MSI unveiled a premium variant of its MPG Z490 Gaming Pro Carbon motherboard with a factory-fitted monoblock, the MPG Z490 Gaming Pro Carbon EK X. As its name suggests, the monoblock is supplied by EK Water Blocks. It uses nickel-plated copper as its primary material, and has a clear acrylic top with some faux carbon-fiber embellishments. The block is studded with addressable RGB LEDs that plug into one of the motherboard's 3-pin ARGB headers.

The monoblock uses a micro fin lattice over the CPU socket, and has its main coolant channel pass through not just the CPU, but also the CPU VRM area. There's some prominent "Carbon EK X" branding over another strip of faux carbon-fiber at the PCH heatsink. The rest of the board's design and feature-set are identical to the original MPG Z490 Gaming Pro Carbon. The company didn't reveal pricing, although an EK Quantum series monoblock like the one featured here should add at least $140 to the original board's price.

Earlier this week, a small selection of MSI's upcoming socket LGA1200 motherboards based on Intel Z490 chipset were leaked to the web, along with pricing for the entire series. The company posted teaser pictures of one of the motherboard models that was missing from that picture leak - the Z490 Gaming Pro Carbon, which MSI refers to as the "next Carbon." The pictures suggest a premium-looking ATX motherboard with an elaborate PCH heatsink that extends into heatsinks for 2-3 M.2 slots; studded with RGB LEDs, and an elaborate rear I/O shroud that extends into the CPU VRM heatsink, with more LED embellishments. The Gaming Pro Carbon is still slotted in the company's MPG (MSI Performance Gaming) family, and positioned a notch above the MPG Z490 Gaming Edge WiFi, and below the MEG Z490 Unify.