Thursday, January 28th 2010
MSI Readies Big Bang XPower X58 Motherboard
MSI seems to be almost ready with a new high-end motherboard for the socket LGA-1366 Intel Core i7 platform. The new MSI Big Bang XPower motherboard is based on the usual Intel X58 Express + ICH10R chipset, and offers six PCI-Express x16 slots, which which it can support CrossFireX, SLI, and still have room for dedicated PhysX accelerators or other PCI-E devices. The XPower also features support for SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0 using additional controllers.
The CPU is powered by a 16-phase DrMOS PWM, which draws power from two 8-pin power connectors. It makes use of High-C capacitors for higher durability. An additional 6-pin PCI-Express power input adds electrical stability to the PCI-Express x16 slots. The socket is wired to six DDR3 DIMM slots for triple-channel memory support, which are powered by a 3-phase VRM.Audio is spun off to a "Quantum Wave Audio Card", which sits on the lone PCI-Express x1 slot, gives out 7.1 ch audio, and supports THX TruStudio PC Suite and EAX 5.0 HD. There are two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, two USB 3.0 and a number of USB 2.0 ports, and FireWire, along with two power eSATA ports. The ICH10R gives out six internal SATA 3 Gb/s ports, while an additional controller gives out two SATA 6 Gb/s ones. The XPower supports MSI's OC Genie and Easy Switch overclocking features. As mentioned earlier, the board is just almost ready, it doesn't seem to have been pictured with its final chipset-VRM cooling. MSI expects it to be released by March. The way its product roadmap is designed also gives us the indication that there could be something even better than this in the works by MSI.
The CPU is powered by a 16-phase DrMOS PWM, which draws power from two 8-pin power connectors. It makes use of High-C capacitors for higher durability. An additional 6-pin PCI-Express power input adds electrical stability to the PCI-Express x16 slots. The socket is wired to six DDR3 DIMM slots for triple-channel memory support, which are powered by a 3-phase VRM.Audio is spun off to a "Quantum Wave Audio Card", which sits on the lone PCI-Express x1 slot, gives out 7.1 ch audio, and supports THX TruStudio PC Suite and EAX 5.0 HD. There are two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, two USB 3.0 and a number of USB 2.0 ports, and FireWire, along with two power eSATA ports. The ICH10R gives out six internal SATA 3 Gb/s ports, while an additional controller gives out two SATA 6 Gb/s ones. The XPower supports MSI's OC Genie and Easy Switch overclocking features. As mentioned earlier, the board is just almost ready, it doesn't seem to have been pictured with its final chipset-VRM cooling. MSI expects it to be released by March. The way its product roadmap is designed also gives us the indication that there could be something even better than this in the works by MSI.