We reckon that MSI has lost its way in the premium motherboard market of late. Competitors such as ASUS and ASRock have ploughed on with gamer-orientated boards - ROG and Fatal1ty spring to mind - while MSI has been conspicuous by its absence.
Looking to right this perceived wrong, MSI is releasing a range of gamer-specific motherboards that go by the name of the GAMING series. Original, eh?
Here's the Z77A-GD65 GAMING board, pictured at CeBIT 2013. The key differences between it and the regular Z77A-GD65 are as follows: All GAMING boards feature a Killer E2200 networking chip, to prioritise gaming traffic above all other network traffic. The PCB has been delogo'd, meaning the board has a cleaner layout. The heatsinks, too, have had a style makeover. MSI also pulls in what it terms T-Topology RAM over from the MPower range, offering DDR3 support at up to 3,000MHz speeds. Good luck in finding cheap modules of that ilk.
Further, all of the GAMING boads feature the new Sound Blaster Cinema codec and software suite. MSI claims that it offers a more immersive gaming experience, especially through headphones, but we have no way of putting this to the test until we have a board in the labs.
The rest of the layout is fairly standard. Think of the GAMING series as a halfway house between the standard motherboards and enthusiast MPower Range. MSI says that the GD65 GAMING will cost £10-£15 more than a regular GD65, which should translate to a street price of £135 or so.
Want to know more? Hit up this CeBIT video further explaining the philosophy and features behind the new GAMING line.
