MSI joins the Thunderbolt bandwagon.
Just a few months after Intel's Ivy Bridge
was launched, motherboard makers MSI have recently announced that their new
batch of motherboards will come with Thunderbolt support. One such motherboard
has reached our labs, in the form of the MSI Z77A-GD80.
MSI
joins the Thunderbolt bandwagon.
Getting the usual introductions out of the
way, the GD80 has four DDR3 SODIMM slots that support dual-channel memory, a
whopping eight SATA slots, four of which are SATA III with the rest being SATA
II. There is enough PCIe 3.0 slots to support either SLi or CrossFireX
configuration, however just enough for two cards, and not more. The I/O space
is a bit barren with only four USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, 7.1 audio
output, one Thunderbolt port and one HDMI and VGA video output.
As with all MSI motherboards of late, the
GD80's claim to fame is the Military Grade III components that are used in the
constructions of MSI motherboards, including ferrite chokes and Japanese solid
capacitors. Coupled with their straight forward UEFI BIOS and OC Genie II
overclocking button, tweaking the hardware of your computer has never been made
any easier.
Overclocking with the OC Genie feature
takes the processor (i7 3770K) to about 2.9GHz, but you can also set it to go
even higher in the BIOS. With the Intel XMP feature you can also set your RAMs
to varying speeds depending on your needs.
The GD80's one Thunderbolt port functions
as an I/O that can be used to either serve as an external drive port or be
paired with DisplayPorts. With the correct adapters users can also daisy- chain
multiple DisplayPorts to the one Thunderbolt port for multiple display setups.
Thunderbolt
is definitely here, but the I/O ports are strangely rather lacking in bumbers.
Chip conclude
The MSI Z77A-GD80 may not be the most
feature-packed motherboard out there, but what it lacks in features it makes up
for it in terms of reliability. The Thunderbolt port is a great feature that is
great for the time comes when Thunderbolt accessories are more widespread and
marketable in the near future.
|
Info
Price: $295
Website: www.msi.com
Pros
Thunderbolt, Easy to overclock, Good performance
Cons
Has less I/O ports
Specifications
·
CPU Support: Intel
Core Processor
·
CPU Socket: LG A 1155
·
Chipset: Intel Z77
Chipset
·
Memory Type: Dual
Channel Memory
Ratings
·
Performance: 4/5
·
Features: 4/5
·
Cooling: 4/5
·
Value: 4/5
Benchmark results
·
PCMark 7: 5,135 points
·
PCMark 7 (Productivity): 5,420 points
·
PCMark 7 (Entertainment): 5,310 points
·
PCMark07 (Computation): 5,445 points
|
