MSI MEG Z590 ACE (11th Gen) Review

Nate

on Mar 30th, 2021,

in Motherboards.

Manufacturer: MSI

Audio Quality »

Finished Looks

The dark theme of the MSI MEG Z590 ACE makes it very easy to match with a wide variety of components, while the yellow accents and varied surface finish accent the build as a whole.

The RGB on the MSI MEG Z590 ACE has top-tier diffusion and good brightness.

Test System

Test System
Processor:	Intel Core i9-10900K 5.3 GHz (maximum Boost clock), 20 MB Cache Intel Core i9-11900K 5.3 GHz (maximum Boost clock), 16 MB Cache
Memory:	2x 8 GB DDR4 3600 MHz G.SKILL Trident Z Neo F4-3600C16Q-32GTZN
Cooling:	Custom loop: Swiftech Apogee SKF LT block, Bitspower SC6 pump, and 360 mm radiator
BIOS Version:	1.0H (10th Gen) 1.12 (11th Gen)
Graphics Card:	EVGA RTX 2080 FTW3 Ultra
Harddisk:	1x Crucial MX500 500 GB SATA 6 Gb/s SSD (OS) 1x Crucial P1 1000 GB NVMe SSD (data) 1x Crucial P1 1000 GB NVMe SSD (external I/O testing)
Power Supply:	Seasonic Titanium 1000 W
Case:	Primochill Praxis Wetbench
Software:	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, NVIDIA GeForce 452.06 WHQL

For 11th Gen testing, I have left the board at its default settings except to enable XMP. Notably, I have left the "Gear" setting on auto. Most boards ran my 3600 MHz kit in Gear 1 (synchronous) mode, but a few ran in Gear 2 (1:2) mode.