MSI shows LGA 2011 Motherboards at IDF 2011

As they did on computex, MSI will show a series of MSI LGA 2011 motherboards based on the Intel X79 chipset.

The X79 features a PCH (platform controller hub) design as most of the tasks that were handled by the X58 chipset previously, such as PCI Express connectivity, were integrated inside the Sandy Bridge-E CPUs.

The X79 packs an impressive array of features compared with its predecessors as it now supports no less than 10 SATA 6Gbps, while the PCH is linked to the CPU via a DMI 2.0 interface as well as through an additional PCI-Express 2.0 x4 link.

In addition, the X79 PCH also features an Intel Rapid Storage enterprise controller that enables RAID 0/1/5/10 support and eight of the available SATA interfaces can be configured as SAS ports by motherboard manufacturers.

The rest of the specs list includes an 8-lane PCI-Express 2.0 hub, which can be used to drive the x1 and x4 slots, as well as 14 USB 2.0 ports.

Unfurtunately the PCH doesn't feature native USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt support, which is an important omission considering its target market.