***MSI Z87A-GD65***

dlknight

dlknight

dlknight

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Prepare to meet MSIs upcoming Z87A-GD65 motherboard, aimed at the enthusiast markey once again and now with an LN2 switch for extreme overclockers.

Preview Links
http://www.overclock3d.net/articles/cpu_mainboard/msi_z87_gd65_gaming_hands-on_preview
http://www.hardwarezone.com.sg/review-preview-msi-z87-gd65-gaming-motherboard


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More pics -
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EDIT - for those of you who don't understand the photo is a prototype! hence the hideous standard circuit board colour and lack of extravagant heatsinks...

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Confirmed Features -

  • Military Class 4 Components
  • 12-phase CPU power supply circuitry based on solid-state NexFET Power Block MOSFETs
  • Nichicon FPCAP GT-series functional polymer aluminum solid electrolytic capacitors
  • 3 x PCI Express x16 slots for graphics cards
  • 4 x PCI Express x1 slots for add-on cards
  • 8 x Serial ATA-6Gb/s ports
  • mSATA slot
  • Realtek ALC1150 Audio Codec (with EMI shielding)
  • Gold plated audio ports
  • Killer E2205 Networking

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mainboards/display/20130307223530_MSI_Readies_Intel_Z87_Based_Mainboard_Certified_to_Run_in_Sub_Zero_Temperatures.html
 
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biuro74 said:
Well, hello miss AWFUL ;-)
What a cra**y orange laminate colour a'la old OEMs for Pentium 4 :)
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It's a prototype, the heatsinks are a giveaway, and what looks like some form of green spray paint on some of the chips near the pci lanes ;)

I wonder if the ln2 switch will be as pointless as it is on the lightnings.
 
What is the LN2 switch supposed to do anyway?? does it unlock even more hardcore voltage settings than standard?

Can't wait to see the finished board - I'm guessing it will look like the Z77A-GD65 "Gaming" board:

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I'm not sure if I prefer the standard Z77A-GD65? probably because I have this one :)

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If its like Gigabyte implementation on the UP7, then it will lower the ratio to something low like 16X, then a quick flip of the switch will jump the ratio up to whats been set in the BIOS.
 
LN2 switches usually have an alternate bios for zero limits and better cold bug support. Though in the case of GPU's its pointless for 99% of users as you need ABX from MSI to make any use of it. Its not all about the voltage, will have some increased power limits etc... too.

I don't expect MSI to ship these out with a completely restriction free LN2 bios. If they did it only takes one tool who doesn't know what hes doing to start a fire :p
 
Random Guy said:
Crikey! Lets hope some of the options will have at least one slot!
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PCI is ancient now. I would prefer for a motherboard to have one PCI slot for older expansion cards, but it is high time it got ditched in favor of PCI-E x1 to be honest.
 
acme15 said:
PCI is ancient now. I would prefer for a motherboard to have one PCI slot for older expansion cards, but it is high time it got ditched in favor of PCI-E x1 to be honest.
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...which would make a lot of perfectly good hardware obsolete - why do that to potential customers? I will certainly not be buying if a PCI option doesn't materialise.
 
Random Guy said:
...which would make a lot of perfectly good hardware obsolete - why do that to potential customers? I will certainly not be buying if a PCI option doesn't materialise.
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Every slot/socket type gets phased out eventually. PCI has been around for the best part of 20 years (which is already a ridiculously long time for an interface standard to be around for), and PCI-E is better, so it's naturally going to be phased out.

With each generation since PCI-E there have been less and less PCI slots and more and more PCI-E slots on motherboards. In the P67/Z68 era we started to see motherboards materialising with no PCI slots at all, and in the Z77 era there are loads of boards without a single PCI slot.

You could argue that the transition from AGP to PCI-E 'made a-lot of perfectly good hardware obsolete' as well, which it did. But it had to happen for the sake of progress. It's no different to IDE being replaced with SATA, SDR being replaced by DDR, then DDR2, then DDR3 and so on.

Motherboard manufacturers wont care if some random guy (:p) refuses to buy their product because it doesn't support their old hardware. They are used to that. And they know that soon enough said 'random guy' will be forced to abandon the obsolete slot/socket type anyway.

I do understand your point of view of course, I have an Asus Xonar DS, and if I were to upgrade to Haswell I could be forced to sell it and buy a DSX or similar, which would be a pain sure, but i'm fine with that really. It had to happen somewhen.
 
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acme15 said:
Motherboard manufacturers wont care if some random guy (:p) refuses to buy their product because it doesn't support their old hardware. They are used to that. And they know that soon enough said 'random guy' will be forced to abandon the obsolete slot/socket type anyway.
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The problem is that as PCs got more powerful, they started to be used industrially. I have a couple of PCI based modulator cards which were £1.5k each.... (well, when I say I I mean the company bought them, I just use them...). I'm pretty sure some mobos will be manufactured to support PCI for a while. Whether they will be enthusiast boards is another matter...
 
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