Editor's take: I've been out of the hardware scene for far too long, but I'm not sure any time away could prepare me for a motherboard that costs nearly $2,100. One could easily construct or buy a very competent PC with this budget, but hey, at least the option exists, eh?
MSI announced its flagship MEG Z690 Godlike in December 2021 but is just now getting around to launching it. The EATX board is based on the Intel Z690 chipset, and features four DIMM slots that can accommodate up to 128GB of DDR5 memory.
You also get three PCIe x16 slots, six M.2 slots and six SATA III ports, an integrated Wi-Fi 6E module, two USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4 connectors and a host of other USB ports. There are also dual LAN controllers, heatsinks galore and a removable touchscreen IPS LCD panel.
Dubbed the M-Vision Dashboard, the 3.5-inch panel plugs into the rear of the motherboard and displays system diagnostics like hardware monitoring and debug codes, plus provides one-touch access to Windows functions and more.
It's a bit to swallow at $2,099, and will no doubt he hard to come by considering it is being produced in limited quantities with MSI prioritizing the option to purchase to those who have previously bought a GODLIKE motherboard or MSI RTX 3080 / 3090 series graphics card. On the bright side, your purchase price includes a self-contained liquid cooling system for your CPU and 32GB of Kingston Fury Beast GDDR5 RAM.