MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon DDR4 Intel Motherboard

The MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon is a full-size ATX motherboard built on the Intel Z390 chipset, designed to support 8th and 9th Generation Intel Core, Pentium Gold, and Celeron processors via the LGA 1151 socket. Its carbon-inspired aesthetic is complemented by a comprehensive feature set aimed at performance-focused desktop builds. For memory, the board provides four DDR4 slots capable of accommodating up to 128 GB of non-ECC, unbuffered RAM. Supported speeds range from 2133 MHz up to 4400 MHz (OC) via Intel XMP profiles, with dual-channel operation available for increased bandwidth. The MSI DDR4 Boost feature employs optimised PCB traces and an isolated memory circuit for signal integrity. Storage options are extensive: two M.2 Key-M slots support PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA 6 Gb/s drives in 2242, 2260, 2280, and 22110 form factors, and the board is Intel Optane Memory Ready. Six SATA 6 Gb/s ports are also present, with RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 support for SATA devices and RAID 0/1 for M.2 PCIe devices. Note that M.2 slots and SATA ports share bandwidth. The M.2 Shield Frozr heatsink helps manage thermal output from NVMe drives. Expansion is handled by three PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (operating in x16/x0/x4 or x8/x8/x4 configurations) and three PCIe 3.0 x1 slots, enabling 2-Way NVIDIA SLI and 3-Way AMD CrossFire multi-GPU setups. USB connectivity includes five USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) ports — one Type-C and three Type-A on the rear panel plus one internal Type-C header — alongside four USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports via internal headers and six USB 2.0 ports. Networking is handled by the Intel I219-V Gigabit LAN controller, with MSI LAN Manager software for traffic prioritisation. Audio is powered by the Realtek ALC1220P-VB2 codec with 7.1-channel HD Audio output, S/PDIF optical out, and Nahimic 3 surround sound processing. The EMI-shielded, isolated audio circuit features separated left and right channel layers and de-pop protection. RGB customisation is delivered through MSI Mystic Light, with two 4-pin RGB LED headers, one 3-pin Rainbow LED header, and one 3-pin Corsair LED header onboard. The system supports 16.8 million colours and 29 lighting effects. Fan and cooling control spans one CPU fan header, five system fan headers, and one water pump header, all with DC and PWM control available via BIOS or third-party software. The board ships with a pre-installed I/O shield and EZ Debug LED indicators for quick fault diagnosis. Verified Specifications: - Form Factor: ATX, 9.6 in. x 12 in. (24.3 cm x 30.4 cm) - Socket: LGA 1151 (8th/9th Gen Intel) - Chipset: Intel Z390 - Memory: 4x DDR4, up to 128 GB, up to 4400 MHz (OC), Dual-Channel, XMP support - Storage: 2x M.2 (PCIe 3.0 x4 / SATA), 6x SATA 6 Gb/s, RAID 0/1/5/10 - PCIe: 3x PCIe 3.0 x16, 3x PCIe 3.0 x1 - Audio: Realtek ALC1220P-VB2, 7.1-ch HD Audio, S/PDIF out - LAN: Intel I219-V Gigabit - USB: 5x USB 3.1 Gen2 (10 Gbps), 4x USB 3.1 Gen1, 6x USB 2.0 - Display: HDMI 1.4 (up to 4096x2160@24Hz), DisplayPort 1.2 (up to 4096x2304@60Hz) - RGB: Mystic Light — 2x 4-pin RGB, 1x 3-pin Rainbow, 1x 3-pin Corsair headers - OS Support: Windows 10 64-bit - Warranty: 3 Years