MSI Z790 Gaming Plus Wifi DDR5 Intel Motherboard

The MSI Z790 Gaming Plus WiFi is an ATX form-factor motherboard built on Intel’s Z790 chipset for the LGA 1700 socket, designed to support Intel Core 12th, 13th, and 14th generation processors as well as Intel Pentium Gold, Celeron, and Intel Processor 300(T) series. With four DDR5 memory slots, it supports up to 192 GB of non-ECC unbuffered RAM and is compatible with JEDEC speeds from 4800 MHz up to 7200+ MHz via overclocking, including Intel XMP 3.0 profiles. Dual-channel operation is supported in a Dual-Controller Dual-Channel configuration. Power delivery is handled by a 14+1+1 Duet Rail Power System using DrMOS components, fed through dual 8-pin CPU power connectors. The thermal solution includes extended heatsinks, MOSFET thermal pads rated at 7 W/mK, and additional choke thermal pads to keep the VRM stable under sustained loads. For storage, the board provides four M.2 slots — M.2_1 (from CPU, PCIe 4.0 x4, up to 110 mm) and M.2_2 through M.2_4 (from chipset, PCIe 4.0 x4 or SATA) — alongside six SATA 6 Gbps ports. RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 are supported for both SATA and NVMe devices. The primary PCIe slot (PCI_E1) runs at PCIe 5.0 x16 from the CPU, with additional slots at PCIe 4.0 x4 and PCIe 3.0 x1 from the chipset. Connectivity is extensive: Intel Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax, 2.4/5/6 GHz, up to 2.4 Gbps, MU-MIMO), Bluetooth 5.3, and a wired Intel 2.5 Gbps LAN port are all included. The rear I/O includes HDMI 2.1 (4K 60 Hz) and DisplayPort 1.4 (4K 60 Hz) for systems with integrated graphics, a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C port (20 Gbps), USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A (10 Gbps), USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (5 Gbps), and multiple USB 2.0 ports, plus a Flash BIOS Button for tool-free BIOS recovery. Audio is powered by a Realtek ALC897 codec with 7.1-channel HD audio and S/PDIF output. Four EZ Debug LEDs assist with POST troubleshooting, and RGB headers (2× ARGB V2 + 2× standard RGB) allow lighting customisation. Verified Specifications: Chipset: Intel Z790 | Socket: LGA 1700 | Form Factor: ATX (243.84 mm × 304.8 mm) | Memory: 4× DDR5, max 192 GB, up to 7200+ MHz (OC) | Storage: 4× M.2 (PCIe 4.0 x4), 6× SATA 6G | PCIe: 1× PCIe 5.0 x16 (CPU), 1× PCIe 4.0 x4 (chipset), 2× PCIe 3.0 x1 (chipset) | USB rear: 1× USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C (20 Gbps), 1× USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 2× USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 4× USB 2.0 | LAN: Intel 2.5 Gbps | Wireless: Intel Wi-Fi 6E + Bluetooth 5.3 | Audio: Realtek ALC897, 7.1-channel | Video out: HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4 | Power: Dual 8-pin CPU | Warranty: 3 Years | OS: Windows 10/11 64-bit