MSI MAG Z690 Tomahawk Review

Up Close

The MSI MAG Z690 Tomahawk WiFi sticks to its theme with a small BGM-109 as the main logo. At $1.5m a unit it’s not a missile you want to fire haphazardly.

  

Naturally as a model at the affordable end of the MSI spectrum the Tomahawk hasn’t got the same abundant level of accessories that we saw from the Unify, but it still has you covered with all the important stuff.

  

We know that some times it’s hard to get a feel for a motherboard when we run our close up photos, so here is an overview of the very black Tomahawk. We like the simplicity.

  

If you want to take a closer look without having to zoom in then we’ll be looking in detail on the next page. For now though it’s worth enjoying the different takes upon black that MSI have managed to fit on to the Tomahawk. Matte, brushed, textured, they are all here. It helps break it up from being a monolithic, 2001 A Space Odyssey looking thing to something that is all black, but still eye-catching.

  
  

Despite its placement in the MSI range the heatsink on the Tomahawk is as robust as many of the VRM heatsinks we’ve seen on the Z690 motherboards. Certainly you’re not compromising your VRM temperatures just because the motherboard isn’t eye-wateringly expensive.

  

Beneath that heatsink is a 16+1+1 Duet Rail 70A power system ensuring your new Alder Lake CPU has all the juice it needs to keep your performance needs sated.