Board Layout

The MSI MPG Z490 Carbon EK X features a black and silver PCB with gray heatsinks.


The CPU socket is open enough for most air coolers, but that is obviously not relevant here.


The block itself is a chunk of nickel-plated copper with an acrylic top and carbon fiber accenting.


There are two M.2 slots on the MSI MPG Z490 Carbon EK X; one above the first PCIe x16 slot and another between the second and third PCIe x16 slot.


The MSI MPG Z490 Carbon EK X offers three PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots, the top two of which are encased in Steel Armor, as well as two PCI Express 3.0 x1 slots. The board has a total of six SATA 6 Gb/s ports on the side, angled 90 degrees from the board.


The MSI MPG Z490 Carbon EK X has a good I/O offering that includes an optical S/PDIF out port and a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C port.

• 2x Antenna ports
• 2x USB 2.0 ports
• PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port
• 4x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A port
• USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C port
• RJ-45 LAN port
• Optical SPDIF out port
• 5x 3.5 mm audio jacks
• DisplayPort
• HDMI port

Networking on the MSI MPG Z490 Carbon EK X is handled by a Realtek RTL8125 for 2.5 Gb/s LAN and an Intel 802.11ax for WiFi support.