MSIMAG Z690 TOMAHAWK WIFI DDR4 Motherboard ATX - Supports Intel 12th Gen Core Processors, LGA 1700 -70A VRM, Memory Boost (DDR4-5200MHz/OC), 1 x PCIe 5.0 x16, 3 x M.2 Gen4/ x4, Wi-Fi 6

A very good motherboard compared to others in it's price bracket at the time of buying.Firstly I was actually impressed with how much easier it was to build with compared to my last build (was an mATX build.)In terms of the build:Everything about the board feels quality and actually surprised me when building how smoothly everything went. Lots of fan headers and they are really well placed for my build. I was happy with basically all the headers placements and found this far easier to build with than my previous builds.I would've preferred to see more SATA ports horizontal (only 2 out of the 6) as I have multiple drives, and same for the USB 3.0, USB 3.2 Gen 2 port and 24pin cable. But they work completely fine and don't make the system look too cluttered so I can't complain too much.Using the motherboard, pretty happy with the amount of USBs on the back, would've been nice to have thunderbolt, but settling for a 20Gbps is fine.WiFi and LAN work well, but I'd highly recommend downloading the drivers before as these didn't work for me when first booting the system. I had to plug in my phone to tether my WiFi from there to get myself setup. But once the drivers were installed, I haven't had any issues.BIOS is like every other MSI BIOS I've used in the last 5/6 years, very simple once you know your way around, XMP worked flawlessly first time and doing a bit of overclocking my 12900k has worked, but I haven't pushed too much.Aesthetically, very happy to see a blacked out board, as I'm not really one for RGB madness. One thing to note is that the edges of the motherboard have a yellow trim, same as the line separating the audio capacitors and header. I'm not massive on this, as I would've preferred it to be black/grey, but it's subtle enough to not be a major issue. Something that isn't included in the photos that might be of interest for some is stickers for the VRM and heatsinks.Cooling I haven't had any issue with, VRMs stay cool but that's probably helped by my Noctua NH-D15, which was simple to install. (Although if build with a giant air cooler and you have a modular power supply, I'd recommend installing the CPU power 2x8pins cables first before putting into the case as this was a real pain.)Overall TL;DRExactly what you expect from a Z690 motherboard. Good placement of ports. Good amount of USBs, great amount of fan headers. Download network & WiFi drivers before.

I was looking for something to pair with my 12600k and after searching every board I kept coming back to this one. For the price you get so many of the features z690 has to offer.I love the aesthetic, I am not a fan of rgb on my mobo's and this just looks so clean in my build. The board feels solid and "premium" to hold.Installation was simple and all headers are in easy to reach, convenient spots. My only wish would be for a right angled 24 pin connector but i get that might clash with some cases.What really drew me to this was the power phase design of the board. Very solid compared to others in the same price category, only MSI's own edge board really competting here (it also has rgb if thats your thing). This board doesnt sweat putting 1.4v into my 12600k.BIOS is a familar msi layout, which is a good thing! Everything is easy to find, xmp profile works perfectly and I have had no stability issues at all.I spent the last few years using other manufactures boards and I'm glad to be back on a MSI, they just work, zero BS!

Bought this for a new build an paired it with a 12600K and 32GB of 3600mhz DDR4.Comes with the basic, SATA cables, WiFi antenna, manual, plus stickers. The drivers though come on a USB stick so no need to dig out an external DVD drive if needed.Everything is well laid out and labelled on the board and in the manual, making installation and setup easy.The VRM and M.2 heatsinks are of good quality and not overly large while providing good cooling.M.2 drives are easy to install, just remember the heatsink screws are not captive.I would advise if you are using an older Graphics Card, like my GTX 1070,you may need to update the cards firmware for support for the new HDMI or Display Port versions.If you do not then you will need to use the integrated GPU, on the CPU, to get to the BIOS and install the OS. Once the OS is installed your card will work but no video during POST.Overall an excellent motherboard that gives you all the features you need at a reasonable price while looking good.

Recently completed a full new build using the the Z690 MAG Tomahawk motherboard (DDR5). At the time of purchase, it was one of the best priced DDR5 motherboards that had also performed well in thermal testing.All positive impressions so far. Motherboard was sturdy and I didn't have any issues with damaging MB pins. The reference manual provided all the information I needed and I found it pretty easy to navigate, easy to find the MB connection locations (and then the pins themselves had good reference labelling). BIOS was also clean and easy to navigate. All in all so far so good, no issues :)The only note I would make is that the size of the heatsinks at the top, which are a reason for that good thermal performance, did mean I had trouble fitting 2x140mm fans in the top of my case. I did get both 140 fans in, however it was tight.But that isn't a major issues and for the rest of the positives, I am still happy with the product.