MSI MEG Z690I UNIFY DDR5 LGA 1700 Intel Z690 SATA 6Gb/s Mini ITX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Lots of Fan connections. This is the first motherboard I've had that had enough connections for every fan so I didn't have to split a connection between multiple fans. There are 6 system fans, plus the two CPU fans, allowing for 8 PWM fan connections - be advised, all of the system fans default to 3 pin DC speed control mode. You have to change the setting in the bios to PWM for each fan for it to operate that way.

4 M.2 SSD slots. 2 PCIe only, 2 PCIe or SATA onboard. I am upgrading a computer which had a SATA III 6gbps M.2 drive and wanted to install a larger, and faster, PCIe M.2 Put them both in and cloned the old one to the new drive with no issues. Lots of room for expansion. And the M.2 slots come with a very simple retainer clip which allows you to add or remove M.2 drives without a screw driver. Neat little function for install. Since I'm not in the habit of removing drives it's not something I plan to make a lot of use out of, but it's a neat little feature.

CPU Cooler clearance. I was a little concerned at first that the I/O shield and RAM would get in the way of my CPU Cooler. I have a Noctua NH-D15s chromax.black It's a large cooler and I was a bit concerned it may not fit. I was wrong. There was plenty of space for the CPU cooler. Getting the fan mounted between the two towers was a serious pain, but that's a knock on the cooler, not the motherboard. You shouldn't have any issues getting pretty much any cooler mounted to the board. Make sure you're cooler has the right mounting hardware for a LGA1700 slot though. I had to order the upgrade kit from Noctua.

The 2.5 Gbps LAN port is...nice...I guess. My entire home network is 1Gbps so I won't be putting that to the test. This will also come up in the Cons section below though.

Plenty of USB 3.x ports. The only USB I'm using at this time is the receiver for my Mouse and Keyboard, but if you need them, they're there.

The BIOS was easy to operate once I figured it out. I've used other manufacturers in the past so I wasn't used to the MSI bios layout, but once I poked around a bit, I had things up and running like I wanted.

No RGB LEDs. This board has no built in RGB on the board. It has plenty of headers for RGB strips, but there is no actual RGB built into the board itself. For ME, that's a PRO. I don't want my PC all glowy. Using the software that came with the board, i was even able to turn the RGB off on my MSI GTX1080!

Cons: packaging; or more specifically, what's not in the package. The board does not come with a manual. There is nothing in the packaging that shows you what connections are located where on the board, or what the orientation of the connecters are (things like front panel + and -). The manual IS available on their website; but I was rebuilding this system because it was down. You will have to have another device of some sort to download the pdf of the manual to scroll through. Plan accordingly.

this one is VERY important if you plan to register the board with MSI for warranty purposes. There is a small sticker on the SIDE of the 24 pin power connector. If you're like me, it's underneath where the power cord will be coming in. that sticker has the serial number, and VERY IMPORTANT CHK number. You cannot register your board with MSI without the CHK number. It is not located ANYWHERE else, except for on the side of that connector. Don't be like me and have everything assembled and running, and then have to take part of it apart to get a picture of a tiny little barcode sticker. TAKE A PICTURE before you assemble this board. You will want that picture of that serial number/CHK number. TRUST ME.

No RGB LEDs. I place this here under Cons because....well...a lot of people want RGB on everything. This board does not have any built in RGB. It does have plenty of headers to connect whatever RGB you want on it though.

Now about that 2.5gbps LAN connection. Again, I don't have a network that can utilize it, but here's the part that's an issue. Windows 11, and presumably Windows 10, does not have default drivers for that LAN card. What this means is, you cannot get onto the network with that card, until you install the drivers for it. You can't install the drivers for it, unless you can get into Windows. If you are planning to use your current windows 11 install; make sure you install the network drivers for the card, BEFORE you take down your old system. If you use Windows Hello with a pin, you will have to sign into your account to reset your pin before it will let you log in. You can't install the drivers until you log in. You can't reset your pin...unless you can get on the network to sign into your account. Luckily I had a USB 2.4ghz wireless card laying around I could use temporarily. I assume at some point Windows will incorporate default drivers, but until they do, just be aware you'll have to install drivers before you can use the network card.

The on board sound has standard 5.1 connections. I wish it had an optical connection for my soundbar I use. I'm running it on a 3.5 connection now, but that's shared with the front panel so I have to continuously unplug my headset when i want to use the speakers. It's a nuisance, but not a deal breaker.

Overall Review: I upgraded from an 8th gen i7, on an Asrock z370 motherboard to a 12 gen i7 and this z690 card. Between the processor jump and the motherboard jump it was a significant upgrade. My system is both running faster, and cooler actually. All of the connections on the board are very easy to get to. Installing it was simple, and after the drivers were all installed, everything so far has been running smooth for the past week.

Right now (12/26/2021) there's not a lot of support for CPU coolers for the LGA 1700 slot. Most of the big name brand cooler companies have mounting kits available for their existing lineup. If you are planning to water cool, this probably won't be as much of a concern. Keep that in mind when you look for your cooling system. That's not a fault of the board, it's just that the chipset and slot are new enough right now that companies haven't made "accessories" available yet.

The bios is a bit clunky. I've used ASUS, AsRock, Gigabyte boards in the past. The bios on those are a bit easier to use; but how many people spend much time in the bios right? You set it and forget it.

I wish the onboard sound had an optical out connection. It's not a deal breaker for sure, and I'll probably add an actual distinct sound card at some point.

Would I buy it again, oh yeah, of course. for the price point, with this chipset, it looked to be the best offer out there. Other boards may have the few features I missed, but the cost for them wasn't worth it to me. I'm currently running a mild overclock, on an almost silent fan speed, and this board stays plenty cool and does everything I've asked of it so far. MSI has been a good supplier of quality hardware and I don't anticipate any issues. I'll certainly update the review if anything changes.

Disclaimer: this review is for the MSI Review Rebate Program.

Pros: Manuals, and support information for this motherboard is all on the MSI website: https://us.msi.com/

The package containing the motherboard was delivered by UPS two days after I placed the order, within the date-period specified on the order confirmation.

The primary reasons for choosing this particular motherboard were:
⦁ It supports the processor I had chosen - an Intel i7-12700K
⦁ The support for PCIE 5.0, DDR5 & M.2 Gen4 & USB Gen 3.2 should, hopefully, give this motherboard a reasonably long lifespan, based on past experience and my personal computer usage habits.
⦁ It has integrated graphics, which meant that I did not have to buy a separate graphics card right away.
⦁ It is Wi-Fi-enabled.
⦁ You can view details, specifications and download manuals etc. for this motherboard from the MSI website. This allowed me to check that all the components of the PC build-out would be compatible with the motherboard prior to purchase. Having full, complete information about a product prior to purchase is a big deciding factor for me.

Compatibility.
The support section of MSI's website makes it easy to see if the main components chosen for the motherboard - CPU, Memory, GPU and Storage - are compatible. In addition, it is easy to download manuals & drivers. I downloaded the latest BIOS & drivers prior to building ot the PC, so that all would be available when I first booted up the computer. For example, you'll find compatibility information for CPUs & memory for this motherboard at:
CPU: https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/PRO-Z690-A-WIFI/support#cpu
Memory: https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/PRO-Z690-A-WIFI/support#mem
and you'll see links to GPU & storage compatibility, drivers & downloads and documentation on these pages too.
I only chose components that were on the various compatibility lists. Unlike some other PC component retailers, NewEgg had supported components in stock for every category (CPU, Memory, GPU and Storage).

Installation.
Before installing the motherboard into the computer case, I installed the CPU (Intel i7-12700K), memory (Kingston Fury Beast 32GB DDR5-5200 C40) and SSD storage (WD BLACK 1TB SN770), as well as the backplate for the CPU cooler block (be quiet! Pure Loop 240mm All-In-One Water Cooling System). I encountered no issues - everything installed as described in the various manufacturers manuals or datasheets.

Installing the motherboard into the case (a bequiet! Pure Base 500DX) was a bit trickier. The MSI Pro comes with a small vanity plate to cover the various connectors (DP, HDMI, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, USB, etc) on the rear I/O panel. The vanity plate is held in place by compression and has four spring-tabs to help do this. The plate is compressed between the inside rear wall of the case and the I/O panel. The problem is that the location of eight screw-holes on the motherboard and their corresponding receptacle-pins on the case (into which the eight motherboard screws screw into) are machined to very fine tolerances. Without the vanity plate, the motherboard sits right over the receptacle-pins , making it easy to attach the motherboard to the case with the eight screws provided. Adding the vanity plate pushes the motherboard out from the rear of the case by less than a millimeter, but that is enough to mis-align the motherboard screw-holes with their corresponding receptacle-pins. You need to push VERY HARD to get the motherboard to align with the pins, risking damaging the motherboard. IMO this is a problem that MSI needs to fix, not bquiet. Motherboards from other manufacturers may not have this problem. A long-length Phillips screwdriver with a magnetic tip comes in handy here, as it is easy for the motherboard mounting screws to "escape" from where you want them to go and wander all over the motherboard!

Connections.
Connecting the various cables and wires was a simple task. If your system includes a top-mounted radiator & fans, you will need to connect the cables & wires to the two CPU power sockets, CPU fan (and/or pump fan, depending on your choice of CPU cooling system), case (system) fans and Rainbow2 connector before installing the radiator & fans in the case. All the connections at the top of the motherboard will be behind the radiator/fans & inaccessible once these two components are installed.

Pay attention to where the JFP1 & JFP2 front panel connectors go (page 16 in the manual). Unlike most of the other connections, there is nothing stopping you from installing the connectors from the front panel to the wrong pins on these jumpers. Also, don't confuse the JRGB1 jumper (delivering 12V) with the JRainbow1 & JRainbow2 jumpers (delivering 5V). As the manual says: "Do not connect the wrong type of LED strips. The JRGB connector and the JRAINBOW
connector provide different voltages, and connecting the 5V LED strip to the JRGB connector will result in damage to the LED strip", so pay particular attention to what the manufacturer of your LED components says!

Cons: Software
A DVD was provided with drivers & utilities, which odd, since not many PCs these days are built out with DVD drives. A USB stick would have been better. It was an easy task to copy the entire DVD to a USB stick (it does not have to be bootable), which can then be used to run the DVDSetup.exe program to install drivers & optional utilities. In reality, all but one of the drivers & BIOS on the DVD were out of date anyway, so I used the latest drivers from the MSI website, or alternatively, if running Windows 11, you could use their Windows Update feature to find update the drivers, which is a better choice if you have a high-speed internet connection. Althoug it is an optional feature, I was not encouraged to see the Norton Antivirus software promoted on the DVD. IMO this is a terribly intrusive piece of software that should be avoided at all costs, but Norton's sales people are very good at getting their program absolutely everywhere - it's as bad as the worst virus, IMO.

Note: In Windows Device Manager, you may see one hidden component that is classified as "unknown", with a hardware ID of ACPI\MBID0001. This is the MSI Software Component Interface. It is not installed by DVDSetup, but is if you install the MSI Center program. I think that this interface loads the various MSI services used by MSI Center. Windows Update might detect "this device" & install a null driver, but I have not tested this.

BIOS Click5
After booting into BIOS Click5 (press "Del" key while booting), I was not impressed. A lot of flashy graphics is not what I want when configuring BIOS. I would much rather see a cleaner, simpler GUI.

I was very disappointed to see that the level of help provided in the program was practically non existent. Nor is there a manual for this program on MSIs website. This is a big deal, as it could be easy to misconfigure core components of the system if you don't know what you are doing. For example, when configuring fans, you can choose between DC & PWM modes for each fan. For a start, this is really bad, as fans can, AFAIK, be either DC or PWM. Make the wrong choice and the fan could either a) be uncontrollable or b) could run at top speed all the time. The fan(s) could get damaged. Secondly, not all users know what the various acronyms mean. There is plenty of space in the help window (small as it is) to describe these & what they mean, but this is not done. The user is left to figure this out for themselves. I could go on, but won't, except to say that overall, I'd rate the BIOS Click5 program as "F" - fail, and would suggest that potential buyers of this motherboard who are not expert in the details of BIOS configuration consider other manufacturers offerings if their BIOS programs have a simpler, cleaner user interface and are better documented.

MSI Center
This was another huge disappointment. Version 1.0.61.0 is almost 571MB in size, yet actually does not provide anything after you install it. To get the "features" - many of which are not available for the PRO series of motherboards - you have to go online & download them. Why? Plus, you first have to accept a license agreement that, if you read it, basically says that MSI can & will monitor your PC, all its components, and your activity. Furthermore, you cannot print out or save this license agreement - no options are given to do that - nor could I find a copy of the agreement anywhere on the PC after I had installed the software. In other words, in this aspect MSI Center is little better than spyware, IMO.

Many of the "features" just expose either the functionality of BIOS Click5 within Windows - which should be standard, not restricted to an add-on on-line app - or a standard feature of Windows with an MSI user interface bolted on top of it.
While MSI Center may be of better use to purchasers of the MAG line of MSI motherboards, I strongly recommend that purchasers of this PRO motherboard do not install it.

WiFi:
One of the reason I chose this motherboard was that it is Wi-Fi enabled. While the Wi-Fi does connect me to other Wi-Fi enabled devices, the Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6E AX211 160MHz module has NO host network support, which is a real disappointment. In 2022, I'd expect this functionality to be standard. [FYI, you can check this on your PC by opening a command prompt and typing: "netsh wlan show drivers". If you see Hosted network supported: Yes, then you can create an ad-hoc local network of all your wireless-enabled PC in your home. If it says No, then you can't]. Luckily, the wireless network card in my 13 year-old HP PC does support hosted networks, so I guess I'm not going to retire the PC as planned!
So, if you were planning to use this motherboard as a base for an ad-hoc home Wi-Fi network, then you are out of luck - you'll need to find another board, or I guess you could add an additional wireless card with host network support in one of the PCI-E2, E3 or E4 slots on the board.

Overall Review: In conclusion.
The MSI PRO Z690-A WIFI DDR5 LGA 1700 motherboard is actually a very good board. Four memory slots can handle up to 128GB, though that is considerable overkill for my needs. Lots of SATA connectors for my hard drives. Plenty of M2 slots for SSD devices. Rainbow & RGB connectors. Plenty of USB connectors if you need them. Wi-Fi enabled. Excellent documentation & support on the MSI website. It's quick & easy to update the BIOS & drivers if required. In fact, it met all of my hardware needs other than being able to host a Wi-Fi network. So, on the hardware side, I'd give it a rating of 9 out of 10.

Where the board really fails is not with its hardware, but with its software. Both the BIOS Click5 and MSI Center products are, IMO, just terrible. I'm stuck with the BIOS, though once configured I don't have to mess with it on a daily basis, but MSI Center is just a disaster. Most of the functionality in the product should be available without requiring an internet connection, and without everything about your computer system and your personal computer usage being downloaded to some MSI server. Who knows who sees this data or what they do with it. The fact that you are not given the option to print or save the license agreement is a big red flag to me. I was so concerned that I ended up reformatting the all hard drives and reinstalling the operating system from scratch. If you are concerned about your personal privacy, don't install this software. If it has features that you really, really need, look to get those features from another manufacturer of motherboards whose software is less invasive. So, on the software side, I'd give it a rating of 1 out of 10.