MSI Sweepstakes: Enter for a chance to win an RTX 2060 Super GPU, Intel Z490 Motherboard

Last week, we had MSI on the forums to answer everything you wanted to know about their new Intel Z490 Motherboards. In case you missed it, we have the AMA in full below. Before the digest though, take a moment to enter our MSI giveaway, which features an RTX 2060 Super, MSI Z490 motherboard Gaming EDGE WiFi Motherboard, Gungnir 100 Case, and an MSI Optix MAG272CR Gaming Monitor. To enter, head to our giveaway widget and follow our instructions there. You can enter through May 29, 2020. To view the AMA in full on our forums click here.

First off, let's give a big thank you to MSI for stopping by to answer all the insightful questions presented by our community members. Scheduling this AMA took a bit of work on their end, especially during such a chaos of the pandemic, and for that, the Community Staff as well as our readers are much obliged to everyone at MSI for taking the time to engage with the enthusiastic members of our community.

When designing the dragon component found in the MSI logo many years ago, it was recognized that an animal or creature could impart personality and distinctiveness - the same principle behind sport team identities. Within East Asian mythologies, dragons are universally recognized as the most powerful mythical beast, but the dragon in the MSI logo takes its appearance from European dragons so as to be understood internationally as a depiction of power.

Overclocking capabilities. This is mentioned often within online communities often, but most individuals are nebulous on the details, supporting research that the vast majority of end users either do not know how to or do not care to learn how to overclock. The broadness of overclocking capabilities can range from easy overclocking through simply changing unlocked multiplier ratios, automated overclocking such as AMD PBO, and of course, extreme overclocking at the peak of this specific usage segment.

A: All of our Z490 motherboards from our more entry level boards to our enthusiast boards contain tons of features that are useful for gamers. Many of our motherboards such as the Tomahawk you mentioned have tons of peripheral connectivity support which is crucial for gamers, streamers especially, that need to have a mouse, keyboard, webcam, microphones, headsets, stream decks, VR systems, etc. connected to their PC. Reinforced PCI-Express slots help support graphics cards that keep getting bigger and bigger easier. For gamers looking to push every possible ounce of power from their systems by overclocking, we have models with powerful VRM designs and great M.2 cooling such as the Godlike and Ace. Many gamers love the RGB aesthetic and it is certainly there with the vast majority of our Z490 line-up.

A: There is a bit of misconception here that you were referring to the two 8pin ATX power supply connectors for CPU power. Our motherboards only really have one system panel connector section split into two parts JFP1 and JFP2. JFP1 has headers for your conventional connectors (Power, Reset, HDD LED, PLED) while JFP2 is just a row of 4 pins used for debugging speakers in order to hear beep codes if you wish to do so.

A: The type of motherboard you get can certainly make a difference depending on your use case and what you are looking to get out of it. Enthusiast motherboards have a plethora of features that more budget boards do not to accommodate people with higher or more advanced requirements. For a simple example, say you want a build with lots of fans or custom liquid cooling that requires connectivity for cooling pumps, RGB, and such. A higher end motherboard will have let's say six fan headers in comparison to a budget board which may only have two. If you have tons of peripherals to connect to your PC because you are streaming, a higher end board will typically also have more USB ports than a budget board.

Q: I've noticed on a lot of the mid-grade boards like the B450 Tomahawk/Max (the most popular B450 around) that there's limited bells and whistles, like lack of even more standard things like 3/4 pin argb/rgb ports (has 2x 5050 strip ports). So my question is: Is that trend going to continue with the low-mid grade boards, or is there going to be more emphasis on what's currently in demand by users like multiple NVMe capable or argb headers?

A: We're offering as much as possible on the mid-grade and entry Z490 boards. We have at least 2 ARGB headers and 2or 1 RGB headers for mid and entry boards. For fan headers, we have 1 CPU fan header+1 AIO pump header+6 system fan headers for the ATX MPG/MAG and A PRO boards. 2 M.2 slots are available on MPG/MAG and A-Pro boards. We also offer front Type-C header on all Z490 models and pre-installed I/O shield on all Z490 models except A PRO. We offer a lot on all Z490 boards.

A: VRM will impact system performance. With a weak VRM, high-end CPUs may have a throttling problem due to weak VRM. For memory, especially with XMP loaded, better optimization will bring some performance difference. And with faster connection, like10/2.5GbE LAN and Wi-Fi6 connection, it performs better than boards with only 1GbE LAN and WI-Fi AC. I/O matters too. Some MSI Z490 models feature 20Gbps USB and Thunderbolt 3 ports, and it offers faster I/O speed.

A: Audio is a challenge for motherboards. For onboard audio, we implement ESS audio DAC, headphone amplifier, and audio-oriented capacitors on GODLIKE, and have seperate audio circuit from the rest circuit on the motherboards. This is to get a cleaner signal. We're also working to reduce noise as much as possible. We'll keep working with our partners like DAC, amplifier companies to offer the latest and best audio solutions.

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Joshua Simenhoff was a former Tom's Hardware community manager. He covered a wide range of topics, including PC hardware how-tos and articles with a focus on community engagement. His expertise lay in connecting with readers and providing practical, informative content about the latest technology.