EK and MSI release Z490 motherboard with waterblock for 458 euros

MSI and EK Water Blocks jointly release the MSI MPG Z490 Carbon EK X motherboard. It is a motherboard with Intel Z490 chipset that is equipped with a monoblock to cool the CPU and VRMs with water cooling in a custom loop.

The combined product consists of a modified version of MSI’s MPG Z490 Gaming Carbon Wifi motherboard and a monoblock specially designed for it by EK. Both the motherboard and the monoblock are equipped with RGB LEDs.

The motherboard with lga1200 socket is suitable for Intel processors of the Comet Lake generation. Users must combine the board with a custom loop system for water cooling. EK Water Blocks promises motherboard buyers support and help with questions about it.

MSI and EK have been working together on water cooling for video cards for some time, but it is the first time that the two companies have jointly released a motherboard. The motherboard will be available from June 22.

With a price of 458 euros, the water-cooled motherboard is relatively cheap. There are more manufacturers that supply motherboards with a water block, but they are often more expensive. For example, the Gigabyte Aorus Z490 Xtreme Waterforce costs 1299 euros and the ASRock X570 Aqua motherboard costs almost a thousand euros. Those boards are also equipped with a water block for cooling the chipset. This is not the case with MSI’s motherboard.