Board Layout

The MSI MPG Z590 Carbon EK X features a black PCB with black and gray heatsinks.


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


The monoblock is a chunk of nickel-plated copper with an acrylic top and carbon-fiber accenting. EK has added a flow indicator, which is a nice improvement over last year's Z490 version.


There are three M.2 slots on the MSI MPG Z590 Carbon EK X; all feature full coverage heatsinks.

Note that the top M.2 slot is only functional when an 11th Gen CPU is installed.


The MSI MPG Z590 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 Z590 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.

• 4x USB 2.0 ports
• DisplayPort
• 2x USB 3.2 Gen1 5 Gbps Type-A
• 2.5G LAN
• 5x Audio connectors
• Flash BIOS button
• HDMI port
• 3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 10 Gbps Type-A
• USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 20 Gbps Type-C
• 2x SMA WiFi connectors
• Optical S/PDIF Out

Networking on the MSI MPG Z590 Carbon EK X is handled by an Intel 2.5 Gb/s controller and an Intel WiFi 6E AX210 for wireless LAN.