MSI Unveils Z790 MAX Series Motherboards at Computex with 5GbE and WiFi 7 on Top Models

[btarunr]

MSI is ready with a major refresh of its Socket LGA1700 motherboard lineup, in time for Core "Raptor Lake Refresh" processors that come out later this year. Popular motherboard models in its MEG, MPG, and MAG motherboard lines based on the top Z790 chipset Some of the top models in the lineup introduce support for Wi-Fi 7 and 5 Gbps Ethernet. Among the models we've seen are the MEG Z790 ACE MAX (5 GbE + 2.5 GbE + Wi-Fi 7), the MPG Z790 Edge MAX WiFi (2.5 GbE + Wi-Fi 7), MPG Z790 Carbon MAX WiFi (5 GbE + Wi-Fi 7), and the MAG Z790 Tomahawk MAX WiFi (2.5 GbE + Wi-Fi 7). Another set of innovations with these boards include USB 3.2 front-panel headers with 60 W PD capability, screwless M.2 NVMe SSD installation, and at least one Gen 5 NVMe slot. The company also unveiled the USB4 expansion accessory, which puts out two 40 Gbps USB4 type-C ports, along with DisplayPort passthrough, and 100 W PD capability.



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[Crackong]

If I buy a "Top Model" I would expect 10G Lan onboard not 5G......

 

[Alexandrus]

Well, GODLIKE is the top end board and it has 10Gbps already, so ... there you have it.

 

[diopter]

I find that ugly dragon graphic really ruins and cheapens the look of otherwise very nice boards.

 

[Dr. Dro]

I find that ugly dragon graphic really ruins and cheapens the look of otherwise very nice boards.

The Z790 series has a bit of a regression in the aesthetic department. The Z690 ACE has an actual gold plated trim, MEG logo and dragon moniker design, it looks pristine and fantastic both in pictures and in person. I suppose it was too expensive to manufacture though, and honestly, money is better spent on better quality components on the board itself.

I'm wondering where will the Raptor refresh SKUs land. Seems almost impossible that they'd have chips with the i9-13900KS's quality level readily available to all, given that it seems noticeably better than the 13900K on average and there's very little overclocking headroom left in them as it is. My guess is that they will target improved clocks up to the i5 and i7 segments, just like Comet Lake Refresh targeted primarily the Core i3 and i5 segments.

 

[ToxicTaZ]

The Z790 series has a bit of a regression in the aesthetic department. The Z690 ACE has an actual gold plated trim, MEG logo and dragon moniker design, it looks pristine and fantastic both in pictures and in person. I suppose it was too expensive to manufacture though, and honestly, money is better spent on better quality components on the board itself.

I'm wondering where will the Raptor refresh SKUs land. Seems almost impossible that they'd have chips with the i9-13900KS's quality level readily available to all, given that it seems noticeably better than the 13900K on average and there's very little overclocking headroom left in them as it is. My guess is that they will target improved clocks up to the i5 and i7 segments, just like Comet Lake Refresh targeted primarily the Core i3 and i5 segments.

From the leaks....There is 14900K 6.2GHz & 14900KS 6.5GHz some new power regulartor called Intel DLVR (Digital Linear Voltage Regulator) also rumored to have double cache new security update.... should be a very optimized chip. Most likely using all 1800 pins on the LGA 1700 socket. So that means this chip was planned from the start...

 

[Dr. Dro]

From the leaks....There is 14900K 6.2GHz & 14900KS 6.5GHz some new power regulartor called Intel DLVR (Digital Linear Voltage Regulator) also rumored to have double cache new security update.... should be a very optimized chip. Most likely using all 1800 pins on the LGA 1700 socket. So that means this chip was planned from the start...

The source of that is MLID, however. Take that with a massive, massive grain of salt, without transitioning to Intel 4, I don't think that is feasible. 6.5 GHz on 10ESF/Intel 7 Ultra node is just not going to happen in any reasonable power budget (and as a 13900KS owner I tell you this processor has already crossed the border of reasonable, but it's still manageable - such chip won't be). Doubling cache yet again on this same node would be a change so radical that it wouldn't be a mere refresh due to the very, very large amount of transistors and die area required to do that, couple it with the process node and this becomes prohibitively expensive for Intel to do, so I'm quite skeptical on that, too.

DLVR is already present on 13th gen and was enabled in engineering sample hardware, but it has been fused off in retail stepping processors, just like AVX-512 on Alder Lake. Intel probably had a good reason to do so. Re-enabling DLVR is probably something they can do for the refresh, but it probably won't help them achieve >6 GHz clocks on the same power footprint as long as the node remains the same.

 

[ToxicTaZ]

The source of that is MLID, however. Take that with a massive, massive grain of salt, without transitioning to Intel 4, I don't think that is feasible. 6.5 GHz on 10ESF/Intel 7 Ultra node is just not going to happen in any reasonable power budget (and as a 13900KS owner I tell you this processor has already crossed the border of reasonable, but it's still manageable - such chip won't be). Doubling cache yet again on this same node would be a change so radical that it wouldn't be a mere refresh due to the very, very large amount of transistors and die area required to do that, couple it with the process node and this becomes prohibitively expensive for Intel to do, so I'm quite skeptical on that, too.

DLVR is already present on 13th gen and was enabled in engineering sample hardware, but it has been fused off in retail stepping processors, just like AVX-512 on Alder Lake. Intel probably had a good reason to do so. Re-enabling DLVR is probably something they can do for the refresh, but it probably won't help them achieve >6 GHz clocks on the same power footprint as long as the node remains the same.

I'm not sure... but usually when Intel leak stuff like this it becomes true just like the 13900KS 6GHz was true!....so 14900KS 6.5GHz (Raptor Lake Refresh) is believable if DLVR Technology is working properly... I believe Intel knew about this all along I believe Raptor Lake refresh was always part of the plan they knew from the start that meteor Lake was a no-go just to keep investors going you know what I'm saying? I was going to get your chip 13900KS on Z790 Motherboard.... But soon as I seen that Intel Slide with Raptor Lake Refresh & Z790 V2.0 Motherboards.... I decided to wait get a very optimized chip and board.... I'm currently coming from 9900KS & Z390 Motherboard.... Going on 4 years old.

Cheers

 

[Dr. Dro]

I'm not sure... but usually when Intel leak stuff like this it becomes true just like the 13900KS 6GHz was true!....so 14900KS 6.5GHz (Raptor Lake Refresh) is believable if DLVR Technology is working properly... I believe Intel knew about this all along I believe Raptor Lake refresh was always part of the plan they knew from the start that meteor Lake was a no-go just to keep investors going you know what I'm saying? I was going to get your chip 13900KS on Z790 Motherboard.... But soon as I seen that Intel Slide with Raptor Lake Refresh & Z790 V2.0 Motherboards.... I decided to wait get a very optimized chip and board.... I'm currently coming from 9900KS & Z390 Motherboard.... Going on 4 years old.

Cheers

We'll see, but I'm certain DLVR alone won't be enough to attain 6.5 on this process. Don't think even the top 0.1% bins could run that high. It's just too harsh on the silicon. With larger cache then? It'd be an astounding achievement.

A limited run like the infamous Intel Black Ops chip may happen, but I don't think it'll be a shipping SKU.

Of course if the refresh targets only the more popular SKUs that's not a bad thing. You would be quite happy with the KS, but this doesn't need to be said, you know that they rock first hand

 

[ToxicTaZ]

I want this Motherboard!... "MEG Z790 ACE MAX" with 14900KS 6.5GHz and two MSI Spatium M570 PRO 4TB & 1TB... Add RTX 4080Ti and you have a extremely fast system Cooled By EK.

Unfortunately we have to wait until October I hear....

Cheers