MSI MAG Z790 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4

[ir_cow]

MSI brings the Intel Z790 chipset to market ready for the spotlight. The MSI MAG Z790 Tomahawk WiFi offers a cost-advantage, thanks to DDR4 support, featuring a 16+1+1 VRM setup using 105 A power stages, PCIe Gen 5 support and four M.2 sockets.

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[Chaitanya]

Its funny how driver disc is only included on "flagship" chipset boards while lower end ones which really might need drivers(as they tend to sell in areas where internet connections are quite poor) dont even come with one. Penny pinching from these board makers while overcharging for products is getting worse with each passing year.

 

[ir_cow]

Its funny how driver disc is only included on "flagship" chipset boards while lower end ones which really might need drivers(as they tend to sell in areas where internet connections are quite poor) dont even come with one. Penny pinching from these board makers while overcharging for products is getting worse with each passing year.

MSI has been pretty consistent with including a USB drive in the last few years. Overall its hard to guess if it will be a CD, DVD, Flash Drive or a QR Code. Roll the dice . With Windows 11 you don't need these driver disks at all. Pretty much the same for Windows 10 if you have a newer build.

 

[Chaitanya]

MSI has been pretty consistent with including a USB drive in the last few years. Overall its hard to guess if it will be a CD, DVD, Flash Drive or a QR Code. Roll the dice . With Windows 11 you don't need these driver disks at all. Pretty much the same for Windows 10 if you have a newer build.

in last few years on AMD side there were no disc included with A and B series of boards and similar story on Intel side for anything except Z series. Having drivers and softwares on disc even with Win 11 and 10 is quite necessary for these boards.

 

[RandallFlagg]

Need more motherboard reviews with 13900K. Really hard to compare this. Almost looks like the 13900K doesn't like DDR4?

 

[ir_cow]

Need more motherboard reviews with 13900K. Really hard to compare this. Almost looks like the 13900K doesn't like DDR4?

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I hear ya. Working on it. In the meantime I would suggest just assume 3% margin of error. It is 3 runs averaged together, but video cards are predictable and unpredictable at the same time.

DDR4 has a lower frame rate compared to DDR5 in a lot of games.

 

[Wasteland]

Its funny how driver disc is only included on "flagship" chipset boards while lower end ones which really might need drivers(as they tend to sell in areas where internet connections are quite poor) dont even come with one. Penny pinching from these board makers while overcharging for products is getting worse with each passing year.

I was amazed to find that the ~$140 MSI Pro B660-A didn't even come with a manual. First time I've ever seen that, and I've bought a lot of motherboards way cheaper, over the years. It's a great board otherwise; no complaints, just a little surprising.

My ~$180 MSI B660 MAG Mortar did come with a manual, so I guess that's the new price point at which you get what were formally essentials in the box, from MSI. Not too long before that, I also got a manual with a ~$90 B450 Tomahawk Max. Seems that cost-cutting and price inflation in the mobo space has really taken off in just the last three years or so.

 

[Nater]

Looking forward to 12th/13th Gen DDR4/DDR5 shootouts. I just built 3x 12th gen DDR5 rigs at work, it'll be nice to start doing hand-me-downs to the poor guys in the office still on 5th/6th/7th Gen PC's. Use their DDR4 ram and save some money maybe, and drop new 13th gen CPU's in the rigs I just built once prices level off a bit.

 

[Vader]

Its funny how driver disc is only included on "flagship" chipset boards while lower end ones which really might need drivers(as they tend to sell in areas where internet connections are quite poor) dont even come with one. Penny pinching from these board makers while overcharging for products is getting worse with each passing year.

Hopefully they don't come with actual discs, it's going to be hard for folks in poor areas to get a disc reader to use then lol

 

[Telstar]

I wonder if the Edge has better VRM heatsinks. Just a heatpipe would make a lot of difference.

 

[ir_cow]

Review update:

• Charts updated with more motherboards using Intel 13900K for comparison.