AMA MSI Alder Lake Z690 Motherboard AMA and Giveaway

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MKnott

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Thanks for joining us for the AMA with MSI!

To celebrate, we’ve also got a massive prize bundle, including a brand new MSI Z690 MPG CARBON MOTHERBOARD, to giveaway to one lucky participant! Check out the components below and if you’re itching to start a new build or beef up your rig, be sure to head HERE and follow the instructions for a chance to win. The contest is open to US residents only and you can find out more here.
  1. Intel Core i9 12900K processor
  2. MSI Z690 MPG CARBON WiFi motherboard
  3. MSI MAG CORELIQUID C280 cooler
  4. MSI MPG GUNGNIR 111M case
The giveaway will run until December 1st. Please see the contest entry page for a full list of rules and ways to enter.



With Z690 motherboards unveiled, MSI wanted to touch base with the Tom's Hardware community and answer any questions regarding new features and the platform’s overclocking performance.

From 10am PDT 17th November through until Friday morning David Yee, MSI’s Marketing Manager for Components will be on hand, so be sure to get your questions at the ready.

Check out the full list of features on the MSI Z690 landing page with a special rebate offer.


• No tech support questions, as these require in-depth personal follow-up and diagnostics.

• All Rules of Conduct apply.

• Keep questions direct and to the point.

• Avoid opinion bias, as in, "Why are all your products awesome/horrible?"

• Be respectful of our guests--no insults, no leading questions.

• Do not post duplicate questions or repost your question multiple times.

• Not all questions may be answered. Questions may not be answered in the order in which they are received or posted.

To reiterate: No opinion bias, insults, leading questions, or breaking the Rules of Conduct. Breaking these rules may result in a one-day ban.

Only registered users will be able to ask questions, so if you haven’t yet, be sure to register now for your chance to participate!

The official representative will reply periodically over the time the AMA is active, using a recognized and verified account.

Be sure to throw your questions into the mix and ask MSI what you've always wanted to ask!

What: Ask Me Anything with MSI

When: Wednesday, November 17th, 10am PDT

Where: The Tom’s Hardware Forums!

Who: David Yee, Marketing Manager for Components

MSI AMA Sweepstakes (“Sweepstakes”) begins at 10am Pacific Standard Time (“PST”) on 17th November 2021 and ends at 11:59pm PST on December 1st 2021 (“Sweepstakes Period”).

ELIGIBILITY: This Sweepstakes is only open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia, 18 or older. Employees, officers, directors and agents of Future PLC (“Sponsor”), and their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates and advertising and promotion agencies, including any vendors providing services in connection with this Sweepstakes, and members of their immediate family (spouse, parent, children, siblings and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside) and persons living in the same household, whether or not related, are not eligible. Void where prohibited. Subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws.


HOW TO ENTER: To enter, submit your entry during the Sweepstakes Period and follow the directions to enter the Sweepstakes. Entries generated by script, macro or other automated means or by any means which subvert the entry process are void. Entrants can only obtain one entry. Entries become the sole property of Sponsor. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any entry that it determines, in its sole discretion, is not in compliance with these Official Rules.

Entries generated by script, macro or other automated means or by any means which subvert the entry process are void. Entrants can only obtain an entry for any Entry Action one (1) time. No entrant can earn more than one (1) entries in this Sweepstakes. Entries become the sole property of Sponsor. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any entry and remove any post that it determines, in its sole discretion, is not in compliance with these Official Rules.

WINNER DETERMINATION: Potential winners will be selected by Sponsor in a random drawing on or about December 5th 2021 from among all eligible entries received. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. Sponsor’s decisions with respect to winner determination are final and binding.


WINNER NOTIFICATION: Potential winners will be contacted via direct forum message and may be required to execute and return an affidavit of eligibility, a publicity release (except where prohibited), and a liability release within five (5) days of date of issuance. Return of a prize or prize notification as undeliverable, failure to sign and return requested documentation within the specified time period, the inability of Sponsor to contact a potential winner within a reasonable time period or noncompliance with these Official Rules by a potential winner will result in disqualification and, at Sponsor’s sole discretion, the prize may be awarded to an alternate winner.


Prize.

  1. 1x Intel Core i9 12900K processor
  2. 1x MSI Z690 MPG CARBON WiFi motherboard
  3. 1x MSI MAG CORELIQUID C280 cooler
  4. 1x MSI MPG GUNGNIR 111M case
Prizes are non-assignable and non-transferable and cannot be redeemed for cash. Prizes are awarded “as is” with no warranty or guarantee, either express or implied. Winners are responsible for all federal, state and local taxes as well as any costs and expenses associated with prize acceptance and use not specified herein as being provided. Winners may not substitute a prize, but Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to substitute a prize with one of comparable or greater value. All prize details are at Sponsor’s sole discretion. Limit one (1) prize per person/email address/household.


PUBLICITY GRANT: Entry in the Sweepstakes constitutes permission from entrant for Sponsor and its designees to use entrant’s name, social media username, city and state of residence and likeness (including, without limitation, social media profile photo), for advertising and promotional purposes, in any manner, in any and all media now or hereafter devised, worldwide in perpetuity, without further compensation, notification or permission, except where prohibited by law and as otherwise provided herein.


GENERAL CONDITIONS: Each entrant agrees: (a) to abide by these Official Rules and decisions of Sponsor and judges, which shall be final and binding in all respects; (b) to assume all risk, responsibility and liability for any personal bodily injury, losses, harm, damage (including, without limitation, property damage,personal injury and death), claim (including, without limitation, claims based on copyright or trademark infringement, rights of publicity or privacy, defamation and portrayal in a false light), actions, costs and expenses directly or indirectly arising from participation in this Sweepstakes; and (c) to indemnify, release, discharge and hold harmless the Sponsor and the irrespective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates and advertising and promotion agencies and all of the foregoing entities’ respective officers, directors, shareholders, members, agents and employees and their successors and assigns(collectively, “Released Parties”) from any and all claims, injuries, liability, losses and damages of any kind to persons, including death, or property resulting, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from or relating to entrant’s participation in the Sweepstakes, the operation of this Sweepstakes and/or the acceptance or use of the prize. Released Parties are not responsible for (i) lost, late, incomplete, damaged, inaccurate ,stolen, delayed, misdirected, undelivered or garbled Entry Actions, entries, tweets or comments or messages; (ii) lost, interrupted or unavailable network, server, Internet Service Provider (ISP), website, or other connections, availability or accessibility or miscommunications; (iii) failed computer, satellite, telephone or cable transmissions, lines, or technical failure; (iv)jumbled, scrambled, delayed, or misdirected transmissions or computer hardware or software malfunctions, failures or difficulties; (v) other errors or difficulties of any kind, whether human, mechanical, electronic, computer, network, typographical, printing or otherwise, relating to or in connection with the Sweepstakes, including, without limitation, errors or difficulties which may occur in connection with the administration of the Sweepstakes, the processing of entries, the announcement of the prize or in any Entry Action or Sweepstakes-related materials; (vi) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by users, tampering, hacking, or by any equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Sweepstakes; or (vii) injury or damage to any person's computer related to or resulting from participating in this Sweepstakes. Persons who tamper with or abuse any aspect of the Sweepstakes or a Sponsor page or social media account, who act in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner or who are in violation of these Official Rules, as solely determined by Sponsor, will be disqualified and all associated entries will be void. Should any portion of the Sweepstakes be, in Sponsor’s sole opinion, compromised by virus, worms, bugs, non-authorized human intervention or other causes which, in the sole opinion of the Sponsor, corrupt or impair the administration, security, fairness or proper play, or submission of entries, Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to suspend, modify or terminate the Sweepstakes (or any portion thereof) and if terminated,at its discretion, select winner at random from all eligible, non-suspect entries received prior to action taken or as otherwise deemed fair and appropriate by Sponsor.

This Sweepstakes is only open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia, aged 18 or older.

DATA COLLECTION: Information submitted in connection with this Sweepstakes will be used in accordance with Sponsor’s Privacy Policy, available at https://www.futureplc.com/privacy-policy/

WINNERS LIST: The names of the winners will be posted on the Sweepstakes Entry Page following the end of the Sweepstakes.

Sponsor: Future PLC, 11 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036
 
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Nov 15, 2021
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Has MSI considered making a more workstation-oriented board with a PCIE 5.0 switch so that we can have something like four pcie 5.0 8x slots connected to the switch (which is connected to the 16x 5.0 lanes from the cpu)?

Microchip makes pcie 5.0 switches: https://www.servethehome.com/microchip-switchtec-pcie-5-0-switches-now-sampling/

This would be really useful for people building workstations for deep learning since we would like to stuff as many gpus as we can into the machine.
 
Nov 17, 2021
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What do you feel will be the next trend when it comes to building PCs? (e.g. Modding cases -> Liquid cooling -> RGB everywhere -> ???)
 
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MSIDavY

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Has MSI considered making a more workstation-oriented board with a PCIE 5.0 switch so that we can have something like four pcie 5.0 8x slots connected to the switch (which is connected to the 16x 5.0 lanes from the cpu)?

Microchip makes pcie 5.0 switches: https://www.servethehome.com/microchip-switchtec-pcie-5-0-switches-now-sampling/

This would be really useful for people building workstations for deep learning since we would like to stuff as many gpus as we can into the machine.

Hi SteelMesh,

The MSI motherboard division currently does not focus on the workstation market and thus PCI-E switching and bifurcation isn't a priority.


I'm interested in upgrading to the Z690, but DDR5 is impossible to find. Is there a big performance difference between the Z690 with DDR4 and the Z690 with DDR5?

Hi G4Captain,

Reviewers have looked at this more extensively than we have. However, there is agreement between our internal validation and review results - with Z690, DDR4 vs DDR5 is not important for most games, and DDR5 is better for some content creation workloads.

Despite this, the way how DDR5 transmit data is more efficient than DDR4 and I speculate we have not yet found an application that will appreciate DDR5. A past example though not applicable to the DDR5 scenario, was when Ryzen APUs were determined to benefit from overclocked RAM. At the time, overclocking RAM was largely dismissed as merely a record chasing hobby since there were no applications that would benefit from faster RAM frequencies and instead lowering CAS timings was preferred since that had (and still does) measurable improvements to performance.
 

MSIDavY

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What do you feel will be the next trend when it comes to building PCs? (e.g. Modding cases -> Liquid cooling -> RGB everywhere -> ???)

The answer to you question depends on which community you associate with. Your question lists trends that suggest you pay attention to modders and cases, of which I would include hard-line liquid cooling as a trend that started within the past 10 years.

If we look to mainstream case trends, we see glass windows, power supply shrouds, rows of fan mounts that double as radiator mounts, removal of 5.25/DVD bays, and reduction of HDD bays.

If we look to motherboards, which is what I focus on at MSI, the industry has shifted away from militaristic aethetics and is putting attention on improving VRM heatsinks and VRM efficiency - a trend I would largely ascribe to Buildzoid because when he gives criticism, he follows up with very reasonable suggestions that are supported by calculations. The most obvious result of this are large and edgy heatsinks that cover the VRM and M.2 parts.

Other motherboard trends unsurprisingly are driven by new technology - Wi-Fi 6E and USB Type-C are examples of this.

As for what I feel will be the next trend...given that I can see buying trends as sales numbers...the next trend will be an amplification of a trend that has always existed. Value-minded and budget builders are a huge force in the PC customer-base, but in the past few years, margins in the entry-level and low-end market were wiped out by the ongoing trade tariff. Increasing material costs and increasing shipping prices are what's currently driving up computer prices. Cheap overclocking builds continue to increase in popularity and the industry noticed this and reacted strongly. CPUs and GPUs have the best boosting behavior ever (automatic overclocking) and enthusiast PCBs are more robust.


I use my pc to both game and create and produce music, What makes the Audioboost 5 on your motherboards better than the competitors' Realtek ALC4080 audio such as supremefx, etc?

Audio Boost is MSI's name for the whole package. Audio Boost 5 also uses the Realtek ALC4080, but is optionally software enhanced with Nahimic.

I am hobbyist audiophile outside of work and I will admit I find Nahimic to be quite good for something that's essentially free. Good audio tuning software can mitigate deficiencies with compressed audio outputs which is common with games.

Though I have not listened with ASUS's ALC4080 implementation, I own a number of their dedicated Xonar sound cards and have found their in-house audio support software to be rather lacking despite the good hardware specs.

In any case, I'm of the opinion that onboard motherboard audio should not be used for professional sound mixing. Dedicated sound cards are better for that.
 

Lutfij

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Welcome to Tom'sHardware forums, @MSIDavY . It's a pleasure to have you here!

Personally I have a soft spot for watercooled builds. Have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Up until a few years ago we've seen your competitors take the dive into watercooled solutions bundled onto the motherboard. It was a refreshing sight to see you lovely folks move ahead with a partnership with EKWB. Could we expect to see something more from a collaboration with MSI and EKWB pertaining to the Z690 platform(outside of the MSI Z690 Carbon EK X) or perhaps other watercooling brands whereby you bundled gear for builders to get a system up and running but not go through the inner workings of choosing parts for a custom watecooling loop?

Along those lines, do you guys feel it necessary to cool the VRM's on the board courtesy of watercooling or do you guys think that they are better off being under air(cooling)?

Thank you for taking the time!
:)
 
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G4Captain

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Hi SteelMesh,

The MSI motherboard division currently does not focus on the workstation market and thus PCI-E switching and bifurcation isn't a priority.




Hi G4Captain,

Reviewers have looked at this more extensively than we have. However, there is agreement between our internal validation and review results - with Z690, DDR4 vs DDR5 is not important for most games, and DDR5 is better for some content creation workloads.

Despite this, the way how DDR5 transmit data is more efficient than DDR4 and I speculate we have not yet found an application that will appreciate DDR5. A past example though not applicable to the DDR5 scenario, was when Ryzen APUs were determined to benefit from overclocked RAM. At the time, overclocking RAM was largely dismissed as merely a record chasing hobby since there were no applications that would benefit from faster RAM frequencies and instead lowering CAS timings was preferred since that had (and still does) measurable improvements to performance.
Thank you for the reply. Do you think the stock level of the new Z690 motherboards will get any better before the end of the year? Some of them are rather hard to find at a reasonable price.
 
Nov 17, 2021
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Thanks for taking part in the AMA! What are some key features I should look for in a motherboard if I am primarily interested in content creation (photo and video editing) ?
 
Nov 17, 2021
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Will there be a motherboard with both DDr5 and DDr4 ram on one motherboard?

Also, another question will there be a trading program for laptops to trade in their old for a new one?
 
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Nov 17, 2021
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Appreciate your time doing an AMA. How long do you expect to see DDR5 RAM as the top of the line memory before the move to DDR6?
 

MSIDavY

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Welcome to Tom'sHardware, @MSIDavY . It's a pleasure to have you here!

Personally I have a soft spot for watercooled builds. Have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Up until a few years ago we've seen your competitors take the dive into watercooled solutions bundled onto the motherboard. It was a refreshing sight to see you lovely folks move ahead with a partnership with EKWB. Could we expect to see something more from a collaboration with MSI and EKWB pertaining to the Z690 platform(outside of the MSI Z690 Carbon EK X) or perhaps other watercooling brands whereby you bundled gear for builders to get a system up and running but not go through the inner workings of choosing parts for a custom watecooling loop?

Along those lines, do you guys feel it necessary to cool the VRM's on the board courtesy of watercooling or do you guys think that they are better off being under air(cooling)?

Thank you for taking the time!
:)

Hi Lutfij,

Thanks for having me here.
I can only confirm availability for USA and Canada. Indeed our Z690 CARBON EK X is coming. There will also a TORPEDO variant with EK cooling, but it will not come to North America.

When it comes to a watercooling kit with one of the MSIxEKWB motherboards, MSI is not in the position to make that arrangement and I do not know if EKWB has any intention to do so.


Thank you for the reply. Do you think the stock level of the new Z690 motherboards will get any better before the end of the year? Some of them are rather hard to find at a reasonable price.

Stock levels of Z690 motherboards will get better with time, but it may not happen by the end of 2021. Pretty much all the motherboards in the USA right now were manufactured less than 2 months ago and were transported by air freight. Since air cargo is more expensive than sea cargo, high-end models get priority. Sea cargo despite being less expensive, takes much longer to ship.
 
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MSIDavY

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Thanks for taking part in the AMA! What are some key features I should look for in a motherboard if I am primarily interested in content creation (photo and video editing) ?

Hi Mtn_Doc,

Every content creator has different needs, however every build will revolve around CPU performance, memory capacity, and storage (HDD/SSD) capacity.

A motherboard should be chosen that scales to his or her specifications, but just about every high-performance motherboard is suitable and MSI specializes in high-performance motherboards. The entire MSI Z690 lineup is more than capable, even our most affordable class the PRO Series. Our Z690 motherboards are heavy on M.2 SSD connectivity and support the latest PC device standards including PCI-E 4.0, PCI-E 5.0, and DDR5.

Photo and video content will also tremendously benefit from color accurate monitors, however the only bearing this has on a motherboard is if the monitor is plugging into the motherboard. For that, make sure the motherboard supports the monitor input whether it is DisplayPort, Thunderbolt, HDMI, etc.


Will there be a motherboard with both DDr5 and DDr4 ram on one motherboard?

Also, another question will there be a trading program for laptops to trade in their old for a new one?

Hi Gabrivill,

There will not be a motherboard that support both DDR5 and DDR4 simultaneously. The two standards handle data transmission differently and they handle electrical power regulation differently.

MSI does not have a laptop trade-in program. We briefly trialed a laptop trade-in program years ago, but the cost of shipping was not attractive to our customers.

When you buy a new laptop, the cost of shipping is partially or fully covered by the purchase.
 

MSIDavY

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Other than aesthetics, what are the main differences between an entry level board and a premium board?

There are a surprising number of differences, but some are not obvious.

The differences that can be figured out by comparing motherboard models or their spec sheets side-by-side include:
Price - Premium boards cost more
Rear IO connectivity - number of USB ports, selection of 10G/5G/2.5G Ethernet LAN, Wi-Fi, selection of display outputs

The not so obvious differences include:
PCI-E slot and M.2 connector arrangements - premium boards will have more PCI-E 5.0 / PCI-E 4.0 which require hardened traces/wiring
Accessory bundle - entry level boards will just have SATA cables, the rear IO shield, and a driver disc while premium boards can have tool-less M.2 screws, RGB extensions and splitters, and case front panel extensions
VRM - very few people care about VRM specs and of the people who do care, most don't understand what makes a VRM good or bad. Even though entry-level boards don't have as many phases as enthusiast-grade boards, the VRM meets the spec from Intel or AMD and the VRM is still appropriate for the userbase that buys those motherboards. The importance of a VRM is only important for overclockers and even then, we have found the i9-12900K under air or water cooling will thermal throttle before the VRM overheats.


Appreciate your time doing an AMA. How long do you expect to see DDR5 RAM as the top of the line memory before the move to DDR6?

We don't have deep insight into the PC memory ecosystem and thus cannot give any good answer to this particular question.
 

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
Hi Lutfij,

Thanks for having me here.
I can only confirm availability for USA and Canada. Indeed our Z690 CARBON EK X is coming. There will also a TORPEDO variant with EK cooling, but it will not come to North America.

When it comes to a watercooling kit with one of the MSIxEKWB motherboards, MSI is not in the position to make that arrangement and I do not know if EKWB has any intention to do so.
You're welcome, kind sir!

Oh boy, now you've got my socks rolling up and down. I'm actually located in Bangladesh so that news has triggered me to be on the look out considering how that blue tinge to the heatsinks reminded me of the time MSI's boards were all black and blue.

I hope you guys do more along the lines of waterblocks on motherboards.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my query! Much appreciated!
:)
 

Arabinda0007

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Can we expect improved Software support (MSI Center) for Z690 series Mother Board & all other motherboard like the MSI Afterburner which is top notch all round utility in deed.

Absolutely love MSI Tomahawk series motherboard & Gaming X series card. Price & Availability is great in India.
But Monitor availability is really poor here, looking forward to buy MSI MPG321UR-QD but still no confirmation of availability from MSI-India.
 

MSIDavY

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Can we expect improved Software support (MSI Center) for Z690 series Mother Board & all other motherboard like the MSI Afterburner which is top notch all round utility in deed.

Absolutely love MSI Tomahawk series motherboard & Gaming X series card. Price & Availability is great in India.
But Monitor availability is really poor here, looking forward to buy MSI MPG321UR-QD but still no confirmation of availability from MSI-India.

MSI is always looking for ways to improve our in-house developed software. The most recent major update was the addition of Frozr AI, which brings custom fan speed curves to case fans attached to the motherboard. Instead of case fans only spinning at one speed, they can now react to changes in CPU temperature.


What's it like working for the amazing MSI?

What I appreciate the most is that I have bosses that I enjoy working with. People will listen to my ideas and I'm often allowed to pursue the tasks and goals I want. Working in the marketing department, every day is different and there's never a boring moment.
 
Nov 18, 2021
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Will MSI be working to adapt Alder Lake CPUs into Micro-ATX and ITX boards or will the current standard be held consistent?
 

MSIDavY

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Any idea when the MEG Z690I Unify will be released?

Despite being announced, our ITX Z690 motherboard may not be ready to hit shelves until December or January.

Will MSI be working to adapt Alder Lake CPUs into Micro-ATX and ITX boards or will the current standard be held consistent?

Intel 12 gen compatible ITX and micro-ATX motherboards are coming, but it will take a few months. I will note that not all of the announced ATX models have arrived yet.
 
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