MSI Z68A-GD80 (G3) Specifications
But let's now focus on the motherboard tested today, the MSI Z68A-GD80 G3.
MSI Z68A-GD80 (G3) Specifications
| CPU (Max Support) | i3/i5/i7 |
|---|---|
| AM3 CPU Ready | N/A |
| FSB / Hyper Transport Bus | 100MHz |
| Chipset | Intel® Z68 (G3) |
| 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 | Gen3 (1x16, 1x8), Gen2 (1x16) |
| 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 |
Right, there we have the G3 motherboard which quite honestly is identical to the B3 as both share an identical color scheme, a nearly indistinguishable layout and a common feature set. That's a nice looking motherboard alright. 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.
