MSI MEG Z790 Ace MAX Motherboard Review: Native 14th Gen, but Little Else

Firmware

MSI’s BIOS for the Ace MAX is the same as other Z790 we’ve seen before. There are some new additions because of the new 14th-gen processor. Outside of that, the menus reside on the sides and information up top, a unique look compared to other BIOS’. It still has a black background with red highlights, making it easy to read. It also has an informative Easy Mode that displays various information about the system and allows for some changes (boot order and XMP enable, enable/disable RGBs, etc.). Though different than other UEFIs, it is easy to navigate; everything has a place, and many frequently used options are readily available, not buried within sub-menus.

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Software

MSI has a single utility, MSI Center, that covers quite a bit of functionality. From hardware monitoring to RGB control with Mystic Light, there are many applets within the software and a one-stop shop to download all of their utilities. I wish there were some overclocking options, however. But for those looking to use the Gamebar feature, Super Charger, or any other utilities MSI offers will all be at your fingertips in MSI Center.

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Test System / Comparison Products

We’ve updated our test system to Windows 11 64-bit OS with all updates applied as of mid-October 2023. We kept the same Asus TUF RTX 3070 video card from our previous testing platforms but have updated the driver to the latest, keeping our games, F1 22 and Far Cry 6, the same. We use the latest non-beta motherboard BIOS available to the public, unless otherwise noted, using ‘optimized default’ settings except for the memory (XMP). The hardware and drivers we used is as follows:

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Test System Components

Benchmark Settings

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