MSI MEG Z890 GODLIKE Motherboard Review – GODLIKE Features At A GODLIKE Price

MSI MEG Z890 GODLIKE Unboxing & Close Up Inspection

The MSI MEG Z890 GODLIKE motherboard comes inside a massive box with gold and black colors and a large picture of the product itself. The packaging lists out Core Ultra Series 2 CPU support on the front along with the chipset.

The backside of the package lists the specifications and special features of the motherboard. There are a total of 22 features highlighted which shows just how much this motherboard packs. There's also a picture of the accessories bundled with this ultra-enthusiast product.

Inside the package is another box that contains the accessories. This box has a massive MEG logo and a quote saying "Beyond The Norm, Meet Godlike".

There are a ton of accessories that the GODLIKE comes with but the most interesting ones are the two AIC (Add-In-Cards) which include an M.2 XPADNER Gen5 & the Thunderbolt M5. There's also an EZ Control Hub.

Following is the full list of accessories bundled with the motherboard:

• M.2 Xpander-Z SLIDER Gen5
• ThunderboltM5
• EZ Control Hub
• USB Driver
• EZ Wi-Fi Antenna
• EZ M.2 Clips II Remover
• 1 to 3 ARGB Gen2 Extension Cable
• 1 to 2 RGB Extension Cable
• ARGB Extension Cable
• 1 to 3 EZ Conn-Cable (V2)
• EZ Link Cable
• EZ Control Hub SATA Power Cable
• M.2 Xpander Card Fan Control Cable
• Thunderbolt 5 Header Cable
• EZ Front Panel Cable
• 4x SATA Cables
• 2 x Thermistor Cables
• M.2 Xpander Card Thermal Pads
• M.2 Screw & Standoff Set
• EZ Control Hub Screw Sets
• Cable Sticker
• Shout Out Flyer
• Quick Installation Guide
• European Union Regulatory Notice

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The M.2 XPANDER-Z SLIDER Gen5 AIC comes with a special sliding mechanism that lets you install and remove Gen5 SSDs with relative ease. The card is a single-slot design & comes with dedicated cooling.

With all the accessories done, it's time to put that box aside and take the motherboard out of its package. The MSI MEG Z890 GODLIKE is a massive motherboard that measures 277x304.8mm & features an E-ATX form factor.

The motherboard comes in a matte black color scheme with a few shiny reflective surfaces on the IO plate, the SSD heatsink, and the EZ Bridge panel. The board also comes with a large backplate with several MOSFET heat pads underneath it.

The board uses the LGA 1851 socket to support Intel Core Ultra 200S "Arrow Lake" processors. At launch, the LGA 1851 socket will only support the Arrow Lake CPUs though we can expect a brand new family in the coming years.

Next to the socket are four DDR5 DIMM slots that can support up to 256 GB of dual-channel (24/48/64 GB modules) memory.

These slots are rated to support XMP profiles up to 9200 MT/s (OC Plus). Each slot is labeled, making it easier to install DIMMs in the proper orientation. DDR5 memory comes with a different latch position so forcing a DDR4 module into a DDR5 slot will cause permanent damage. Each slot is also combined with a reinforced design to make sure signal integrity remains good while keeping the slots durable for long-term usage.

The full QVL list can be found here. The motherboard supports 4800 MT/s natively. The 9200 MT/s apply to 1DCP (1 Rank) configurations.

Another cool aspect of the MSI MEG Z890 GODLIKE is its EZ Bridge which acts as a mini hub and a front display with which users can access the dashboard for various real-time monitoring stats and tuning options. All connectors on this Mini Hub are right-angled and there are Power On/Off, & reset buttons placed on it. The third button is used for the EZ PCIe release.

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Following is how the EZ Bridge dashboard looks when booted up. You can also put up custom GIFS or pictures for a more personalized experience.

The MSI MEG Z890 GODLIKE motherboard features a 26+2+1+1 (VCore/ VccGT/VccAUX)  phase SPS VRM power delivery that utilizes the Renesas RAA 229131 PWM controller, & R2209004 HBD (110A) stages for the VCore.

The VRMs and power delivery solution are scattered around the LGA 1851 socket. The board uses a 10-layer server-grade PCB with 2oz Thickened copper in a low-loss design, retaining signal integrity for stable CPU and memory operations.

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The VRMs receive ample cooling from the Frozr heatsinks which feature several aspects such as the aluminum IO cover, Wavy Fin Design, Direct-Touch Cross heatpipe, 9W/MK Thermal Pads, dual-sided M.2 Shield Frozr heatsinks, a Metal backplate, and for the cooling enthusiasts out there, a vast array of fan headers to maximize your cooling needs.

The CPU is supplied power through an 8+8 pin power connector configuration. This will feed the CPU with up to 300 Watts of power. Intel's Arrow Lake "Core Ultra 200S" Desktop CPUs can sip up to 250W of power by default. These connectors are placed on the right-hand side, making them a little easier to access.

The Frozr heatsink solution has two massive heat pipes and a third extended heat pipe coming through the finned heatsink stack. The primary heatsink has one denser fin array which shows premiumness. Underneath the VRM heatsink are Thermal pads that transfer heat from the VRMs to the heatsink.

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Expansion slots include two PCI Express x16 (1 x Gen 5.0 x16, 1 x Gen 5.0 x8), a single PCIe 4.0 x4 slot and 8 M.2 slots.

• PCI_E1 Gen PCIe 5.0 supports up to x16 (From CPU)
• PCI_E2 Gen PCIe 5.0 supports up to x8 (From CPU)
• PCI_E3 Gen PCIe 4.0 supports up to x4 (From Chipset)
• * PCI_E1 slot will run at x8 speed and PCI_E2 slot will run at x4 speed when installing PCIe Gen 5 M.2 device in M2_6 slot.
  
• ** PCI_E3 will be unavailable when installing M.2 SSD in the M2_5 slot.

The motherboard utilizes a full metallic slot which makes use EZ PCIe release mechanism to make installing and removing graphics cards easy.

The motherboard also has a vast array of M.2 slots, all of which are featured under dedicated M.2 Shield Frozr heatsinks. All of these M.2 heatsinks come with an EZ release mechanism and use the magnetic notches to connect with the motherboard.

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Following is the full list of M.2 ports and their details on the MSI MEG Z890 GODLIKE motherboard:

• 8x M.2
• M.2_1 Source (From CPU) supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4, supports 2280/2260 devices
• M.2_2 Source (From CPU) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4, supports 2280/2260 devices
• M.2_3 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4, supports 2280/2260 devices
• M.2_4 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4, supports 22110/2280 devices
• M.2_5 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 / SATA mode, supports 2280/2260 devices
• M.2_6 Source (From CPU+Chipset) supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4 + PCIe 4.0 x4 , supports 2280/2242 devices
  4x SATA 6G
• M.2_1 Source (via M.2 XPANDER-Z SLIDER GEN5) supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4 , supports 2280 devices
• M.2_2 Source (via M.2 XPANDER-Z SLIDER GEN5) supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4 , supports 2280 devices

The Z890 PCH is housed beneath a large heatsink cover which utilizes a matte black texture and has a small LCD which when booted displays the "GODLIKE" logo.

Storage options include four SATA III ports rated to operate at 6 GB/s. These can support 4 different storage devices at once. There are also 4 USB 2.0, 4 USB Type-A (5 Gbps), and 1 USB 20 Gbps Type-C front panel connectors are also included. The motherboard also supports 60W fast charging via the USB C ports.

IO on the GODLIKE is very rich with 2 Onboard Thunderbolt4 ports (Rear/Front), up to 8 USB Type-A 10 Gbps, 5 USB Type-C 10 Gbps, and a single USB Type-C 20 Gbps port. MSI uses a 7.1 CH HD audio design with the latest Realtek ALC4082 CODEC with a combination of ESS9219Q combo DAC, 32-bit / 384 kHz.

The full list of connectors on the motherboard is listed as follows.

• 1x Thunderbolt5 card connector(JTBT5, support RTD3)
• 1x Power Connector(ATX_PWR)
• 2x Power Connector(CPU_PWR)
• 1x Power Connector(PCIE_PWR 8pin)
• 1x Front Type-C Quick Charge Connector(PD_PWR1)
• 1x CPU Fan
• 2x Combo Fan (Pump_Sys Fan)
• 7x System Fan
• 1x EZ Conn-header (JAF_2)
• 2x Front Panel (JFP)
• 1x Chassis Intrusion (JCI)
• 1x Water Flow connector
• 1x Slow Mode Booting Jumper(JSLOW)
• 1x Front Audio (JAUD)
• 2x Thermal Sensor connectors(T_SEN)
• 1x Tuning Controller connector(JDASH)
• 3x Addressable V2 RGB LED connector (JARGB_V2)
• 1x RGB LED connector(JRGB)
• 1x TPM pin header(Support TPM 2.0)
• V-check point
• 4x USB 2.0 ports
• 4x USB 5Gbps Type A ports
• 1x USB 20Gbps Type C ports

MSI is using the latest WIFI 7 (BE1750x) Module to power wireless connectivity with a 320MHz channel bandwidth and Bluetooth 5.4. In terms of Ethernet, there is a single Marvell 10 GbE (AQC113CS) chip and a second Killer E5000B 5 GbE LAN chip. Following is the full list of IO on the GODLIKE:

• USB 10Gbps (Type-A)
• Flash BIOS Button
• Clear CMOS Button
• Smart Button
• 10G LAN
• 5G LAN
• Wi-Fi / Bluetooth
• HD Audio Connectors
• Thunderbolt 4 40Gbps (Type-C)
• USB 10Gbps (Type-C)
• USB 20Gbps (Type-C)
• USB 10Gbps (Type-C)
• USB 10Gbps (Type-A)
• Optical S/PDIF-Out

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