MSI MPG Z390 gaming PLUS specs

General Information

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Back IO

Audio

• 6x Analog Audio Jack

• 1x PS/2

• 1x RJ-45

• 2x USB 2 Type-A
• 2x USB 2 Type-A
• 1x USB 3 Gen 2 Type-A
• 1x USB 3 Gen 2 Type-C

• 1x DVI-D
• 1x HDMI Out

Internal Connections

Fans

• 7x 4-pin Fan Header

• 1x Chassis Intrusion Header
• 2x RGB Header
• 1x Serial Header
• 1x TPM Header

• 1x 24-pin ATX Power
• 1x 8-pin 12V Power

• 6x SATA3

• 2x USB 2 Header
• 2x USB 3 Gen 1 Header

Misc. Information

Network

Wired

Expansion Slots

Slots

• 1x PCI-E 3.0 x16 @ x16
• 1x PCI-E 3.0 x16 @ x4
• 4x PCI-E 3.0 x1 @ x1

Audio

Memory

This board has 4 slots with the following specifications:

M.2 Slots

M.2 Connections

Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great motherboard for first-time builders!
Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2019

I’ve considered myself to know my way around computers, but this is the first time I’ve ever built one. Picking the MSI Z390 Gaming Plus was the product of 2 decisions I’d made prior: I wanted to use the new Intel i9 processor and go for a red theme.Using PCPartPicker I was able to sort out and see which motherboards were compatible which my processor selection, but a caution message appeared on the first recommended board could need a BIOS update to work properly with the new gen of Intel processors. Since it’s my first build and being more familiar with Macs than PC’s, this scared me off.After looking at other highly rated motherboards, I stumbled upon this one — and the results have been fabulous — and as a bonus is red! Literally everything has been plug-and-play. Ports for RAM, GPU, fans, and power were easy to locate and connect. There are ample internal SATA ports and an additional USB 3 connection I’ll have to think of a use for.So far it’s performed extremely well — the BIOS is intuitive and the board is handling all the gaming I’ve thrown at it.My only complaint is the lack of on-board USB Type A ports. There are only 5. I’d love closer to 8. The inclusion of a USB-C port is a nice touch, but I was hoping to be able to start to move away from the clutter of USB hubs on my desk or adding a PCI card with more ports.Overall, it’s been a great value. Was easy to install, and just makes me happy to look at.

Reviews with images

Top reviews from the United States

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Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2022

It was the best fit for what I wanted , specs, the i-7 I had and they price. I usually buy ASUS exclusively, but MSI was a good second.

Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2020

I picked this up for a new budget build using an i7-9700k to replace my really old I7-3700. My initial impression after completing the build as that this is a great combo if you are ok with the features included. Here is what I learned from the build :

Specs:
1) 6 Sata Ports
2) 2 m.2 nvme slots.If you use both slots, you will lose 2 of the above sata ports
3) One Cnvi slot for intel wifi/bluetooth laptop card. I was going to put one in that I had lying around, but it turns out that using this slot makes the second USB2 header unavailable.
4) 2 USB 3.1 gen 1 sockets on front edge of motherboard.
5) 2 USB 2.0 headers on bottom edge of motherboard.
6) Fan headers : CPU, Pump, 5 x Sysfan headers. If you like fan's this is pretty nice.
7) Additional USB Ports on I/O Panel : 1 USB-C 3.1 gen 2, One USB-A 3.1 gen 2, 2xUSB-A 3.1 gen 1, 2 USB-A 2.0
8) 1 Intel I219-V gigabit ethernet port.

Bios:
The bios has a graphical interface that is annoying to me. It took me a little time to get used to it, but you will eventually figure it out. There are a ton of settings in here if you want to tweak stuff. At a minimum, make sure you turn on the XMP switch if your ram supports it. Again, I found the interface annoying, but it does let you adjust each fan in the system based on CPU or System temperature, so you can keep things quiet until things heat up. Again, tons of settings for CPU Voltages and memory timings etc.

I used the following components for my build :
Core I7-7-9700k, Noctua NH-U12S Cooler (includes paste), WD 1TB Blue nVme drive, 2x16gb Corsair Vengeance 3600 ram. I used my existing 550w power supply, USB 3.1 add on pcie card. After installing everything, make sure to update the bios, and download the latest Intel Chipset, Intel Network, and Realtek drivers to replace what Windows installs by default.

With this combo I was able to get all 8 cores to 4.9ghz with temps just under 90c (idles around 40) with just some basic tweaks. I ran OCCT for an hour and it seems stable. Voltage tops outs at about 1.4v core.

Again, If you are ok with the features of this board, and get it at a good price you should consider it. There are good deals on 9th gen Intel parts right now, but if you want the latest and greatest and have the extra cash, go get an I7-10700 and compatible board instead.

Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2019

I should have done more research. Most of the build guides I've read recommended a Gigabyte, but I've had some issues with longevity of their stuff and I no longer build enough computers to have a reliable sense of their build quality today. I've been using ASRock for my builds lately but the one I wanted was out of stock, so I looked at MSI, another company with which I've always had good results. This one went together very easily - MSI builds are always among the easiest for me - but it's light on USB ports and SATA ports. My old ASRock mobo had tons of both; this one looks like it has plenty, but populating both M.2 SSD slots loses THREE SATA ports, leaving only three. That leaves me just enough to run my DVD drive, a WInchester storage drive, and a second SATA drive for when I need to pull off data or run diagnostics. When I need more SSD room, I'll either replace of of the two M.2 drives with a larger version or I'll add a third, SATA SSD, replacing my DVD drive with a USB model. I've already bought a powered USB hub, because I couldn't plug in all my devices, so a more expensive motherboard wouldn't have been any more total cost.

The other issue isn't as easily fixed: the motherboard is slow compared to others with the same chip set, which took me by surprise. Not a problem today, but it will limit the life of the system and it boots waaay slower than my old ASRock system. Wish I'd waited for the ASRock or simply bought higher up the MSI chain. (MSI does have advantages, especially if the mobo bricks during a flash, and they do better manuals, tech support, and BIOS.) Overall it's a good, reliable motherboard, but I wouldn't buy it again or recommend it for a gaming or otherwise high throughput (in my case, AutoCAD and Revit) build.

On the bright side, I paired it with an MSI 1070GT card and an Intel i5-9600K and most of the time, the many fans in my old CoolerMaster HAF-932 case seldom run at all, even during heavy gaming. My old system was a OD'd i5-2500K and an AMD factory overclocked 390XT which together functioned as a pretty nice heater. It's sooo nice to not discover that I'm sweating because the room has crept up to 90F!

Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2020

I got this to build a Linux system with a Intel 9th gen core I3 9350KF , a nvidia GTX 1060 6gb and Crucial Ballistic ram and for that it exceeded my expectations . But at this price point their are a few glaring budget cost saving implications .
The VRM's are bare min fine if running a budget CPU like a core I3 or of budget core I5 but if I were looking to overclock or wanted a higher end CPU then I would look else where as You will run into VRM overheating
I knew this going in and the core I3 is all this board will ever see
Another glaring cost saving implication is the onboard sound blow chunks just barely usable , it ok for basic sounds but rely ;lacks any depth or punch . They should have gone with the Realtek ALC S1220
I was concerned when I got this and my concerns are justified . thank God I already had a sound card that blew away the crappy Realtek ALC892 . I have used the Realtek 1220 and their is a BIG difference is sound quality how MSI calls this a "gaming board " with this crap sound solution is beyond me .
This shipping bios on my board was version 1.6 so installing a 9th gen cpu is a non issue BUT that bios is flaky at best because I could not get into the advanced bios settings with that bios upgrading to version 1.8 fixed that issue .
in case anyone is wondering I am running manjaro linux 18.1.5 with the sound blaster audigy RX awesome card for linux with a samsung 970 evo plus NVME Linux sees all the hardware just fine and I can read all the fan and temp sensors just fine
Board is fast and stable , has a lot of tweaking options , if it were not for the crappy on-board sound it would have gotten a five star rating

Top reviews from other countries

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice board but big concern

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 13, 2021

It's a nice board for which is recommended for a hackintosh...but as you can see in the photo..my pcie nvme m.2 from adata ..has problems fitting properly...there is a high gap underneath m.2..and the screw is only a short one..so it bends my ssd a bit...so will need a longer kinda screw and a sort of stand off for under ssd to stop it bending..

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice board but big concern
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 13, 2021

It's a nice board for which is recommended for a hackintosh...but as you can see in the photo..my pcie nvme m.2 from adata ..has problems fitting properly...there is a high gap underneath m.2..and the screw is only a short one..so it bends my ssd a bit...so will need a longer kinda screw and a sort of stand off for under ssd to stop it bending..

Images in this review

1.0 out of 5 stars Amazing service bar the Motherboard being faulty

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 28, 2021

I bought this with a range of PC parts to build a new gaming pc, with a delay on some parts due to covid, etc, I got a friend to build it as he's a pro at building pc's! And he couldn't get the display to work after a few weeks of trying he then gave my pc to another PC pro (friend) who'm has the same Motherboard and after switching eveything over he found out the Motherboard was faulty and I hope to get a full refund asap . . . (After I package it up etc, covid delays)

2.0 out of 5 stars Got 2 months of use

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 3, 2021

I built my set up at the end of September (28th). It worked fine and has been working fine until November 26th when the system would not boot on.

Tested a few of the components in my set up and found that the motherboard is now dead.

Came on to request an exchange from Amazon but they refuse refunds or exchanges after 30 days and send you to the manufacturer.

I am now messaging manufacturer in hope they will replace this dead motherboard under warranty.

3.0 out of 5 stars MSI Software is so bad!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 2, 2021

MSI has had good reputation over the years and most of the time their products are great but their software is awful! I would not install it on any computer as it makes the computer really unstable. The motherboard is good and works with an i9 with no problems, unless of course you use MSI software...

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Purchase Highly Recommended Motherboard 10/10

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 2, 2022

Excellent High Quality Motherboard. Easy to install, lots of Good Features Highly Recommended, My Best Purchase this year well worth 10/10 stars, Love this MSI Motherboard Excellent Price also

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