MSI 9-series Gaming Series Motherboards Pictured

[btarunr]

MSI is ready with its Gaming series socket LGA1150 motherboards based on Intel's next-gen 9-series chipset, which are ready for Core "Haswell" refresh processors. The series includes three boards in the ATX form-factor, the 9-series Gaming 9 AC, 9-series Gaming 7, and 9-series Gaming 3; and one in the mini-ITX form-factor, the 9-series Gaming. The 9-series Gaming 9 AC is loaded with features, including a 12-phase CPU VRM, four DDR3 DIMM slots, three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x16/NC/NC or x8/x8/NC or x8/x4/x4), eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, a PCI-Express x2 M.2 slot, Killer E2200 NIC, 802.11 ac WLAN, and more.

Next up, is the 9-series Gaming 7, which offers the same 12-phase CPU VRM as the 9-series Gaming 9 AC, same three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots, four PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and an identical storage connectivity. The 9-series Gaming 3 is the most affordable of the lot, with a 6-phase CPU VRM, one PCI-Express 3.0 x16, a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x4), two PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and three PCI; six SATA 6 Gb/s, one M.2, and Killer E2200 NIC. Lastly, there's the 9-series Gaming ITX, which offers a decent 6-phase VRM, single PCI-Express 3.0 x16, 802.11 ac networking, Killer E2200 NIC, and AudioBoost audio. The three should launch in the run up to the mid-May release of Intel's new processors.



More pictures follow.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[zinfinion]

Interesting positioning of the M.2 on the Gaming 3. I'm curious if we'll see any boards with two M.2 sockets, especially since there are 4x lanes directly from the CPU that can be split between them as the sockets are only 2x.

 

[sgtspiff]

Crazy CPU position on the ITX. Not many cooler will fit with the GPU so close.

 

[cadaveca]

Crazy CPU position on the ITX. Not many cooler will fit with the GPU so close.

good call on that one, although the rest of the layout is pretty tasty.

 

[Prima.Vera]

3xPCI? but why? I only need 1.

 

[Pumper]

What was the excuse to ditch the new 8 series boards again? I was hopint o upgrade to Broadwell with my Z87 but I won't be able to put Haswell refrest in it? WTF Intel?

 

[TheHunter]

What was the excuse to ditch the new 8 series boards again? I was hopint o upgrade to Broadwell with my Z87 but I won't be able to put Haswell refrest in it? WTF Intel?

you will, all bigger mobo manufacturers released uefi Firmware update to support latest Haswell-refresh, my Asus Z87 is already updated..

And i bet Broadwell will be compatible the same way via FW flash.
Even Intel PR/ceo said it will be compatible with existing systems and brand new systems aka Z97..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=KeDtXucTwRI#t=23

 

[Pumper]

Cool. Just checked Asus page and dowloaded the 1802 bios for my Gryphon. They just did not update the supported CPU list yet for some reason.

 

[ypsylon]

What kind of daft engineer puts rubbish-Killer NIC [or Realtek] on a high-end top of the class boards? I don't get it.

1 Intel NIC is worth any number of usual rubbish supplied with motherboards. On motherboard worth 100$ cheap NIC is nothing serious, but on board with price-tag of 300$ or more it is criminal offense and should be punishable by firing squad.

 

[micropage7]

Crazy CPU position on the ITX. Not many cooler will fit with the GPU so close.

so you have another reason to get water cooling kit if you want to push it further, btw it looks pretty solid board

 

[Disparia]

^ Yep, waterblock. Besides, it's not like we need all heatsinks to fit, just need one or two good ones. The bigger issue is that they seem to have forgotten the M.2 slot on it!

 

[cadaveca]

What kind of daft engineer puts rubbish-Killer NIC [or Realtek] on a high-end top of the class boards? I don't get it.

1 Intel NIC is worth any number of usual rubbish supplied with motherboards. On motherboard worth 100$ cheap NIC is nothing serious, but on board with price-tag of 300$ or more it is criminal offense and should be punishable by firing squad.

I think you're over-stating the differences between these LAN chipsets. Do of course keep in mind that I do get a chance to try most motherboards. I see little difference in normal GAMING usage between KillerNIC and Intel. I actually have more problems with Intel LAN chipsets, to be perfectly honest.

That said, although not all Intel LAN chipsets are the same, Intel chipsets ARE the preferred controller, and many boards, if not most, do have them.

 

[Zago]

Suite ;D

 

[TheHunter]

Cool. Just checked Asus page and dowloaded the 1802 bios for my Gryphon. They just did not update the supported CPU list yet for some reason.

You need to load bios update tool (@ bios-utilities),
BIOS updater for New 4th Gen Intel Core Processors
http://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/GRYPHON_Z87/HelpDesk_Download/


then load your latest bios 1802.cap into that, install from within windows (you can via usb too) reboot and then its updated with latest firmware.