The MSI MEG Z690 Unify (DDR5) Motherboard Review: The All-Black Option
by Gavin Bonshor on January 18, 2022 10:00 AM ESTBoard Features
The MSI MEG Z690 Unify is a premium ATX motherboard that sits below both the Godlike and Ace series. Representative of its MEG enthusiast gaming series, the Z690 Unify has plenty of features and controller sets to keep both enthusiasts and performance users satisfied. One of the biggest features of Intel's 12th gen and Z690 is PCIe 5.0, and MSI includes two full-length PCIe 5.0 slots operating at x16 and x8/x8, with one half-length slot electronically locked down to PCIe 3.0 x4.
For storage, MSI includes a total of five M.2 slots, with three operating at PCIe 4.0 x4, one with PCIe 4.0 x4 and SATA support, as well as a fifth PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slot. MSI has two sets of SATA, four of which support RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 arrays, while another two are made available by the use of an ASMedia ASM1061 SATA controller. The MSI MEG Z690 Unify also has support for super-fast DDR5-6666 memory, with a combined capacity of up to 128 GB across four memory slots.
Focusing on cooling, the Z690 Unify has eight 4-pin headers, with one for a CPU fan, one for a water pump, and six for chassis fans.
| MSI MEG Z690 Unify ATX Motherboard | |||
| Warranty Period | 3 Years | ||
| Product Page | Link | ||
| Price | $490 | ||
| Size | ATX | ||
| CPU Interface | LGA1700 | ||
| Chipset | Intel Z690 | ||
| Memory Slots (DDR4) | Four DDR5 Supporting 128 GB Dual-Channel Up to DDR5-6666 |
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| Video Outputs | N/A | ||
| Network Connectivity | 2 x Intel I225-V 2.5 GbE Intel AX210 Wi-Fi 6E |
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| Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC4080 | ||
| PCIe Slots for Graphics (from CPU) | 2 x PCIe 5.0 (x16, x8/x8) | ||
| PCIe Slots for Other (from PCH) | 1 x PCIe 3.0 x4 | ||
| Onboard SATA | Four, RAID 0/1/5/10 (Z690) Two (ASMedia) |
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| Onboard M.2 | 3 x PCIe 4.0 x4 1 x PCIe 4.0 x4/SATA 1 x PCIe 3.0 x4 |
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| Onboard U.2 | N/A | ||
| Thunderbolt 4 (40 Gbps) | N/A | ||
| USB 3.2 (20 Gbps) | 1 x USB Type-C (Rear panel) 1 x USB Type-C (One header) |
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| USB 3.2 (10 Gbps) | 7 x USB Type-A (Rear panel) 1 x USB Type-C (One header) |
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| USB 3.1 (5 Gbps) | 4 x USB Type-A (Two headers) | ||
| USB 2.0 | 2 x USB Type-A (Rear panel) 4 x USB Type-A (Two headers) |
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| Power Connectors | 1 x 24-pin Motherboard 2 x 8-pin CPU |
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| Fan Headers | 1 x 4-pin CPU 1 x 4-pin Water pump 6 x 4-pin Chassis |
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| IO Panel | 2 x Antenna Ports (Intel) 1 x PS/2 Combo port 1 x USB 3.2 G2x2 Type-C 7 x USB 3.2 G2 Type-A 2 x USB 2.0 Type-A 2 x RJ45 (Intel) 5 x 3.5 mm Audio jacks (Realtek) 1 x S/PDIF Optical output (Realtek) 1 x BIOS Flashback button 1 x Clear CMOS button |
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In terms of connectivity, MSI is offering pretty much everything expected in the sub $500 Z690 motherboard space. On the rear panel are one USB 3.2 G2x2 Type-C, seven USB 3.2 G2 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports, with support for up to four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A (two headers), four USB 2.0 (two headers), and an additional USB 3.2 G2x2 Type-C ports through internal headers. Networking is premium with two Intel I225-V 2.5 GbE controllers, and an Intel AX210 Wi-Fi 6E CNVi. Audio is handled by a Realtek ALC4080 HD audio codec that powers five 3.5 mm audio jacks and S/PDIF optical output.
Test Bed
With some of the nuances with Intel's Rocket Lake processors, our policy is to see if the system gives an automatic option to increase the power limits of the processor. If it does, we select the liquid cooling option. If it does not, we do not change the defaults. Adaptive Boost Technology is disabled by default.
| Test Setup | |||
| Processor | Intel Core i9-12900K, 125 W, $589 8P + 8E Cores, 24 Threads, 3.2 GHz Base (5.2 GHz P-Core Turbo) |
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| Motherboard | MSI MEG Z690 Unify (BIOS 7D28v11) | ||
| Cooling | ASUS ROG Ryujin II 360 360 mm AIO | ||
| Power Supply | Corsair HX850 80Plus Platinum 850 W | ||
| Memory | Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR5-4800 CL 38-40-40-78 2T (2 x 16 GB) |
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| Video Card | MSI GTX 1080 (1178/1279 Boost) | ||
| Hard Drive | Crucial MX300 1TB | ||
| Case | Corsair Crystal 680X | ||
| Operating System | Windows 10 Pro 64-bit: Build 21H2 | ||
We must also thank the following:
| Hardware Providers for CPU and Motherboard Reviews | |||
| Sapphire RX 460 Nitro | MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X OC | Crucial MX200 + MX500 SSDs |
Corsair AX860i + AX1200i PSUs |
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| G.Skill RipjawsV, SniperX, FlareX |
Crucial Ballistix DDR4 |
Silverstone Coolers |
Noctua Coolers |
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I'll take MB's with no overclocking for under $200, sense all of your benchmarks don't show any real world difference. Pumping in 450+ watts just for cpu and mb is ridiculous.The five ssd slots weren't tested so we have no idea if there is any issues filling those up.
No USB 4 is a no go.
Not sure if the 2x 2.5 ethernet is a benefit to anyone actually buying this.
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No Rgb lighting is a dream come true!!! I hate rgb lighting. It’s an cost added to pander gimmick hungry 4 year olds.ahadgis - Saturday, April 9, 2022 - link
Got a 9854 XTU mark (https://hwbot.org/submission/4971256_ahadgis_xtu_2... air cooled, 4 p cores at 52, 4 p cores at 51, all e cores at 41, and core voltage offset of -117mz. Not sure why everyone thinks liquid cooling is a hard requirement, although granted I have a nhd15 and 6 fans, so I suppose for that price you could liquid cool anyway. Details here --> https://www.reddit.com/r/sffpc/comments/tzzii9/fir...Anyone else seeing good results with air?
Theskyisthelimit99 - Tuesday, July 19, 2022 - link
The wattage/power limits can be set by changing the cooler style from water cooler (4096 watt) to boxed cooler (241 watt), once you do that the temperatures come down.