MSI Z77A-GD55 Motherboard Pictured

[btarunr]

Here are the first pictures of MSI's Z77A-GD55 motherboard. The GD55 is a notch below the GD65 in terms of its feature-set, and will likely hold a cost-benefit sweetspot. The motherboard is designed to support today's "Sandy Bridge", and tomorrow's "Ivy Bridge" Core processors in the LGA1155 package, and is based on Intel's Z77 "Panther Point" chipset. The CPU is powered by a lighter 9-phase VRM compared to the 12-phase VRM on the GD65. It retains the expansion slot layout of its elder brother, consisting of two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (x16/NC or x8/x8), four PCIe x1, and one PCIe 2.0 x4 (physical x16).

The Z77A-GD55 has two fewer SATA 6 Gb/s ports compared to the GD65, all its internal ports are wired to the PCH. That's two SATA 6 Gb/s and four SATA 3 Gb/s. There are no eSATA ports. Further, there are no third-party USB 3.0 controllers, either. All four of the USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear panel, two via front-panel header) are wired to the PCH. Display connectivity includes DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. 8-channel HD audio with optical and coaxial SPDIF outputs, and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of its connectivity.



Most of the overclocker-friendly features from the GD65 are retained, albeit stripped down. For example, the consolidated voltage measurement points are still there, but just as exposed solder points instead of sockets that can hold multimeter leads; same with OC Genie. MSI's UEFI BIOS with plenty of tuning features is still there, but unlike with the GD65, there's no redundant BIOS. While in the pictures above the complete model name is masked, reliable sources hinted at it being the Z77A-GD55.

Source: Expreview

[_JP_]

Looks good and seems to have nice features for a mid-range board. Price shall dictate it's success, as always...


















Inb4 "Let PCI/ PS/2 die already!".

[btarunr]

Originally Posted by _JP_

Inb4 "Let PCI/ PS/2 die already!".

PS/2 will die when even a $5 USB keyboard offers NKRO comparable to a $5 PS/2 keyboard. Right now it takes >$50 USB keyboards to do that.

[LAN_deRf_HA]

What's this? A MSI board I find physically appealing?

[Delta6326]

I really like the looks of this board nice Heatsinks that aren't over the top.

[badtaylorx]

what should die are "gun-heatsinks" god i hate those.....

thank you msi.....this board is classy

[Dj-ElectriC]

Im happy to see MSI are making progress

[Trackr]

Originally Posted by btarunr

PS/2 will die when even a $5 USB keyboard offers NKRO comparable to a $5 PS/2 keyboard. Right now it takes >$50 USB keyboards to do that.

NKRO is only useful for super-duper-high-end gamers who absolutely need to be able to hit four keys at the same time and have them all register.

I hardly think the price of the keyboard matters for such rarely needed function.

[eidairaman1]

The boards highlights really would work in a cold cathode config. Honestly though what does Z77 have over Z68?

Originally Posted by Trackr

NKRO is only useful for super-duper-high-end gamers who absolutely need to be able to hit four keys at the same time and have them all register.

I hardly think the price of the keyboard matters for such rarely needed function.

it certainly helps in FPS Games such as UT/QUAKE/HALO/COD/DE/DF/MOH/GR/BF...