MSI plans to unveil its third Big Bang motherboard, the XPower. This new motherboard uses Intel's X58 chipset and features six PCI Express x16 slots, six DDR3 memory slots, SATA 6Gbps and USB 3.0.
The motherboard is designed for hardware enthusiasts, it features 16-phase DrMOS PWM, two 8-pin power connectors, Hi-C capacitors, an extra 6-pin PCIe power input for the PCIe slots, OC Dashboard and V-Kit. Audio is provided by a Quantum Wave audio card with 7.1 channel audio, EAX 5.0 and THX TruStudio PC Suite.
MSI thropws in six (!) PCI-Express x16 slots. While the ICH10R gives out six SATA 3 Gb/s ports, an additional controller gives two 6 Gb/s ports (colour-coded white). Audio is care of a bundled PCI-Express x1 audio card called the MSI QuantumWave that includes THX TruStudio PC Suite, and support for Creative EAX 5.0 HD. Connectivity includes dual gigabit Ethernet, two USB 3.0 ports next to a number of USB 2.0 ports, power-eSATA, FireWire, and a connector for the OC Dashboard module.
It looks like MSI is using a generous splattering of them on the new Big Bang XPower. Q1 in 2010, and it already looks like we're supposed to spell "promising" with the "I" before the "M." The motherboard looks a bit naked but that's because the photos don't show the cooling solution that will be shipped with the retail models.
Click on the thumbnails.
