MSI Eclipse Plus Ready for Take-off

[btarunr]

Now that the market for Intel Core i7 supportive motherboards is well laid out, starting with a ~$200 Gigabyte EX58-UD3R all the way up to a ~$400 ASUS Rampage II Extreme, MSI finds the time ripe to introduce its flagship motherboard based on the Intel X58 chipset with the new LGA 1366 socket, the Eclipse Plus. Featured on MSI's product roadmaps as a then undisclosed model, the Eclipse Plus is a notch above the Eclipse SLI with greater expansion options, with components and features packed with keeping the serious performance enthusiast in mind. The Eclipse Plus will be releasing shortly.

To begin with, the Eclipse Plus features four PCI-Express x16 slots for 4-way ATI CrossfireX or 3-way SLI. Unlike with the Eclipse SLI, where the three PCI-E x16 slots which are directly routed to the X58 northbridge and get arranged as x16, x8, x8 electrically when all three slots are populated, the Eclipse Plus uses NVIDIA BR-03 multiplex chips to provide full-bandwidth x16 connections to the installed graphics cards. The BR-03 not just routes data to the graphics cards but as noted with nForce 780a motherboards, the nForce 200/BR-03 chips perform broadcast functions so the same pieces of data which are meant to be supplied to all member graphics cards of a SLI system are "broadcast" by the BR-03, easing congestions on the PCI-E x16 link that connects it to the Intel X58. The rest of the features are similar to those of the Eclipse SLI as listed in the roadmap slide.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[vampire622003]

Jesus, just think of the power.

 

[KBD]

wow, 10 SATA ports? or is 6 SATA and 4 SAS? regardless, thats a lot of ports, more than i've seen on any consumer board.

 

[BrooksyX]

Looks like a pretty sweet motherboard. Wouldn't mind getting one myself.

Msi has became my favorite motheboard manufacture lately. They haven't let me down yet.

 

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

wow, 10 SATA ports? or is 6 SATA and 4 SAS? regardless, thats a lot of ports, more than i've seen on any consumer board.

read up on the abit ab9 pro

 

[KBD]

read up on the abit ab9 pro

it has 9, this one has 10 which is insane but may be a blessing for some.

 

[BrooksyX]

it has 9, this one has 10 which is insane but may be a blessing for some.

I could probably use that many. I am using up 5 right now and have some more stuff I could throw in but don't want to overload my psu.

 

[KBD]

I could probably use that many. I am using up 5 right now and have some more stuff I could throw in but don't want to overload my psu.

i'm using 5 also, but i prolly will be getting rid of my DVD Rom and drop it down to four. I think that many port will be great for RAID 5.

 

[BrooksyX]

i'm using 5 also, but i prolly will be getting rid of my DVD Rom and drop it down to four. I think that many port will be great for RAID 5.

True but using raid 5 with an onboard raid controller might be a little impracticable. But then I am have no idea how the quality of the x58 motherboard raid controller is. I know onboard raid isn't all the great but I would assume that the controllers are starting to get a little better over time.

 

[KBD]

True but using raid 5 with an onboard raid controller might be a little impracticable. But then I am have no idea how the quality of the x58 motherboard raid controller is. I know onboard raid isn't all the great but I would assume that the controllers are starting to get a little better over time.

yea, any kind of RAID will be slower with an onboard controller than with a dedicated card. Though my veloci are running fast in RAID 0 on the Intel ICH9R SB. The X58 is paired with the ICH10R SB, BTW, so the controller is no different than the one on P45 and the performance should also be the same. There could be a newer JMicron controller ( if thats whats these boards use for additional controlers) though.

 

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

it has 9, this one has 10 which is insane but may be a blessing for some.

I miss my mobo

 

[KBD]

I miss my mobo

what happened to it? its still in your specs.

 

[ShadowFold]

What's with those crazy heatsinks? That would just annoy me.. You'd think it would be hard to manage GPU fan and case fan wires with all that metal.

 

[johnnyfiive]

That is a damn good looking motherboard.

 

[WarEagleAU]

to quote a line from one of my favorite movies, "I have GOT to get me one of dese!"

 

[LittleLizard]

the i/o is perfect except for the ps2 ports. they seem out of place in that board. also it has more buttons than the rampage 2 extreme

 

[Arrakis9]

this is one sexy mobo.. if i ever switch to i7 this will be my board of choice

 

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

what happened to it? its still in your specs.

i need a proc to test the board, e6400 on rma

 

[FreedomEclipse]

If this board fails - I'l have you know that I have a lawyer ready to go....

damn i need to copyright my name ffs, make me look bad

 

[BrooksyX]

What's with those crazy heatsinks? That would just annoy me.. You'd think it would be hard to manage GPU fan and case fan wires with all that metal.

For real? I don't think it would be that much of a problem. Its not like the heatsinks are extremely tall or anything. I don't think they would get in the way of any pci/pci-e cards.

 

[eidairaman1]

I have a Feeling this will replace their Platinum/Diamond Series boards as the Top End, but that board does look nice, just wish someone would innovate and make the board longer in the Expansion Slot Dept, to me 2 PCI Slots is Plenty, then the Others are 1-16x capable.

 

[KBD]

i need a proc to test the board, e6400 on rma

i have a single core celeron i can possibly loan to you. PM me if interested.

 

[stefanels]

I have to save up for this mobo... looking damn good

 

[Hayder_Master]

this is one sexy mobo.. if i ever switch to i7 this will be my board of choice

i think you change your mind when you see the gigabyte x58