MSI MPG Z690 Edge WIFI DDR4 Motherboard Review: Affordable Enthusiast Bliss?

Premium audio codec, four M.2 sockets, Wi-Fi 6 and more for $299.99

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MSI MPG Z690 Edge WIFI DDR4
(Image: © MSI)

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Firmware

Like the other MSI BIOS configurations, you start with an informational EZ Mode that allows editing of some high-level functions, including enabling XMP profiles, adjusting fan speeds, and more. The main menu is informational up top, while the bottom two-thirds is where the adjustments happen.

You select the section you want on the left or right sides, and the details show in the middle. You don’t have to dig down several screens to reach the overclocking options, as they are mostly on the main page. Some digging is inevitable, but overall we find this BIOS full of options and easy to read and get around.

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MSI MPG Z690 Edge WIFI
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Software

For software, the theme these days is to place a lot of the functionality in one program. MSI’s take on this is called Dragon Center, which lets you download individual applets to add functionality. Some of the programs include Mystic Light (RGB control), LAN Manager, User Scenario (overclocking, monitoring, and fan control), Super Charger, MSI Companion (to record games), and many more. Though updates should fix this down the road, it’s worth noting that you cannot overclock the system with the version I had. But serious overclockers will want to do their tweaking in the BIOS anyway.

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MSI MPG Z690 Edge WIFI
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Test System / Comparison Products

As of October 2021, we’ve updated our test system to Windows 11 64-bit OS with all updates applied. We kept the same Asus TUF RTX 3070 video card from our previous testing platforms but updated the driver to version 496.13. Additionally, our game selection was updated, as noted in the table below. We use the latest non-beta motherboard BIOS available to the public unless otherwise noted. The hardware we used is as follows:

Test System Components

Swipe to scroll horizontally
CPUIntel Core i9-12900K
MemoryKingston Fury DDR5 5200 CL40 (9KF552C40BBK2-32)
Row 2 - Cell 0 GSkill Trident Z DDR5 5600 CL36 (F5-5600U3636C16GX2-TZ5RK)
Row 3 - Cell 0 ADATA XPG DDR5 6000 CL40 (AX5U6000C4016G-FCLARBK)
GPUAsus TUF RTX 3070
CoolingMSI MEG Coreliquid S360
PSUEVGA Supernova 850W P6
SoftwareWindows 11 64-bit (21H2, Build 22000.282)
Graphics DriverNvidia Driver 496.13
SoundIntegrated HD audio
NetworkIntegrated Networking (GbE or 2.5 GbE)
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MSI MPG Z690 Edge WIFI
(Image credit: EVGA)

EVGA supplied our Supernova 850W P6 power supply (appropriately sized and more efficient than the outgoing 1.2KW monster we used) for our test systems, and G.Skill sent us a DDR5-5600 (F5-5600U3636C16GX2-TZ5RK) memory kit for testing.

Benchmark Settings

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Synthetic Benchmarks and SettingsRow 0 - Cell 1
ProcyonVersion 2.0.249 64
Row 2 - Cell 0 Office Suite, Video Editing (Premiere Pro), Photo Editing (Photoshop, Lightroom Classic)
3DMarkVersion 2.20.7290 64
Row 4 - Cell 0 Firestrike Extreme and Time Spy Default Presets
Cinebench R23Version RBBENCHMARK330542
Row 6 - Cell 0 Open GL Benchmark - Single and Multi-threaded
BlenderVersion 3.0.1
Row 8 - Cell 0 Full benchmark (three sub-tests)
Application Tests and SettingsRow 9 - Cell 1
LAME MP3Version SSE2_2019
Row 11 - Cell 0 Mixed 271MB WAV to mp3: Command: -b 160 --nores (160Kb/s)
HandBrake CLIVersion: 1.2.2
Row 13 - Cell 0 Sintel Open Movie Project: 4.19GB 4K mkv to x264 (light AVX) and x265 (heavy AVX)
Corona 1.4Version 1.4
Row 15 - Cell 0 Custom benchmark
7-ZipVersion 21.03-beta
Row 17 - Cell 0 Integrated benchmark (Command Line)
Game Tests and SettingsRow 18 - Cell 1
Far Cry 6Ultra Preset - 1920 x 1080, HD Textures ON
F1 2021Ultra Preset - 1920 x 1080, HBAO+, RT Med, TAA + 16xAF, Bahrain, FPS Counter ON

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Joe Shields
Joe Shields
Motherboard Reviewer

Joe Shields is a Freelance writer for Tom’s Hardware US. He reviews motherboards.

5 Comments Comment from the forums
  • thisisaname
    Today's best MSI MPG Z690 Edge WIFI deals
    £410
    VIEW
    Admin said:
    Affordable Enthusiast Bliss?

    Not affordable to $300 doubly no at £410.
    Reply
  • Mr5oh
    thisisaname said:
    Not affordable to $300 doubly no at £410.

    I believe it's more in the context of a Z690 board with this kind of power design and features. I actually bought this exact board, because I wanted a good board for a 12900k build, that would be fine for overclocking.

    My only complaints with this board, or the "hard" mounted wifi antennas. They are cheap in my opinion. My several boards that have included wifi have had the "remote" magnetic antennas. This is a much nicer solution in my opinion. Next this board, (in fairness most boards do) supplies tons of voltage to the CPU by default. While it's doing it for stability, I was able to drop over 20 C by under-volting my 12900k, didn't drop any of my benchmark scores, clock speeds, or impact stability.
    Reply
  • A$429. Definitely wasn't worth the money :(

    This board's ALC 4080 still has issues, which MSI refuse to acknowledge.

    I purchased one of these and I could not get the startup sound to play. The issue is during boot (BEFORE Windows starts to load), the Audio hardware is not detected. Windows detects and initializes the hardware about 20 seconds after the OS has booted.

    Generally there is a "popping" type sound when Audio hardware is detected as the PC Starts to boot. That is missing with this boards ALC4080. I put the motherboard in a different PC and experienced the same thing.

    I returned the board, replaced it with an ASRock Z690 Extreme WiFi with ALC1220 and there were no issues.

    MSI Only make Z690 motherboard with ALC897 or ALC4080.

    Another issue with ALC4080 while I'm on the subject is that you cannot install the Realtek HD Audio Manager with it.
    Reply
  • Tom Sunday
    Greetings from Stehekin, WA! The MSI MPG Edge WIFI DDR4…a feature-rich Z690 board without paying flagship prices? At $300 it’s still much too pricy for me (or even my local friends and others) at this point in time and with the new tech-generation virtually looming on our doorstep. Thus there will probably be already in the works major (30%-40%) price drops or last minute sales enticements by the likes of Asus, EVGA, Gigabyte, etc for all sorts of present generation hardware? Naturally all driven as well by the mere fact of the still rising fuel prices at the pumps. Surely that is where my little money has been going and disappearing! Nothing left over now for the pure luxury of upgrading or new PC hardware acquisitions. At the end of the latest computer show at the Grange in Wenatchee they were setting-up for a gun show. My buddy said that he was thinking about buying a gun for self-protection instead of a new SSD if he had the cash! Where has this world come too?
    Reply
  • ocer9999
    IceQueen0607 said:
    A$429. Definitely wasn't worth the money :(

    This board's ALC 4080 still has issues, which MSI refuse to acknowledge.

    I purchased one of these and I could not get the startup sound to play. The issue is during boot (BEFORE Windows starts to load), the Audio hardware is not detected. Windows detects and initializes the hardware about 20 seconds after the OS has booted.

    Generally there is a "popping" type sound when Audio hardware is detected as the PC Starts to boot. That is missing with this boards ALC4080. I put the motherboard in a different PC and experienced the same thing.

    I returned the board, replaced it with an ASRock Z690 Extreme WiFi with ALC1220 and there were no issues.

    MSI Only make Z690 motherboard with ALC897 or ALC4080.

    Another issue with ALC4080 while I'm on the subject is that you cannot install the Realtek HD Audio Manager with it.

    Yes, pricey.
    I do also have the Extreme Wifi and runs awesome, only cost me 250$ which was awesome.
    Reply