Today we are going to look at one of MSI’s top of the line Z390 motherboard designed to support the latest 9th gen Intel Core processors – the MSI MEG Z390 ACE Motherboard. The MEG Z390 ACE is not the company’s flagship motherboard; that would be the MEG Z390 GODLIKE motherboard. But the MEG series, short for MSI Enthusiasts Gaming, is their top of the line motherboards featuring “the most advanced technology and features”. The MEG Z390 ACE may not be as feature rich compared to the GODLIKE, but it still comes with a plethora of features and it’s more affordable compared to the GODLIKE. Are you looking a Z390 motherboard to pair with the latest 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K or any of the 9th Gen CPUs? Or you’re simply looking for an upgrade motherboard for your 8th gen Intel CPU? Stick around and check out our MSI MEG Z390 ACE motherboard review below.
MSI MEG Z390 ACE Motherboard Review
The MSI MEG Z390 ACE offers ton of features and connectivity options, in case the GODLIKE is pretty much out of your budget. It has a 13 phase VRM that is optimized for the latest Intel Core i9 processors. I’m pretty sure it can handle a good amount of overclocking as well. It also features Mystic Light Infinity, the small windows on the rear IO cover with RGB lighting; three M.2 slots for NVMe SSDs, an Audio Boost HD with ESS DAC chip; a number of USB 3.1 ports including a USB Type-C port and many more.
It supports both 9th Gen and 8th Intel Core processors, Pentium Gold and Celeron for LGA 1151. Despite having a similar LGA 1151 socket, this motherboard does not support the previous 7th and 6th gen Intel CPUs. It has 4 DIMM slots and supports up to 4500 MHz (OC) of DDR4 memory. Like I mentioned recently, the MEG Z390 ACE has a number of USB 3.1 ports; two front USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C headers, 6 USB 3.1 Gen2 ports at the rear I/O (one being a Type-C port); there’s also an additional 6x USB 3.1 via the ASMedia ASM1042 chipset, plus 8x USB 2.0 via the Z390 Chipset. I guess, if you need a lot of USB connections, this motherboard is the answer to your USB needs.
As for network connectivity options, the MEG Z390 ACE has one Killer E2500 Gigabit LAN connection, and an 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac WiFi connection with MU-MIMO Rx, supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz (160MHz) up to 1.73 Gbps. Of course it supports Bluetooth connection as well (Bluetooth 2.1, 2.1+EDR, 3.0, 4.0, 5). As for multi GPU options, this motherboard can handle 2-way NVIDIA SLI or 3-way AMD CrossFire.
You can check out more details from the specifications table below. After that, let’s proceed to the next page and get a closer look at the MEG Z390 ACE itself.
MSI MEG Z390 ACE Specifications
| Processor | Supports 9th / 8th Gen Intel® Core / Pentium® Gold / Celeron® processors for LGA 1151 socket |
| Chipset | Intel Z390 Chipset |
| Memory | 4 x DDR4 memory slots, support up to 64GB Supports DDR4 4500(OC)/ 4400(OC)/ 4300(OC)/ 4266(OC)/ 4200(OC)/ 4133(OC)/ 4000(OC)/ 3866(OC)/ 3733(OC)/ 3600(OC)/ 3466(OC)/ 3400(OC)/ 3333(OC)/ 3300(OC)/ 3200(OC)/ 3000(OC) /2800(OC)/ 2666/ 2400/ 2133 MHz Supports Dual-Channel mode Supports non-ECC, un-buffered memory Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) |
| Slots | 3 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots Support x16/ x0/ x0, x8/ x8/ x0, x8/ x4/ x4 modes 3 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots |
| Multi-GPU | Supports 2-Way NVIDIA® SLI™ Technology Supports 3-Way AMD® CrossFire™ Technology |
| Wireless LAN and Bluetooth | Supports 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, MU-MIMO Rx, 2.4GHz/ 5GHz (160MHz) up to 1.73Gbps Supports Bluetooth® 2.1, 2.1+EDR, 3.0, 4.0, 5 |
| Storage | Intel® Z390 Chipset 6 x SATA 6Gb/s ports1 3 x M.2 slot (Key M)1 M2_1 supports up to PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA 6Gb/s, 2242/ 2260/ 2280/ 22110 storage devices M2_2 supports up to PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA 6Gb/s, 2242/ 2260/ 2280 storage devices M2_3 supports up to PCIe 3.0 x4, 2242/ 2260/ 2280 storage devices Intel® Optane™ Memory Ready2 M.2 slots and SATA ports share the bandwidth.Before using Intel® Optane™ memory modules, please ensure that you have updated the drivers and BIOS to the latest version from MSI website. |
| RAID | Intel® Z390 Chipset Supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10 for SATA storage devices Supports RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID5 for M.2 PCIe storage devices |
| USB | Intel® Z390 Chipset 6 x USB 3.1 Gen2 (SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps) ports (4 Type-A ports on the back panel, 2 Type-C internal connectors) 8 x USB 2.0 (High-speed USB) ports (4 Type-A ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB 2.0 connectors) ASMedia® ASM1042 Chipset 4 x USB 3.1 Gen1 (SuperSpeed USB) ports available through the internal USB connectors ASMedia® ASM3142 Chipset 2 x USB 3.1 Gen2 (SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps) ports (1x Type-A, 1x Type-C) on the back panel |
| Audio | Realtek® ALC1220 Codec 7.1-Channel High Definition Audio Supports S/PDIF output |
| LAN | 1 x KillerTM E2500 Gigabit LAN controller |
| Internal Connectors | 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector 2 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connectors 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors 3 x M.2 slots 2 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C ports 2 x USB 3.1 Gen1 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 3.1 Gen1 ports) 2 x USB 2.0 connectors (supports additional 4 USB 2.0 ports) 1 x 4-pin CPU fan connector 1 x 4-pin Water Pump connector 5 x 4-pin system fan connectors 1 x Front panel audio connector 2 x System panel connectors 1 x Chassis Intrusion connector 2 x 4-pin RGB LED connectors 1 x 3-pin RAINBOW LED connector 1 x 3-pin CORSAIR LED connector |
| Back Panel Ports | Clear CMOS Button USB 2.0 Ports Killer™ E2500 Gigabit LAN Wi-Fi /Bluetooth Antenna Connectors HD Audio Connectors BIOS FLASHBACK+ Button USB 3.1 Gen2 Ports Type A+C USB 3.1 Gen2 Ports USB 3.1 Gen2 Ports Optical S/PDIF-Out |
| Dimensions | 12 in. x 9.6 in. (30.5 cm x 24.4 cm) ATX Form Factor |
| Mounting | 9 mounting holes |
| Operating System | Support for Windows® 10 64-bit |
