power for our i9 12900K at 5.1 GHz. MSI MPG Z690 EDGE WIFI DDR4 Starting with the top half of the board, we get a closer look at the large heatpipe-connected heatsinks to cool the power delivery. On top, the MSI dragon RGBs are saturated and colorful, while not being too bright and overwhelming. The board gives off a glow that lights up the inside of your case, but does not make it the center of attention. Just above the heatsinks, we spot two 8-pin EPS power connectors (one required) to power the processor. B660 appears to have a set of specifications that will satisfy the vast majority of the market. You can use a high-performance CPU such as the Core i5 12600K and any GPU you choose, as well as a fast NVMe SSD or two and several hard disk drives for storage. We may anticipate that high-end B660 boards will cost more than their entry-level Z690 equivalents, particularly those equipped with a powerful VRM, enough heatsinks, and Wi-Fi 6E. Certain B660 boards should end up providing a well-balanced core feature set and excellent value for money.
MPG Z690 EDGE WIFI DDR4 / DDR4 3200 32GB (2x16GB) / 500P Mid-Tower Case / 750 Watt PSU / M.2 SSD 1TB The Z690 EDGE DDR4 has three full-length PCIe slots; only the upper slot has MSI’s PCIe Steel Armor for added strength and signal clarity. The upper slot is also connected directly to the CPU, getting the total bandwidth of PCIe Gen 5.0 x 16 for 128 GB/s. The remaining full-length slots get bandwidth from the chipset with a maximum PCIe 3.0 x4 speeds. They have also included a single PCIe 3.0 x1 slot for appropriate add-in cards. Will automatically use Gear 2 or Gear 4 modes for DDR5, running the memory controller at ½ or ¼ speed, depending on data rate. The lower half of the Z690A Valkyrie contains all the storage, PCIe expansion, PCH, and audio. Located on the far left of the motherboard is a Realtek ALC4080 codec that drives the 7.1 channel HD audio. We also have the Nippon Chemicon caps and a built-in AMP for premium sound quality and immersive gaming. Moving to the right is the Z690 chipset covered by a good-sized heatsink that sports the EDGE logo six SATA 6 Gb/s ports. Only four of the SATA 6 Gb/s get bandwidth from the PCH and support RAID functionality. The upper two ports labeled “A” and “B” are driven by an ASMedia ASM1061 controller.It was time for a new architecture, created from the ground up with a hybrid design; meet Alder Lake, which you've probably already heard a lot about. They will also be the first to adopt a hybrid architecture, similar to ARM's BIG.little, that combines high-performance cores combined with efficient ones, making them the first of their kind for Intel. Furthermore, this new generation is now proven to be the first to support DDR5 memory (DDR4 compatible memory controllers as well) and PCI-Express 5.0, making it the first generation to do so. Next-generation hardware scheduler; adding support for these advanced scheduling capabilities will require Microsoft to add support for them to x86-64 Windows. On the memory side, the EDGE did well running DDR4 3600 at a 1:1 IMC gear ratio without any extra tweaking in the BIOS and performed slightly better than the Valkyrie. We were also able to run DDR4 4000 MHz Cl17-17-17 1:1 by manually setting the Gear Ratio. The memory ran stable through an AIDA64 memory test and also required no additional tweaking in the BIOS as the EDGE set adequate System Agent voltage on its own. The Z690 EDGE WIFI has four DIMM slots that support up to 128 GB of dual-channel non-ECC, unbuffered memory with speeds up to 5200 MHz. However, the highest-rated kit on the QVL is 5133 MHz single rank memory using one DIMM per channel. We first saw Gear settings with the eleventh-generation Intel CPU, which controls the IMC (internal memory controller) speed. With an updated BIOS, we were able to run our i9 12900K sample at DDR4 4000 MHz in Gear1 or at a 1:1 ratio. Results may vary as this is CPU-dependent.
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