HoTWiReZ's DoMaiN

[News BoT]

<p align="center"></p><p><p>
Word from MSI suggests that sales of their Gaming motherboard range are better than projected and there is an enthusiasm for the brand across PC building forums.&nbsp; We reviewed the Z77A-GD65 Gaming motherboard here at AnandTech last year and have a couple more in to review in the near future, but today MSI is announcing the extension of the gaming range into the B85 chipset.&nbsp; B85 is the cheapest PCIe 3.0 8-series chipset from Intel (before H81, &nbsp;which loses even more features from Z87), and thus the aim for MSI is to bring the Gaming branding down to lower price points.&nbsp; Other manufacturers are doing this with their gaming ranges, but MSI is being particularly aggressive by also focusing on the smaller form factors.&nbsp; They are announcing this week the B85I Gaming (mini-ITX) and B85M Gaming (micro-ATX) as a result, complementing their B85-G43 Gaming (ATX).</p>
<p align="center">
</p>
<p>
There are few details regarding the B85M Gaming currently available, but the B85I Gaming already has its own page on the MSI website with detailed specifications and high resolution images.&nbsp; Aside from the form factor MSI has equipped the motherboard with:</p>
<ul>
<li>
A Killer E2205 network interface</li>
<li>
A mini-PCIe port</li>
<li>
Audio Boost (an enhanced Realtek ALC1150 audio solution) with Sound Blaster Cinema</li>
<li>
An enhanced polling rate USB port</li>
<li>
An audio oriented USB port (smoother power supply)</li>
<li>
VGA Boost (increases power limits for MSI graphics cards)</li>
<li>
MSI&rsquo;s Click BIOS 4, OC Genie 4, Military Class 4</li>
</ul>
<p>
As this is a B85 product, it is limited to DDR3-1600 memory, as well as no hardware RAID.&nbsp; MSI offers their software RAID solution to compensate. &nbsp;<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: transparent;">With the cheaper motherboards it is not always easy to get the features exactly as required, and the location of the 8-pin CPU power connector does cause some concern requiring cables over other components. &nbsp;But the SATA, USB 3.0 and 24-pin ATX are all easy enough to get to.</span></p>
<p align="center">
</p>
<p>
While we were not furnished with release dates and times, we can extrapolate that they might be ~$5-10 more than the non-gaming counterparts.&nbsp; The MSI B85I is currently $80, so I would assume the B85I Gaming will retail $85-90.&nbsp; Similarly the MSI B85M-G43 is $75, putting the MSI B85M Gaming at $80-85.</p>
<p>
Source: MSI</p>
<div>Gallery: MSI Extends its Gaming Motherboards to B85I and B85M<div></div></div></p><p align="center"><img src='http://dynamic1.anandtech.com/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=24&cb=714057286&n=a1f2f01f' border='0' alt='' /></p>

Read more...

Source: AnandTech
This channel features the latest computer hardware related articles.