MSI MEG Z390 Godlike – the Ultimate Z390 motherboard. At a cost.

1. Introducing MSI MEG Z390 Godlike2. Check out the features!3. Game Boost4. The test set-up and CPU testing5. Games testing6. Cooling and Power7. Closing Thoughts8. View All Pages

Closing Thoughts.

It is crystal clear that MSI has aimed the MEG Z390 Godlike at the enthusiast market. The price of this motherboard is heading into the stratosphere and to justify that price MSI has packed it with features. The snag is they have packed it with so many features it is essentially three Z390 motherboards in one, and the consequence is that we cannot imagine any single customer who will take full advantage of the hardware that is on offer

Let us assume that every single customer who buys the MEG Z390 Godlike will overclock their Intel 9th Gen. CPU to a certain extent. Once we move beyond that obvious point we have the first type of customer which is the overclocker who wants the absolute maximum and will use all those power connectors and will push the 16-phase Vcore VRMs somewhere close to their limits.

The second type of customer is interested in overclocking but is more interested in gaming so they will use the Game Boost function to ramp up the speed, however most of the sophisticated features will pass them by.

Finally we have the third type of customer who wants to use all those expansion slots and will plug in the M.2 Xpander-Z card and Streaming Boost HDMI card and have loads of PCI Express devices to connect alongside their graphics card.

All of these customers are likely to enjoy the Dynamic Dashboard LCD and we can probably assume the second and third customers also enjoy RGB and the Mystic Light Infinity.

The irony is that MSI has done an impressive job with the Godlike with the result that it is a very expensive motherboard and a good number of those features are let down by Intel’s 9th Gen. CPUs and their marginal headroom for overclocking.

If this Godlike board cost, say, £300 we would be hugely impressed but we fully understand why that is not the case. Instead the £600 price makes us extra-critical about any aspect of the Godlike that looks like a weakness.

This is a large and impressive motherboard with loads of bells and whistles but it feels like the Godlike has been built up to justify a high price point. No doubting its impressive, but the price seems excessive.

See more on the board at MSI's website HERE and you can buy it from Overclockers UK for £599.99 HERE

Pros:

• Monumental levels of VRM power delivery.
• Solidly built and very smartly styled.
• Dynamic Dashboard LCD.
• Mystic Light Infinity and loads of RGB.

Cons:

• The price is astronomical.
• VRM heatsinks are big and blocky when they should be svelte and finned.
• More USB ports on the rear I/O panel please.
• All those PCI Express slots require a PLX chip fro them to make sense.

KitGuru says: MSI has aimed for the stars with the Z390 Godlike and while its a great board, the price may be too hard to justify for most people.

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