Does anyone know when the MSI Z68A-GD55-G3 will be released? It's on preorder just now. I want it because it's a lot cheaper than the other sata 6Gb/PCI-e 3.0/ivybridge ready boards
MSI Z68A-GD55-G3 release date?
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Soldato
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Where does it say that? The only difference I can see is that the GD55 has the Marvel controller to provide an extra 2 SATA 6Gb/s ports.
I checked the specs list against each other on the MSI website.
It says GD65 is 2x 16 PCI-E and the GD55 is 1x 16 and 1x 8 PCI-E
Whether that is true or not there must be some difference other than 2 SATA ports for the £30ish difference.
It says GD65 is 2x 16 PCI-E and the GD55 is 1x 16 and 1x 8 PCI-E
Whether that is true or not there must be some difference other than 2 SATA ports for the £30ish difference.
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It doesn't though? 
http://uk.msi.com/product/mb/Z68A-GD55--G3-.html#/?div=Detail
You must have been looking at the GD45 which does state that one port is electrically 8x.
http://uk.msi.com/product/mb/Z68A-G45--G3-.html#/?div=Detail
http://uk.msi.com/product/mb/Z68A-GD55--G3-.html#/?div=Detail
You must have been looking at the GD45 which does state that one port is electrically 8x.
http://uk.msi.com/product/mb/Z68A-G45--G3-.html#/?div=Detail
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None of these boards will be 16X/16X, the slot maybe a physical 16X in length, but the connections from the cpu socket/pci-e switches wont.
Most boards are 8X/8X or 16X/4X, only boards with a NF200 chip costing hundreds+ will offer more.
Most boards are 8X/8X or 16X/4X, only boards with a NF200 chip costing hundreds+ will offer more.
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Of course, but what happens with the GD45 is even if you put a single card in the 2nd PCIe 16x length slot you will still only get 8x, not that it matters much and as you say for crossfire you'd still get your 8x/8x so not really an issue either way.
correct.
1 x 16 or 8x/8x for MSI. We dont tend to do the 16x/4x configuration as it's not an SLI supported configuration
GD55 and GD65 are separated by the Marvel controller and Dual BIOS
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But you should be occupying the top slot anyways, so getting a full 16X until a second card is recognized and the switches send 8X of the 16X to the other slot.
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Good to know, but unless I missed it which is quite possible, I don't think the website lists that the GD65 has dual BIOS and the GD55 doesn't.
It doesn't though?
Accidently, I was looking at the GD65 at it says on the basic detail spec page: "Gen3 (1X16, 1X8)" whilst the GD55 says Gen3 (2X16), so I actually got it wrong, during the comparison.
So the only differences are dual bios and the number of SATA 6Gb's lanes.
Just to clarify...
both boards have PCI-Express Gen 3 compatible slots
on both boards the primary slot will operate at 16x when one card is fitted
on both boards both the primary and secondary slots will operate at 8x when two cards are fitted
both boards have PCI-Express Gen 3 compatible slots
on both boards the primary slot will operate at 16x when one card is fitted
on both boards both the primary and secondary slots will operate at 8x when two cards are fitted
Basic specs are very similar between the G45 and GD55. The differences are less visible.
The G45 is a slightly lower spec PCB because the GD55 has DrMOS and Hi-C Capacitors. In short this means that the GD55 is the more power efficient of the two boards and offers the better overclocking capability.
The G45 is a slightly lower spec PCB because the GD55 has DrMOS and Hi-C Capacitors. In short this means that the GD55 is the more power efficient of the two boards and offers the better overclocking capability.
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Is PCI-e 3.0 double the speed/bandwidth/whatever of PCI-e 2.0 (like PCI-e 2.0 is compared to PCI-e 1.0)?
If so does that mean that 2 x PCI-e 3.0 slots running at 8x/8x in SLI/Crossfire would be like PCI-e 2.0 slots running at 16x/16x?
(I've not really looked in to PCI-e 3.0 much, does it show?)
If so does that mean that 2 x PCI-e 3.0 slots running at 8x/8x in SLI/Crossfire would be like PCI-e 2.0 slots running at 16x/16x?
(I've not really looked in to PCI-e 3.0 much, does it show?)
Soldato
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It is double the bandwidth yes, needs an Ivy Bridge processor for the compatible boards to actually provide PCIe 3.0 though.