ANY COLOR so long as it’s black. So it goes for MSI’s mid-range MEG boards and the new MSI MEG Z690 Unify is no exception. While the look is familiar, the specifications have had a major overhaul to support Intel’s new Alder Lake CPUs, not to mention no fewer than five M.2 sockets, dual 2.5 GbE LAN, Wi-Fi 6E, plus DDR5 and PCIe 5.0. It’s quite a package.
If that’s true of the feature set, it also applies to the board’s physical bearing. The heatsinks have a lot of mass, as the structure reaches out over the IO area. The sheer scale of the cooling and the surface area connected via a heatpipe bode well for keeping the highend MOSFETs running well within their specified range.
Speaking of cooling, for the CPU there are only mounting holes for the new LGA1700 socket, not the legacy LGA1200 item. The holes are similar, but the overall ‘Z’ height is slightly lower on the newer platform. In other words, make sure to check on mounting pressure, even if you have an LGA1700 mounting kit for your cooler.
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Denne historien er fra January 2022-utgaven av Maximum PC.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Google Gemini vs. ChatGPT
Which LLM currently holds the crown?
Frostpunk 2
Endure a blizzard of tough choices and lasting consequences in the survival city builder sequel
Elgato Facecam Neo
Always sees us in the best light but lacks focus: 8/10 boyfriend, er, camera
Elgato Wave Neo
The Kanye West of mics: Easy to get into, but a little weird
Razer BlackWidow V4 75%
Solid and compact, with hot-swappable switches
Razer Wolverine V3 Pro
Razer's pro controller is even better than Microsoft's
Acer Predator GM712
2008 called, it wants its projector back
AndaSeat Kaiser 4 XL
A chair as big and as comfortable as they come
Gigabyte F027Q2
Speed is of the essence with this OLED screen
Acer Nitro 14
AMD puts on a good show, but it still lacks punch