MSI X79 sneak peek

With Sandy Bridge E NDAs tying our hands when it comes to coverage, we were resigned to a long wait before being able to show you the LGA2011 gear coming your way. Happily, some sneaky so-and-so at MSI has obliged us, providing the below NDA-dodging sneak-peek photos of MSI's X79A-GD65 LGA2011 motherboard.

The quad-channel memory is in full effect, with four DIMM sockets on either side of the CPU socket and the CPU power circuitry crammed above it, topped by a hefty looking heatsink. Elsewhere there are on-board power buttons, one touch overclocking, on-board POST display and on-board USB 3.

In terms of PCI-E slots, it looks as though the board will boast five full-size PCI-E slots, along with a 1x PCI-E slot sandwiched in the middle. CrossFire and SLI support are also evident, as are eight SATA ports, four of which are SATA 6Gbps.

It'll be a while yet until we can bring you our full review of the board, or Sandy Bridge E itself, but it's good see board info start to leak out.





Like the look of MSI's LGA 2011 debut? Are you planning to buy Sandy Bridge E and an LGA2011 motherboard as part of your next upgrade? Or is good old Sandy Bridge still enough for you? Let us know in the forum