Overall and Final Verdict

While Intel does have more than one 700 Series chipset, the flagship Z790 chipset has a surprisingly wide range of motherboard options. They range from $190 to $1399 and adding DDR4 and DDR5 into the mix each company has a LOT of options and MSI is no different. In fact, they have 14 different Z790 options which is down from the 18 that they did for Z690. In Z790 they have three different models in the Edge lineup alone, one ITX board and then the DDR4 and DDR5 options in the Edge WiFi. These are also the only boards that have a white or light grey focus with the other options all being mainly black. Given the popularity of white builds, having boards that match is a given and the MPG Z790 Edge WiFi DDR4 fills that for MSI with its silver heatsinks and white accents on the heatsinks. The black, silver, and white combo is unique in that it isn’t completely white so it will fit in a black case just as well as it would an all-white build but I do wish that the PCB and plastic on this were silver or white like MSI has done in the past with their Arctic lineup.

As far as features go, the Z790 Edge WiFi DDR4 isn’t an ultra-expensive overclocking board but MSI did still load it up with features. Especially when it comes to USB connections with 10 in total on the rear I/O and four different USB header variations on the board as well. The same can be said when it comes to M.2 connections or storage in general with it having 7 SATA connections which these days we see some boards going with less and then an impressive 5 M.2 slots with each having a heatsink over top. The M.2 slots are all PCIe 4.0 but the PCIe x16 slot is PCIe 5.0 for future compatibility. Beyond that, all of the M.2 slots have easy toolless clips and the main top M.2 is even easier with a toolless heatsink that pops off with a button push. The only thing missing as far as convenience goes is an easy push button release for the PCIe slot which the competition has on the Strix Z790-A Gaming Wifi D4. MSI put the RGB connections up top and on the bottom row for easy access and easy wiring as well.

With this model specifically, MSI went with DDR4 which even still will help keep costs down for a build, especially if you already have ram from your previous system. But even buying a 32GB 2X16GB kit right now is going for almost half the price for DDR4 vs DDR5 but that is shrinking all of the time. Speaking of pricing, the Z790 Edge WiFi DDR4 has an MSRP of $369 and can be found right now for $364 which is still far from the bottom end of Z790 pricing but also not at the top end as well. For comparison, the Strix Z790-A Gaming Wifi D4 has a higher MSRP at $379.99 but can be found for less right now at $349.99. So MSI is in the right range with their competition but is a little higher at least right now. This is also the sweet spot for a high-end build before you step up into crazy with the $1000+ motherboards while still getting lots of flexibility with USB and M.2 and the silver/white look to go with the all-white builds that everyone has been doing.

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Author Bio
garfi3ld
Author: garfi3ldWebsite: http://lanoc.org
Editor-in-chief
You might call him obsessed or just a hardcore geek. Wes's obsession with gaming hardware and gadgets isn't anything new, he could be found taking things apart even as a child. When not poking around in PC's he can be found playing League of Legends, Awesomenauts, or Civilization 5 or watching a wide variety of TV shows and Movies. A car guy at heart, the same things that draw him into tweaking cars apply when building good looking fast computers. If you are interested in writing for Wes here at LanOC you can reach out to him directly using our contact form.

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