MSI Z68A-GD80 (B3) Specifications
But let's now focus on the motherboard tested today, the MSI Z68A-GD80.
MSI Z68A-GD80 (B3) Specifications
| CPU (Max Support) | i3/i5/i7 |
|---|---|
| AM3 CPU Ready | N/A |
| FSB / Hyper Transport Bus | 100MHz |
| Chipset | Intel® Z68 (B3) |
| DDR2 Memory | N/A |
| DDR3 Memory | DDR3 1066/1333/1600*/2133*(OC) |
| Memory Channel | Dual |
| DIMM Slots | 4 |
| Max Memory (GB) | 32 |
| PCI-Ex16 | 3 |
| PCI-E Gen | Gen2 (1x16, 1x8, 1x1) |
| PCI-Ex4 | N/A |
| PCI-Ex1 | 2 |
| PCI | 2 |
| IDE | N/A |
| SATAIII | 3 |
| SATAII | 4 |
| RAID | 0/1/5/10 |
| LAN | 10/100/1000*2 |
| TPM | 1 |
| USB 3.0 ports (Rear) | 2 |
| USB 2.0 ports (Rear) | 4 |
| Audio ports (Rear) | 6+Optical SPDIF |
| Serial ports (Rear) | N/A |
| Parallel ports (Rear) | N/A |
| 1394 ports (Rear) | 1 |
| eSATA | 1 |
| HDMI | 1 |
| DVI | 1 |
| VGA Max Share Memory (MB) | 1024 |
| DirectX | DX10.1 |
| Form Factor | ATX |
| DrMOS | Y |
| APS | Y |
| SLI | Y |
| CrossFire | Y |
The focus of this motherboard is that it has a dark looking design whilst remaining competitive with pricing.
We dig the two tone (black/blue) design a lot, dark colored PCBs are the trend these days. What immediately catches the eye are the sheer looks and heatsinks sitting on top of the chipset. The board has lots of features including auto-overclocking, dual-BIOS, dual Gigabit NICs, voltage control points and just so much more.
We received the final retail sample and as such it comes packed with a quite decent product bundle. Among the gear inside the kit you'll find the following:
- 1 x Motherboard
- 1 x 2-Way SLI Bridge
- 1 x I/O Shield
- 1 x USB 3.0 Bracket (can be connected to the motherboard directly)
- Voltage monitor cables for DMM
- 2 x SATA 6G cables
- 2x Molex to SATE power converters
- Manual
- Driver CD
That's it, keep in mind that MSI tried hard to keep this motherboard affordable. The extras you need to seek in the overall design and components usage, which is impressive all by itself when you peek at the motherboard for the first time.
