MSI X79A-GD65 8D Motherboard

MSI is readying a new LGA2011 HEDT (high-end desktop) motherboard based on the Intel X79 chipset, which features eight DDR3 DIMM slots, two per memory channel, letting you take advantage of the fast quad-channel DDR3 IMC of Sandy Bridge-E Core i7 processors, as well as not letting you fall short of memory expansion. The X79A-GD65 8D, as it's called, makes room for eight DIMM slots, four on either sides of the socket. The CPU is powered by a 5+2 phase VRM, and the memory by a 4-phase VRM.

Expansion slots include four PCI-Express x16, from which four are wired to the CPU socket, two are PCI-Express 3.0 x16 capable, four are PCI-E 3.0 x8 capable (depending on the way the slots are populated with add-on cards), one is PCI-E 2.0 x4 capable and is wired to the chipset. Then there's the lone PCI-E x1. NVIDIA 4-way SLI and AMD 4-way CrossFireX are supported.

Storage expansion includes four SATA 6 Gb/s and four SATA 3 Gb/s ports, all internal. There are no eSATA ports. Other connectivity features include 8+2 channel HD audio, four USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear panel, two via header), one gigabit Ethernet, FireWire, and a number of USB 2.0 ports.

The X79A-GD65 8D will be driven by a UEFI BIOS that's rich in overclocking options, and will be backed by several other MSI exclusives such as OC Genie II, voltage measurement points, and POST readout. The board will feature in MSI's first wave of LGA2011 motherboards.