MSI MAG Z790 Tomahawk Wifi DDR4 Intel Motherboard

The MSI MAG Z790 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4 is an ATX form-factor motherboard built on Intel’s Z790 chipset, designed to support 12th and 13th Generation Intel Core, Pentium Gold, and Celeron processors via the LGA 1700 socket. It ships with four DDR4 DIMM slots capable of holding up to 128 GB of memory and supports speeds ranging from JEDEC-standard 2133 MHz all the way to 5333+ MHz under XMP overclocking profiles, with MSI’s OC Lab-certified XMP settings enabling stable high-frequency operation at the click of a button. Power delivery is handled by a 16+1+1 Duet Rail Power System fed through dual 8-pin CPU power connectors — a robust VRM arrangement suited for demanding high-core-count processors. Thermal management is further reinforced by an extended VRM heatsink, M.2 Shield Frozr covers across all four M.2 slots, a heavy-plated VRM heatsink design, and 7 W/mK MOSFET thermal pads to keep every component running within temperature targets. Storage options are generous: four M.2 slots (all supporting PCIe 4.0 x4, with one additionally offering SATA mode) complement seven SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and the board supports RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 across both SATA and NVMe M.2 devices. The primary PCIe slot (PCI_E1) runs at PCIe 5.0 x16 directly from the CPU, making it ready for the latest discrete graphics cards. Connectivity is comprehensive. Wireless is handled by an Intel Wi-Fi 6E module pre-installed in the Key-E M.2 slot, supporting 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands at up to 2.4 Gbps (160 MHz channels) with MU-MIMO and Bluetooth 5.3. Wired networking uses an Intel 2.5 Gbps LAN controller. The rear I/O includes HDMI 2.1 (up to 4K 60 Hz) and DisplayPort 1.4 (up to 8K 60 Hz) for systems with integrated graphics, plus USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C at 20 Gbps, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C and Type-A ports, and a Flash BIOS button for easy firmware recovery without a CPU installed. Audio is powered by a Realtek ALC4080 codec delivering 7.1-channel high-definition audio with support for 32-bit/384 kHz playback and optical S/PDIF output. RGB customisation is supported through three Addressable V2 (ARGB) headers and one standard RGB header, all controllable via MSI Mystic Light. Six system fan headers plus a dedicated pump header and Frozr AI Cooling allow full thermal management from both BIOS and MSI software. Verified Specifications: • Chipset: Intel Z790 • Socket: LGA 1700 • Form Factor: ATX (304.8 mm x 243.84 mm) • CPU Support: 12th/13th Gen Intel Core, Pentium Gold, Celeron • Memory: 4x DDR4 DIMM, max 128 GB, up to 5333+ MHz (XMP OC) • PCIe: 1x PCIe 5.0 x16 (CPU), 1x PCIe 4.0 x4 (Chipset), 1x PCIe 3.0 x1 (Chipset) • M.2: 4x slots, all PCIe 4.0 x4; M.2_3 also SATA • SATA: 7x SATA 6 Gb/s • RAID: 0/1/5/10 (SATA and NVMe) • LAN: Intel 2.5 Gbps • Wi-Fi: Intel Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), 2.4/5/6 GHz, up to 2.4 Gbps • Bluetooth: 5.3 • Audio: Realtek ALC4080, 7.1-channel, 32-bit/384 kHz • Rear USB: 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C (20 Gbps), 1x Gen 2 Type-C, 4x Gen 2 Type-A, 4x Gen 1 Type-A • Video Out: 1x HDMI 2.1 (4K 60 Hz), 1x DisplayPort 1.4 (8K 60 Hz) • OS Support: Windows 11 64-bit, Windows 10 64-bit