MSI MEG Z490 ACE DDR4 Intel Motherboard

The MSI MEG Z490 ACE is a full-size ATX motherboard built on Intel's Z490 chipset for the LGA 1200 socket, supporting 10th Generation Intel Core, Pentium Gold, and Celeron processors. Designed for enthusiasts who demand both overclocking headroom and connectivity versatility, the board pairs a 16+1 phase power delivery system — featuring an INTERSIL digital PWM controller, 90A Smart Power Stage MOSFETs, dual 8-pin ATX 12V connectors, and a mirrored power arrangement — with comprehensive thermal management that includes a Frozr heatsink, VRM heat-pipe, MOSFET baseplate, and M.2 Shield Frozr covers across all three M.2 slots. Memory support spans four DDR4 DIMM slots accommodating up to 128 GB of unbuffered, non-ECC RAM. Speeds range from 2133 MHz at the native JEDEC baseline up to 4800+ MHz (OC) in single-DIMM-per-channel, single-rank configurations, with Intel XMP profiles supported throughout. Dual-channel operation is available in standard two-slot and four-slot configurations. Storage connectivity is generous: three M.2 Key-M slots (all supporting PCIe 3.0 x4; M2_1 and M2_2 also accepting SATA 6 Gb/s devices) sit alongside six SATA 6 Gb/s ports. RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 are supported for SATA arrays, while RAID 0, 1, and 5 are available for M.2 PCIe arrays via the Intel Z490 chipset. Networking combines a Realtek 8125B 2.5 Gbps wired LAN controller, an Intel I219V Gigabit LAN controller, and an Intel AX201 wireless module delivering Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax, up to 2.4 Gbps on 160 MHz channels) with Bluetooth 5.1. USB connectivity includes a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 20 Gbps Type-C port on the rear panel (via ASMedia 3241), three USB 3.2 Gen 2 10 Gbps Type-A rear ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 5 Gbps rear Type-A ports, two USB 2.0 rear Type-A ports, and additional internal headers for further expansion. Audio is handled by a Realtek ALC1220 codec combined with an ESS SABRE9018Q2C DAC delivering 7.1-channel HD audio with optical S/PDIF output and Nahimic software support. RGB control via Mystic Light extends to an onboard 4-pin RGB header, two 3-pin RAINBOW LED headers, and one 3-pin Corsair LED header, supporting up to 16.8 million colours and 29 lighting effects. A multi-function Smart Button on the board consolidates Safe Boot, EZ LED control, Turbo Fan, and reset functions into a single control point. Verifiable Specifications: - Socket: LGA 1200 | Chipset: Intel Z490 - Form Factor: ATX, 12 in. × 9.6 in. (30.5 cm × 24.4 cm), 9 mounting holes - Memory: 4× DDR4 DIMM, max 128 GB; XMP supported; up to 4800+ MHz (OC, 1DPC 1R) - Expansion: 3× PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (configs: x16/0/4 or x8/8/4), 2× PCIe x1 slots - Multi-GPU: 2-Way NVIDIA SLI, 3-Way AMD CrossFire - Storage: 3× M.2 (PCIe 3.0 x4), 6× SATA 6 Gb/s - LAN: Realtek 8125B 2.5G + Intel I219V 1G - Wireless: Intel AX201, Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.1 - USB (rear): 1× USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 20 Gbps Type-C, 3× USB 3.2 Gen 2 10 Gbps Type-A, 2× USB 3.2 Gen 1 5 Gbps Type-A, 2× USB 2.0 Type-A - Audio: Realtek ALC1220 + ESS SABRE9018Q2C, 7.1-ch HD, optical S/PDIF out - Power: 16+1 phases, dual 8-pin ATX 12V, 90A Smart Power Stage - Warranty: 3 Years - OS: Windows 10 64-bit