• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

MSI Z87A Gaming Series Motherboard Prototype Pictured

To you find the prototype's golden PCB and simple heatsinks attractive?

  • Yes

    Votes: 13 46.4%
  • No

    Votes: 15 53.6%

  • Total voters
    28

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,204 (7.69/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
MSI displayed its upcoming Z87A Gaming Series motherboard. The company is yet to begin work on cosmetic details such as PCB color, heatsinks, component color scheme, etc., but a bulk of its development is complete. To begin with, the board uses a strong 16-phase VRM to power the CPU, which draws power from two 8-pin EPS connectors. The CPU is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory; and three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots in x16/NC/NC or x8/x8/NC or x8/x4/x4 configurations, depending on how they're populated. Four x1 slots make for the rest of its all-PCIe expansion slot area.

Storage connectivity on the Z87A Gaming Series includes eight SATA 6 Gb/s slots, two of which are driven by a third-party controller. 8-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, eight USB 3.0 ports (six on the rear panel, two by header), dual-HDMI and DisplayPort display outputs; effectively make for the rest of the board. The same exact PCB could be used to create two SKUs, the Z87A Gaming Series, and the Z87A-GD65. Apart from a swankier color scheme and heatsink design, the Gaming Series variant could feature a few additional overclocking features.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,204 (7.69/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
"omg it looks ugly MSI faail" comments without reading the newspost could attract infractions.
 
Joined
Dec 3, 2009
Messages
1,298 (0.25/day)
Location
The Netherlands
System Name PC || Acer Nitro 5
Processor Ryzen 9 5900x || R5 2500U @ 35W
Motherboard MAG B550M MORTAR WIFI || default
Cooling 1x Corsair XR5 360mm Rad||
Memory 2x16GB HyperX 3600 @ 3800 || 2x8GB DDR4 @ 2400MTs
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 2080Ti Sea Hawk EK X || RX 560X
Storage Samsung 9801TB x2 + Striped Tiered Storage Space (2x 128Gb SSD + 2x 1TB HDD) || 128GB + 1TB SSD
Display(s) Iiyama PL2770QS + Samsung U28E590, || 15,6" 1080P IPS @ 100Hz Freesync enabled
Case SilverStone Alta G1M ||
Audio Device(s) Asus Xonar DX
Power Supply Cooler Master V850 SFX || 135Watt 19V OEM adaptor
Mouse ROG Pugio II
Software Win 11 64bit || Win 11 64bit
"omg it looks ugly MSI faail" comments without reading the newspost could attract infractions.

I was gonna say I actually wish more boards were like this!
 
Joined
Sep 19, 2012
Messages
615 (0.15/day)
System Name [WIP]
Processor Intel Pentium G3420 [i7-4790K SOON(tm)]
Motherboard MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming
Cooling [Corsair H100i]
Memory G.Skill TridentX 2x8GB-2400-CL10 DDR3
Video Card(s) [MSI AMD Radeon R9-290 Gaming]
Storage Seagate 2TB Desktop SSHD / [Samsung 256GB 840 PRO]
Display(s) [BenQ XL2420Z]
Case [Corsair Obsidian 750D]
Power Supply Corsair RM750
Software Windows 8.1 x64 Pro / Linux Mint 15 / SteamOS
It's supposed to be a gaming version yet it has barely 16 lanes... Kinda meh, and this is from someone who doesn't advocate multi-GPU systems very much.

Also, I think having "prototype" (because that's what it is) in the headline would help with useless posts...
 

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,204 (7.69/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
Joined
Aug 10, 2007
Messages
4,267 (0.70/day)
Location
Sanford, FL, USA
Processor Intel i5-6600
Motherboard ASRock H170M-ITX
Cooling Cooler Master Geminii S524
Memory G.Skill DDR4-2133 16GB (8GB x 2)
Video Card(s) Gigabyte R9-380X 4GB
Storage Samsung 950 EVO 250GB (mSATA)
Display(s) LG 29UM69G-B 2560x1080 IPS
Case Lian Li PC-Q25
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC892
Power Supply Seasonic SS-460FL2
Mouse Logitech G700s
Keyboard Logitech G110
Software Windows 10 Pro
Joined
Oct 17, 2011
Messages
857 (0.19/day)
Location
Oregon
System Name Red 101
Processor 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900k
Motherboard EVGA Z370 Classified
Cooling Custom Primochill and Heatkiller water cooling loop
Memory 16GB of Gskill 3200Mhz CL14
Video Card(s) EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW2 with Heatkiller block @2114Mhz
Storage 4- Samsung Evo 250GB, 1- Pro 512GB and 1-512GB M.2
Display(s) LG 38" UW
Case In Win 101 customized a lot and painted red
Audio Device(s) Razer Kraken 7.1 Chroma
Power Supply EVGA 850w G2
Mouse Razer DeathAdderv2
Keyboard Razer Ornata Chroma
Software Win10Pro and games
Benchmark Scores NA
This is 1150 right? Haswell board on z87

meh

no likely MSI, bad luck has made me turn away from them and there are plenty of better brands.
 
Joined
Sep 19, 2012
Messages
615 (0.15/day)
System Name [WIP]
Processor Intel Pentium G3420 [i7-4790K SOON(tm)]
Motherboard MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming
Cooling [Corsair H100i]
Memory G.Skill TridentX 2x8GB-2400-CL10 DDR3
Video Card(s) [MSI AMD Radeon R9-290 Gaming]
Storage Seagate 2TB Desktop SSHD / [Samsung 256GB 840 PRO]
Display(s) [BenQ XL2420Z]
Case [Corsair Obsidian 750D]
Power Supply Corsair RM750
Software Windows 8.1 x64 Pro / Linux Mint 15 / SteamOS
no likely MSI, bad luck has made me turn away from them and there are plenty of better brands.

If it was bad luck, why is it MSI's fault?

My last MSI board was an AM2, on top of which I had the king of the hill Athlon X2 6400+ "BE"... which was a load of crap (the BE part, not the CPU itself)... but I guess none of that was MSI fault either, I should have gotten the 5000+ BE if OC was really what I was after. Either way, loved it's features and the Dual GBit LAN on it.
 
Joined
Oct 17, 2011
Messages
857 (0.19/day)
Location
Oregon
System Name Red 101
Processor 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900k
Motherboard EVGA Z370 Classified
Cooling Custom Primochill and Heatkiller water cooling loop
Memory 16GB of Gskill 3200Mhz CL14
Video Card(s) EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW2 with Heatkiller block @2114Mhz
Storage 4- Samsung Evo 250GB, 1- Pro 512GB and 1-512GB M.2
Display(s) LG 38" UW
Case In Win 101 customized a lot and painted red
Audio Device(s) Razer Kraken 7.1 Chroma
Power Supply EVGA 850w G2
Mouse Razer DeathAdderv2
Keyboard Razer Ornata Chroma
Software Win10Pro and games
Benchmark Scores NA
Luck.... they were the ones giving me the bad luck.

OK so maybe I just should have said they are junk and not put luck in there at all.

I had a z77 board that I RMAed after RMA after bios change after beta bios after this that and the next that wouldn't keep the system stable and worth a damn to me.

its ok though I have learned from my mistakes and I will never by a MSI board again, simple really.
 
Joined
Sep 19, 2012
Messages
615 (0.15/day)
System Name [WIP]
Processor Intel Pentium G3420 [i7-4790K SOON(tm)]
Motherboard MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming
Cooling [Corsair H100i]
Memory G.Skill TridentX 2x8GB-2400-CL10 DDR3
Video Card(s) [MSI AMD Radeon R9-290 Gaming]
Storage Seagate 2TB Desktop SSHD / [Samsung 256GB 840 PRO]
Display(s) [BenQ XL2420Z]
Case [Corsair Obsidian 750D]
Power Supply Corsair RM750
Software Windows 8.1 x64 Pro / Linux Mint 15 / SteamOS
Luck.... they were the ones giving me the bad luck.

OK so maybe I just should have said they are junk and not put luck in there at all.

I had a z77 board that I RMAed after RMA after bios change after beta bios after this that and the next that wouldn't keep the system stable and worth a damn to me.

its ok though I have learned from my mistakes and I will never by a MSI board again, simple really.

Not really simple, I'd say it's a bit ignorant to think that way... like the people keeping away from ASRock boards because they happen to hear or experiment with the "older" ASRock and think they're crap. But all in all, I understand your reluctancy or the scenario in general and it's hard to get out of it, like my past bad experiences with nVidia 8800 series (memory leaking and misc driver mishaps).
 
Joined
Sep 12, 2008
Messages
220 (0.04/day)
Location
Denmark
Processor Intel Core i7-6700k - Stock, multi core boost enabled
Motherboard MSI Z170i Gaming Pro AC
Cooling Noctua NH-U14S + Arctic MX2 thermal paste, 2 case fans (front and rear).
Memory 2x8gb Kingston DDR4 2666mhz
Video Card(s) MSI Geforce 1060 GTX Gaming X
Storage 120gb Samsung 830 EVO SSD, 240gb Samung 840 Evo SSD, 1tb Seagate HDD, 960gb Corsair Force MP510B
Display(s) Dell Ultrasharp 1920x1080
Case Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ITX SE
Power Supply SilverStone SST-ST85F-P
Mouse Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0
Keyboard Steelseries 6Gv2 - Cherry MX Black edition
Software OS: Windows 10 Pro 64bit.
Benchmark Scores Cinebench R20 multicore score: 2249. Cinebench R23 multicore score: 5149.
It would be great fun if they kept the PCB colour, you know, for nostalgia sake. No ports should be colour coded, the more obscure the better. Also, CPU settings like FSB, multiplier etc. should be taken out of the bios, and be relocated to tiny switched next to the cpu socket. Oh! And one often used port should be at a stupid location, like right next to the PCI-E 16x slot, or far away from where the cord can reach.
 
Joined
Oct 17, 2011
Messages
857 (0.19/day)
Location
Oregon
System Name Red 101
Processor 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900k
Motherboard EVGA Z370 Classified
Cooling Custom Primochill and Heatkiller water cooling loop
Memory 16GB of Gskill 3200Mhz CL14
Video Card(s) EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW2 with Heatkiller block @2114Mhz
Storage 4- Samsung Evo 250GB, 1- Pro 512GB and 1-512GB M.2
Display(s) LG 38" UW
Case In Win 101 customized a lot and painted red
Audio Device(s) Razer Kraken 7.1 Chroma
Power Supply EVGA 850w G2
Mouse Razer DeathAdderv2
Keyboard Razer Ornata Chroma
Software Win10Pro and games
Benchmark Scores NA
Like I said it is more of selection.... why buy from a company failed you when there is 5+ other companies to pick from?

I sold it and run a Asus Max. board that was a little more money but totally worth it and has not failed to amaze me.

Ya AsRock as really gotten the a lot of bad reports... why, they are "new", they had issues for a while... but from what I hear there new boards are above the rest or at least equal and they are cheaper ...lot cheaper.
 
Joined
Aug 13, 2010
Messages
5,369 (1.08/day)
Two 8PIN CPU connectors? That's about 400% of the power you actually need, even overclocked.
 
Joined
Oct 2, 2005
Messages
3,059 (0.45/day)
Location
Baltimore MD
Processor Ryzen 5900X
Motherboard ASUS Prime X470 Pro
Cooling Arctic liquid freezer II 240
Memory 2 x 16 Gb Gskill Trident Z 3600 Mhz
Video Card(s) MSI Ventus 3060 Ti OC
Storage Samsung 960 EVO 500 Gb / 860 EVO 1 Tb
Display(s) Dell S2719DGF
Case Lian Li Lancool II Mesh
Audio Device(s) Soundblaster Z
Power Supply Corsair RM850x
Mouse Logitech G703
Keyboard Logitech G513
Software Win 11
what is the green stuff sprayed onto the chips ?
 
Joined
Oct 17, 2011
Messages
857 (0.19/day)
Location
Oregon
System Name Red 101
Processor 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900k
Motherboard EVGA Z370 Classified
Cooling Custom Primochill and Heatkiller water cooling loop
Memory 16GB of Gskill 3200Mhz CL14
Video Card(s) EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW2 with Heatkiller block @2114Mhz
Storage 4- Samsung Evo 250GB, 1- Pro 512GB and 1-512GB M.2
Display(s) LG 38" UW
Case In Win 101 customized a lot and painted red
Audio Device(s) Razer Kraken 7.1 Chroma
Power Supply EVGA 850w G2
Mouse Razer DeathAdderv2
Keyboard Razer Ornata Chroma
Software Win10Pro and games
Benchmark Scores NA
Joined
Nov 5, 2012
Messages
153 (0.04/day)
Location
Los Angeles
System Name HP ProLiant DL360P G8
Processor 2x Xeon e2690
Motherboard HP
Cooling 6 Delta fans
Memory 192gb ECC ddr3 @1333
Video Card(s) Quadro k4200
Storage 4x 1.2TB Dell SAS raid 0
Display(s) iDrac over IP
Case HP 1U
Power Supply 2x 1100w Platinum PSUs
Mouse iDrac
Keyboard iDrac
Software Windows Server 2019
seems they went all out in the "old school" scheme
especially if that blue connector is what i think it is :wtf:

 
Joined
Dec 3, 2009
Messages
1,298 (0.25/day)
Location
The Netherlands
System Name PC || Acer Nitro 5
Processor Ryzen 9 5900x || R5 2500U @ 35W
Motherboard MAG B550M MORTAR WIFI || default
Cooling 1x Corsair XR5 360mm Rad||
Memory 2x16GB HyperX 3600 @ 3800 || 2x8GB DDR4 @ 2400MTs
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 2080Ti Sea Hawk EK X || RX 560X
Storage Samsung 9801TB x2 + Striped Tiered Storage Space (2x 128Gb SSD + 2x 1TB HDD) || 128GB + 1TB SSD
Display(s) Iiyama PL2770QS + Samsung U28E590, || 15,6" 1080P IPS @ 100Hz Freesync enabled
Case SilverStone Alta G1M ||
Audio Device(s) Asus Xonar DX
Power Supply Cooler Master V850 SFX || 135Watt 19V OEM adaptor
Mouse ROG Pugio II
Software Win 11 64bit || Win 11 64bit
Am I the only one that likes the aesthetics? Nice and simple, to the point.

No, the 3rd post already stated the same sentiment:)
 
Joined
Jul 5, 2008
Messages
336 (0.06/day)
System Name Roxy
Processor i7 5930K @ 4.5GHz (167x27 1.35V)
Motherboard X99-A/USB3.1
Cooling Barrow Infinity Mirror, EK 45x420mm, EK X-Res w 10W DDC
Memory 2x16GB Patriot Viper 3600 @3333 16-20-20-38
Video Card(s) XFX 5700 XT Thicc III Ultra
Storage Sabrent Rocket 2TB, 4TB WD Mechanical
Display(s) Acer XZ321Q (144Mhz Freesync Curved 32" 1080p)
Case Modded Cosmos-S Red, Tempered Glass Window, Full Frontal Mesh, Black interior
Audio Device(s) Soundblaster Z
Power Supply Corsair RM 850x White
Mouse Logitech G403
Keyboard CM Storm QuickFire TK
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores https://valid.x86.fr/e5uz5f
"omg it looks ugly MSI faail" comments without reading the newspost could attract infractions.
Was just going to say how deliciously retro it looks with that colour scheme from the days when overclocking meant messing with DIP switches and jumpers... but I'm sure the rose tint is masking days of frustration!

Then I saw the dual CPU 8-Pins and thought 5GHz + here we come.
 
Joined
Oct 2, 2005
Messages
3,059 (0.45/day)
Location
Baltimore MD
Processor Ryzen 5900X
Motherboard ASUS Prime X470 Pro
Cooling Arctic liquid freezer II 240
Memory 2 x 16 Gb Gskill Trident Z 3600 Mhz
Video Card(s) MSI Ventus 3060 Ti OC
Storage Samsung 960 EVO 500 Gb / 860 EVO 1 Tb
Display(s) Dell S2719DGF
Case Lian Li Lancool II Mesh
Audio Device(s) Soundblaster Z
Power Supply Corsair RM850x
Mouse Logitech G703
Keyboard Logitech G513
Software Win 11
Joined
Feb 8, 2008
Messages
2,665 (0.45/day)
Location
Switzerland
Processor i9 9900KS ( 5 Ghz all the time )
Motherboard Asus Maximus XI Hero Z390
Cooling EK Velocity + EK D5 pump + Alphacool full copper silver 360mm radiator
Memory 16GB Corsair Dominator GT ROG Edition 3333 Mhz
Video Card(s) ASUS TUF RTX 3080 Ti 12GB OC
Storage M.2 Samsung NVMe 970 Evo Plus 250 GB + 1TB 970 Evo Plus
Display(s) Asus PG279 IPS 1440p 165Hz G-sync
Case Cooler Master H500
Power Supply Asus ROG Thor 850W
Mouse Razer Deathadder Chroma
Keyboard Rapoo
Software Win 10 64 Bit
"omg it looks ugly MSI faail" comments without reading the newspost could attract infractions.

Yes and should be enough the title " prototype ".
 
Joined
Jan 29, 2012
Messages
6,384 (1.44/day)
Location
Florida
System Name natr0n-PC
Processor Ryzen 5950x - SMT Off / 5600x - SMT Off
Motherboard B450 AORUS M
Cooling EK AIO - 6 fan action
Memory Patriot - Viper Steel DDR4 (B-Die)(4x8GB)
Video Card(s) EVGA 3070ti FTW
Storage Various
Display(s) PIXIO IPS 240Hz 1080P
Case Thermaltake Level 20 VT
Audio Device(s) LOXJIE D10 + Kinter Amp + 6 Bookshelf Speakers Sony+JVC+Sony
Power Supply Super Flower Leadex III ARGB 80+ Gold 650W
Software XP/7/8.1/10
Benchmark Scores http://valid.x86.fr/79kuh6
"I'm superficial and cant handle this boards color"
 
Joined
May 21, 2008
Messages
4,113 (0.71/day)
Location
Iowa, USA
System Name THE CUBE 2.0
Processor Intel i5 13600k
Motherboard MSI MPG Z690 EDGE DDR4
Cooling Phanteks PH-TC14PE BK 2x T30-120 Fan mod mount
Memory G.Skill TridentZ 3200 MT/s C15 32GB 2x16GB
Video Card(s) Gigabyte Aorus 1080 Ti 11GB OC: Core 2GHz, Mem 5.7GHz
Storage WD SN770 250GB / 3x WD SN850X 2TB / Toshiba X300 4TB / 2x RAID1 Toshiba P300 3TB
Display(s) Samsung 49" Odyssey OLED G95SC 240Hz 5120 x 1440
Case "THE CUBE" Custom built, pure Red Alder wood
Audio Device(s) Beyerdynamic DT 880
Power Supply Corsair RM1000X
Mouse Logitech G700
Keyboard Logitech G910
Software Windows 11 Pro
No PCI awesome! lots of USB 3.0 awesome! right angled SATA!

Now we just need right angled 24/8pin.

Isn't this VRM a little overkill I though Haswell doesn't need this much?
 
Joined
Jan 22, 2007
Messages
869 (0.14/day)
Location
Round Rock, TX
System Name Teh Beast
Processor Intel i9 14900K
Motherboard Asus STRIX Z790E-E
Cooling Noctua U12A Chromax
Memory 64GB G.Skill T5 6400Mhz
Video Card(s) 7900 XTX Red Devil
Storage 1X 1TB SN850X - 1 X 4TB SN850X - 2 X 2TB 980 Pro
Display(s) LG 38" 38GL950G + LG 27" 27GP83B-B
Case Lian Li o11 Air Mini
Power Supply Corsair RM1000x
Software WIndows 11 Pro
I like it.. brings back memories of the 90's and early 2000's when almost all boards looked this way.

I realize they have yet to add color to the PCB, but maybe they should leave it that way :p
 
Top