I'll be using the new Z690 chipset and going Intel for my next build and today we start with unboxing the motherboard, the MSI MPG Z690 Carbon EK X. This board is the board that I'll be using in my next build with either a 12900k (the exciting choice) or 12700k (the smarter choice). I was really looking forward to building in a smaller case but then the new Dynamic EVO cases came out so I'm not quite sure which to choose.
As for this motherboard, - it looks really nice. Love how the carbon accents flows and the detail on the waterblock is a great touch. The block looks really clean and flows well, which you'll see in the video. The early adopter premium seems to be pretty high these days, but I'm sure that won't deter a lot of the bleeding edge folks who have fun growing up with new new tech and getting in early. Experienced builders might need more features or may prefer a larger block solution for something like this but this one really works for me.
By the way, I didn't have to wait over half a decade this time around :) I'll be sourcing most of the parts on my own again for this build. But I'm happy to say that @EKWBofficial offered to help with some of the water-cooling parts. So a quick shout out and thanks to Jake and the team.
Here are a couple of specs that I meant to cover but weren't specifically mentioned in the video:
There are 6 SATA 6 Gb/s ports
The 12900k is really power hungry! The VRM situation on this board has an 18+1+1 design. So it should be able to handle it's own.
There are 7 fan headers and 1 water pump header.
I really like the 5 (yes FIVE) m.2 slots which is the most that I've seen so far for boards in the same price range.
