• 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
Joined
Jan 5, 2013
Messages
895 (0.22/day)
Some PC enthusiasts are so gullible. "A gaming mobo". Right... Any respectible quality mobo will do everything this "gaming mobo" will do and for a lot less money. This board isn't even production ready. They are hyping it to create demand for a over-hyped product. A 16 phase VRM isn't necessarily any better than a 8 phase VRM, other than it might run slightly cooler but that isn't an issue as long as the VRM is properly designed and has a static heatsink.

I'm sure the gullible will be lined up to buy these with Mommy's money.
 
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
What do you call people who would buy this motherboard for reasons other than "hype"?
 
Joined
Apr 21, 2008
Messages
5,250 (0.90/day)
Location
IRAQ-Baghdad
System Name MASTER
Processor Core i7 3930k run at 4.4ghz
Motherboard Asus Rampage IV extreme
Cooling Corsair H100i
Memory 4x4G kingston hyperx beast 2400mhz
Video Card(s) 2X EVGA GTX680
Storage 2X Crusial M4 256g raid0, 1TbWD g, 2x500 WD B
Display(s) Samsung 27' 1080P LED 3D monitior 2ms
Case CoolerMaster Chosmos II
Audio Device(s) Creative sound blaster X-FI Titanum champion,Creative speakers 7.1 T7900
Power Supply Corsair 1200i, Logitch G500 Mouse, headset Corsair vengeance 1500
Software Win7 64bit Ultimate
Benchmark Scores 3d mark 2011: testing
it's remind me with my old 815 motherboard.
 
Joined
Mar 26, 2010
Messages
9,762 (1.91/day)
Location
Jakarta, Indonesia
System Name micropage7
Processor Intel Xeon X3470
Motherboard Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. P55A-UD3R (Socket 1156)
Cooling Enermax ETS-T40F
Memory Samsung 8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3
Video Card(s) NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800
Storage V-GEN03AS18EU120GB, Seagate 2 x 1TB and Seagate 4TB
Display(s) Samsung 21 inch LCD Wide Screen
Case Icute Super 18
Audio Device(s) Auzentech X-Fi Forte
Power Supply Silverstone 600 Watt
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard Sades Excalibur + Taihao keycaps
Software Win 7 64-bit
Benchmark Scores Classified
it reminds me the old motherboard era
and this is prototype so, better wait for further development
 
Joined
Jul 18, 2007
Messages
2,693 (0.44/day)
System Name panda
Processor 6700k
Motherboard sabertooth s
Cooling raystorm block<black ice stealth 240 rad<ek dcc 18w 140 xres
Memory 32gb ripjaw v
Video Card(s) 290x gamer<ntzx g10<antec 920
Storage 950 pro 250gb boot 850 evo pr0n
Display(s) QX2710LED@110hz lg 27ud68p
Case 540 Air
Audio Device(s) nope
Power Supply 750w superflower
Mouse g502
Keyboard shine 3 with grey, black and red caps
Software win 10
Benchmark Scores http://hwbot.org/user/marsey99/
its pretty much a z77 gd65 but with the new nic and sound chips.

and im with the other guy, my msi z77 was nothing but a headache and i will be steering around them in the future too.
 
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
Messages
4,251 (0.76/day)
Location
California
System Name New Build - Oct. 2021
Processor Intel i7 10700k
Motherboard Asus TUF Gaming H570-PRO
Cooling Corsair H100i
Memory Corsair Vengence 16gb 3600 mhz
Video Card(s) Gigabyte RTX 3060ti 8gb
Storage 1Tb Samsung 970 EVO NvMe m.2
Display(s) 27" LG Ultragear 144hz
Case Fractal Design- Meshify 2
Audio Device(s) Onborad dts
Power Supply Corsair RX 650 W
Mouse Roccat Kiro
Keyboard Razer Tarantula
Software Windows 10 Home x64
"I'm superficial and cant handle this boards color"

"I'm hipster and would love to build a retro looking pc with up to date features"

Now MSI needs to make a vga of the some style and get some 80mm fans too! ;)
 

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,274 (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
Added a poll. This should be interesting.
 

r9

Joined
Jul 28, 2008
Messages
3,300 (0.58/day)
System Name Primary|Secondary|Poweredge r410|Dell XPS|SteamDeck
Processor i7 11700k|i7 9700k|2 x E5620 |i5 5500U|Zen 2 4c/8t
Memory 32GB DDR4|16GB DDR4|16GB DDR4|32GB ECC DDR3|8GB DDR4|16GB LPDDR5
Video Card(s) RX 7800xt|RX 6700xt |On-Board|On-Board|8 RDNA 2 CUs
Storage 2TB m.2|512GB SSD+1TB SSD|2x256GBSSD 2x2TBGB|256GB sata|512GB nvme
Display(s) 50" 4k TV | Dell 27" |22" |3.3"|7"
VR HMD Samsung Odyssey+ | Oculus Quest 2
Software Windows 11 Pro|Windows 10 Pro|Windows 10 Home| Server 2012 r2|Windows 10 Pro
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.

Like Asrock, Biostar and Foxconn ?
 
Joined
Jan 20, 2010
Messages
868 (0.17/day)
Location
Toronto, ON. Canada
System Name Gamers PC
Processor AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE @ 3.80 GHz
Motherboard MSI 790FX-GD70 AM3
Cooling Corsair H50 Cooler
Memory Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3-1333
Video Card(s) XFX Radeon HD 5770 1GB GDDR5
Storage 2 x WD Caviar Green 1TB SATA300 w/64MB Buffer (RAID 0)
Display(s) Samsung 2494SW 1080p 24" WS LCD HD
Case CM HAF 932 Full Tower Case
Audio Device(s) Creative SB X-FI TITANIUM -PCIE x 1
Power Supply Corsair TX Series CMPSU-650TX (650W)
Software Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
They need to come ot with color coding imo. Like Black/Red, Blue/White, Orange/Green, Yellow/Purple etc...,. Only prob I have is boards are becoming cheap, low quality but yet we pay a lot of money for them.
 
Joined
Jun 29, 2006
Messages
230 (0.04/day)
I don't even understand how from five years ago to now, people care more about the colors of the board more than the performance.
 

Aquinus

Resident Wat-man
Joined
Jan 28, 2012
Messages
13,147 (2.96/day)
Location
Concord, NH, USA
System Name Apollo
Processor Intel Core i9 9880H
Motherboard Some proprietary Apple thing.
Memory 64GB DDR4-2667
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon Pro 5600M, 8GB HBM2
Storage 1TB Apple NVMe, 4TB External
Display(s) Laptop @ 3072x1920 + 2x LG 5k Ultrafine TB3 displays
Case MacBook Pro (16", 2019)
Audio Device(s) AirPods Pro, Sennheiser HD 380s w/ FIIO Alpen 2, or Logitech 2.1 Speakers
Power Supply 96w Power Adapter
Mouse Logitech MX Master 3
Keyboard Logitech G915, GL Clicky
Software MacOS 12.1
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?

Sounds like all the reasons (sans right angled 24-pin,) why I got my P9X79 Deluxe. :p

The 16+2+2+2 phase VRMs for this is over kill, and the ASRock Extreme11 with 24 is even more crazy. All in all, the current capability of the VRMs might be out of the park but they might have extra VRMs for better voltage regulation rather than better current ability.

I do dig the no PCI slot though, it was a goal for my rig when I was putting parts together.

I don't even understand how from five years ago to now, people care more about the colors of the board more than the performance.

You would be surprised how often people get butt hurt because they don't get something that would typically be considered commonplace nowadays such as PCB color. A lot of people like their computer to look just as nice inside as it does outside and a PCB that looks like a prototype isn't going to do that very well unless that is your theme. :p
 
Joined
Dec 27, 2012
Messages
226 (0.06/day)
Location
Athens,Greece
It depends, if that way the end user saves money I think it will only be dependent from the performance. :)
 
Joined
Apr 13, 2009
Messages
230 (0.04/day)
System Name NERV
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 2600X
Motherboard ASROCK B450M Steel Legend
Cooling Artic Freezer 33 One + 2x Akasa 140mm
Memory 2x8 Crucial Ballistix Sport 2993 MHz
Video Card(s) KFA2 GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
Storage Crucial Mx500 500GB + 1TB HDD
Display(s) Samsung C34H892
Case CM Masterbox Q300L
Audio Device(s) ALC892 + Topping D30
Power Supply Corsair RM650
Mouse CM Mastermouse Lite S
Keyboard Logitech G510
Software Win 10 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores No bech, only game!
No PCI??

My Xonar DS starts crying...:cry:
 

Aquinus

Resident Wat-man
Joined
Jan 28, 2012
Messages
13,147 (2.96/day)
Location
Concord, NH, USA
System Name Apollo
Processor Intel Core i9 9880H
Motherboard Some proprietary Apple thing.
Memory 64GB DDR4-2667
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon Pro 5600M, 8GB HBM2
Storage 1TB Apple NVMe, 4TB External
Display(s) Laptop @ 3072x1920 + 2x LG 5k Ultrafine TB3 displays
Case MacBook Pro (16", 2019)
Audio Device(s) AirPods Pro, Sennheiser HD 380s w/ FIIO Alpen 2, or Logitech 2.1 Speakers
Power Supply 96w Power Adapter
Mouse Logitech MX Master 3
Keyboard Logitech G915, GL Clicky
Software MacOS 12.1
No PCI??

My Xonar DS starts crying...:cry:

Personally I really like the expansion placement on the MSI 990XA-GD55. You still get one PCI in case you need it but you're loaded right up with a ton of 1x slots.

 
Top