MSI launched the Z77IA-E53 mini-ITX motherboard, which was first pictured in July. Based on a markedly different PCB as the recently-launched B75IA-E33, the Z77IA-E53 is based on the feature-rich Intel Z77 Express chipset, and packs a formidable CPU overclocking muscle thanks to its 7-phase CPU VRM. The board draws power from 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors, and packs overclocker-friendly features such as OC Genie II, one-touch OC, and ClickBIOS UEFI firmware utility.

The LGA1155 socket is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory; and a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot. The only other expansion slot is an mPCI-Express 2.0, wired to the Z77 PCH. Storage connectivity includes two SATA 6 Gb/s, two SATA 3 Gb/s, and an eSATA 3 Gb/s. The Z77 PCH gives out four USB 3.0 ports, two of which are on the rear panel, and two available via headers. There are several other USB 2.0 ports, including a high-current header that charges mobile devices faster.

Leading mainboard and graphics card maker MSI announces the release of the GTX 660 Ti Power Edition (MKT Name: N660Ti PE 2GD5/OC & N660Ti PE 2GD5) graphics card. The new graphics card incorporates MSI's exclusive Triple Overvoltage technology and Enhanced PWM Design architecture to boost overclocking potential by up to 18.2%. Perfect cooling is supplied by of the new Twin Frozr IV Thermal Design and exclusive Dust Removal technology automatically removes dust from the heat sink module and maintains optimum cooling performance.

Propeller Blade technology increases airflow by 20% compared to conventional fans, effectively reducing the temperature by up to 14℃ and operating noise by 17.1dB. The GTX 660 Ti Power Edition also features Military Class III components, emphasizing on high quality and stability to provide gamers with a smooth and dependable working environment during overclocking or gaming. The MSI GTX 660 Ti Power Edition incorporates proprietary features and technologies in the power supply, cooling and materials that exceed the specifications of the reference board. The superior overclockability and stability make it the ideal choice among its class.

MSI introduced the B75IA-E33, a socket LGA1155 motherboard in the mini-ITX form-factor, based on Intel's business-oriented B75 Express chipset. The board has sufficient connectivity for space-saving business PCs, featuring Intel Small Business Advantage. The board also bears the Windows 8 compatibility label. It draws power from conventional 24-pin ATX and 4-pin CPU power connectors. The LGA1155 socket is powered by a 4-phase VRM. It is wired to two DIMM slots, supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1600 MHz memory; and a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot.

The Intel B75 PCH gives out one SATA 6 Gb/s, and three SATA 3 Gb/s internal ports on the B75IA-E33. Display connectivity includes DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. Other connectivity options include 6-channel HD audio with 7.1-channel optical SPDIF (TOSLINK) output, four USB 3.0 ports (two the rear panel, two by headers), gigabit Ethernet, a number of USB 2.0 ports, and mouse/keyboard combo PS/2 port. The board is driven by UEFI firmware. MSI did not give out pricing information.

MSI, the most popular overclocking brand is excited to introduce an all-new standard for overclocking stability. MSI's OC Certified standard is the new baseline for overclocking mainboards. the new MSI Z77 MPOWER, which is OC Certified, is submitted to a Military Class stress-test for overclocking. Where other motherboard manufacturers only test for a limited duration, MSI Z77 MPOWER is submitted to a 24 hour OC stress-test. Only mainboards surviving 24 hours of Prime95 while heavily overclocked. The conditions of the OC Certified test are rigorous high temperature, no airflow testing.

MSI's upcoming GeForce GTX 660 Ti HAWK 3 GB graphics card, installed in 3-way SLI configuration was pictured. One of the three was put through 3DMark03 and 3DMark 11. The picture reveals a card that looks similar to the company's GeForce GTX 670 Power Edition. MSI used double the memory amount, by populating the GPU's 192-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface with 3 GB of memory (2 Gbit x 12). The card is cooled by MSI's Twin Frozr IV cooling solution. It is clocked at 1020 MHz GPU core, 1098 MHz GPU Boost, and 6.00 GHz (GDDR5-effective) memory. The GPU-Z screenshot reveals more details.

While three of these cards were pictured in 3-way SLI configuration, only one of the three were put through tests. The cards were driven by a yet-unannounced GeForce 304.87 beta driver. In 3DMark03, the MSI GeForce GTX 660 Ti HAWK scored 18,731 points, and in 3DMark 11 Extreme Preset, it scored X2,862 points. Both these figures are similar to those of a reference NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670.

Despite being a popular motherboard, graphics card, and notebook vendor, MSI maintains an alter-ego: that of a PC case vendor. Unbeknownst to many, MSI secretly launches cases to select markets, some of which are mature markets, with little or no documentation on its international websites or PR channels. The company launched its Interceptor Raptor and Interceptor NightHawk cases in 2011. Its latest in the Interceptor series is named Barricade. The case was recently reviewed by LegitReviews.

Pictured below, the Barricade (model no: IN-535) is an ATX mid-tower case measuring 450(L) x 185(W) x 412(H) mm, weighing 7.8 kg, made of steel and ABS. It features a mostly-perforated front, with its utility panel (1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, HDA front-panel jacks), three 5.25-inch drive bays, and a large intake for two 120 mm blue LED-lit fans. Its interiors, including its motherboard tray, are mostly colored in the same shade of blue as the MSI logo. Apart from the three 5.25-inch bays, the Barricade features four 3.5-inch bays with support for 2.5-inch drives. The motherboard tray has cutouts for cable and CPU cooler management. Ventilation includes two 120 mm front intake fans, one 120 mm top exhaust fan, and provision for additional bottom and rear fans. The Interceptor Barricade from MSI is priced at US $79.99. Find a comprehensive review at the source.

MSI is working on a new socket LGA1155 motherboard based on the Intel Z77 Express chipset, and some of its first pictures were leaked to the web. The Z77IA-E53 from MSI is designed not only to provide a feature-rich board in its tiny footprint, but also one that's fit for CPU overclocking. The LGA1155 socket is powered by a 7-phase VRM that uses DrMOS and tantalum capacitors. The board draws power from 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors. The processor is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory, and a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot.

To make the most out of the limited board area, MSI stuck to the feature-set of the Z77 PCH. Storage connectivity includes two SATA 6 Gb/s, two SATA 3 Gb/s, an eSATA 3 Gb/s, and an mSATA 3 Gb/s. The mSATA slot shares its board space with an mPCIe 5 GT/s slot, which is stacked on top of it. The board provides four USB 3.0 ports, two on the rear panel, two via headers, all of which are driven by the Z77 PCH. Display outputs include D-Sub and HDMI. Other connectivity includes 6-channel HD audio (Realtek ALC892), gigabit Ethernet, and Bluetooth. The board is driven by UEFI BIOS with ClickBIOS II setup program. More details are awaited.

MSI introduced a 4 GB model of its GeForce GTX 680 Twin Frozr graphics card (model: N680GTX Twin Frozr 4GD5). The card is further available in standard (1006/1058 MHz core/GPU Boost) and OC (1058/1124 MHz core/GPU Boost) variants. The 4 GB of memory, spread across a 256-bit wide memory interface, is clocked at 6008 MHz (GDDR5-effective) on both variants. The card appears to make use of a custom-design PCB by MSI, which draws power from two 6-pin PCIe power connectors, and the company's trusty Twin Frozr III cooling solution, which has been featured on several of its high-end graphics cards. The new 4 GB variants could cost about 20% higher than their 2 GB counterparts.

MSI unveiled its new generation CR41 laptop, with a royal bronze tone finish revealing a metallic luster for a youthfully chic exterior. The color film print technology gives it character and natural refinement that make it stand out from the crowd. The CR41 is the perfect mobile companion when you're enjoying some summer rays.

Eric Kuo, associate vice president for global sales, MSI Notebook, points out that not only is the eye-catching CR41 NB ideal for outdoor use, it features a cutting-edge processing platform that employs the most advanced nano production technology, enhancing great processing performance over the previous generation. It is also ready for the Windows 8 upgrade when it comes out. For details, please visit MSI's website. Furthermore, to handle HD multimedia with increasingly higher resolution, the CR41 packs powerful features like SRS PC Sound, USB3.0, HDMI 1.4, Bluetooth 4.0 and ECO technologies give it up to 7.5 hours of battery time per charge, perfect for individuals that don't always have electrical outlets nearby. *Actual battery time will vary with differences in computer use and settings.

MSI Computer Corp, a leading manufacturer of computer hardware products and solutions, challenges gaming standards once again by upgrading the GT70 and GT60 with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M, the fastest mobile GPU to-date.

Outfitted with state of the art gaming components, including Intel Core i7-3610QM Processor, Killer E2200 Game Network, Dynaudio Tech speakers with THX Surround Sound and SteelSeries Programmable Backlit Keyboard, the upgraded units deliver utmost gaming ecstasy to both the casual and serious gamer.

Since the last couple of weeks, we've known of MSI's plans to enter the client SSD market, thanks to a leak by LSI-SandForce. Today we're getting the first pictures of what MSI has been secretly working on. Called the Reflex series, MSI's first SSDs are built on the most widely used performance SSD platform, a combination of LSI-SandForce SF2281 controller and 25 nm synchronous NAND flash.

MSI's Reflex series will be launched in three variants, the RX-60 (60 GB), the RX-120 (120 GB), and the RX-240 (240 GB), respectively. Performance numbers differ with model. The RX-60 offers up to 525 MB/s reads with 495 MB/s writes, and 85,000 IOPS 4K random write performance. The RX-120 ups that to 550 MB/s reads with 515 MB/s writes, and 90,000 IOPS 4K random writes. Leading the pack is the RX-240, with 560 MB/s reads, 525 MB/s writes, and 90,000 IOPS 4K random writes. The three are built in the 2.5-inch form-factor, with SATA 6 Gb/s interface. Pricing and availability information is awaited.Update (23/07): MSI Europe informed us that while the product is real, it will not be available for purchase in Europe, and that there are no plans to sell the drives in the old continent, in the near future. MSI Europe's statement follows

MSI's new CX61 and CR61 15.6-inch multimedia laptops pack Intel's new generation Core i processor for the ultimate in computing power. What's more, to meet the needs of increasing high resolution of today's HD multimedia, the CX61 and CR70 come equipped with cinema-level SRS PC Sound and faster transfer ports, including USB 3.0, which is ten times faster than USB 2.0, HDMI 1.4, which can handle the latest HD resolution, and the new generation Bluetooth 4.0, which connects more quickly and covers a wider area.

Eric Kuo, associate vice president for global sales, MSI Notebook, notes that the CX61 and CR61 feature a cutting-edge processing platform that employs the most advanced nano production technology, enhancing great processing performance over the previous generation. They are also ready for the Windows 8 upgrade when it comes out. For details, please visit MSI's website. Furthermore, to handle HD multimedia with increasingly higher resolution, the CX61 and CR61 pack powerful features like SRS PC Sound, USB3.0, HDMI 1.4, and Bluetooth 4.0. In addition, the CX61 sports the most advanced performance-level discrete graphics card-the Nvidia GeForce GT640M discrete graphics card, giving you the absolutely fastest, smoothest multimedia performance available bar none, making it "Your multimedia companion!"

The performance lead that MSI's Radeon HD 7970 Lightning maintained over reference HD 7970 was cut down, first by NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 680, and then by AMD's own Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, leaving its engineers to go back to the drawing boards, and design an even faster graphics card. The result: a liquid-cooled HD 7970 GHz Edition Lightning graphics card, which could push clock-speeds up even further. The card ships with a pre-installed full-coverage water-block, made by EK WaterBlocks (EKWB). It comes ready for 6-display Eyefinity, with four mini-DisplayPort and two DVI. Here's hoping one of those is a dual-link DVI. More details are awaited.

Update: We've received word that it's not that MSI has a new product in the works, but that EKWB has a water-block tailored for MSI's existing R7970 Lightning.

MSI has received high marks from all quarters for its high-end gaming laptops, including being selected for Innovations Honorees at the CES 2012 and being named as the only winner of three awards at Computex 2012. Now, MSI is introducing the GT70 and GT60-the ultimate in next-generation gaming notebooks. They feature Intel's third gen quad core processor and new generation Nvidia GeForce GTX 680M discrete graphics card-the fastest one of its kind on the planet. Specially designed to meet the extreme demands of extreme gamers around the world. These killer notebooks also boast awesome peripherals.

While the PC enthusiast community know MSI more to be the people behind some quality motherboards, graphics cards, and notebooks, apart from a few lesser known product lines, the Taiwanese company has a few completely undocumented products. A "case" in point (mind the pun) is its Interceptor line of gaming PC cases, whose launch spread across early 2012, was completely undocumented by MSI public relations. Solid State Drives (SSDs) will soon be MSI's newest frontier, according to no less than LSI-SandForce.

Apparently, MSI has signed up LSI-SandForce as a provider of SSD controllers. The page on the company website that lists all "SandForce-Driven" SSDs includes a column for MSI (including its company logo), with the models column being marked "Coming Soon." This is not the first time MSI got involved with SSD. The company's high-end GT60/GT70 gaming notebooks come with a self-designed SSD RAID solution, that makes use of SanDisk-branded mSATA SSDs in RAID 0 configuration. We have sought more information from MSI.

MSI proudly announces a new 22" All-in-One PC in its line-up: the MSI Wind Top AE2281G. Equipped with a 3rd Gen Intel Core i5 Quad-Core Processor and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M graphics card with NVIDIA Optimus Technology, this All-in-One PC supports 1080p Full HD resolution images on its 22" FHD Multi-Touch display. The AE2281G comes with an Anti-Glare screen, which prevents light reflections. To ensure a stable working environment, the AE2281G comes with high quality Military Class components that have an optimal lifetime during heavy conditions. Connecting external devices to this user-friendly system is also no problem thanks to two high speed USB3.0 ports with MSI Super Charger technology and four USB2.0 ports.

With the MSI Instant Display Technology, the AE2281G can also be used as monitor for external devices (via HDMI-in), such as a gaming console or desktop. Now every familymember can enjoy using the MSI AE2281G in their own individual way.

MSI launch MS-9893 with the latest Intel Atom Platform. This is the multi-display outputs of mini-ITX form factor board with the latest 32nm process technology for the highest HD graphics quality, and offers lower power consumption and enhanced graphic and media performance.

MSI MS-9893 supports multi-display outputs, including single Channel 18/24 bit LVDS, VGA, one HDMI. It has great graphics performance and support for up to 1080P high definition video.MSI MS-9893 is equipped with single-channel DDR3 1066 MHz memory up to a maximum of 4 GB in 1 x 204 SO-DIMM slots. MS-9893 supports D2550(10W) / N2800(6.5W) two SKU, with VGA, HDMI, Video Output: LVDS/ Single CH 24bit by D2550 (LVDS/ Single CH 18bit by N2800). Power Input support, one ATX for D2550, and another is DC-in 12V for D2550 / N2800. I/O, and expansion connectivity, including 6* COM-ports(2 x Real, 4 x Internal), 6* USB2.0(4 x Real, 2 x Internal), and 8*GPIO(4 x GPI, 4 x GPO), one PCI slot and one Mini-PCIe slot could support the m-SATA/wireless function.

MSI announced today that their Intel 6/7 series mainboards have officially acquired Windows 8 certification from Microsoft. During the Computex exhibition this year, MSI already lead the Windows 8 market by displaying several mainboards that meet the Windows 8 certification requirements and showing off various new Windows 8 features live for the exhibition audience.

Not only did the MSI mainboards get officially certified from Microsoft, they are currently the only leading mainboard brand that runs 3DMark for Windows 8 successfully on their certified mainboards, which proves that MSI is fully ready for Windows 8 in terms of both software and hardware, safeguarding the Windows 8 system's stability and compatibility for consumers and providing the best user experience!

Leading mainboard and graphics card maker MSI has just announced the release of the N680GTX Lightning, the new king of the graphics card world equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 GPU. The N680GTX Lightning utilizes proprietary Unlocked Digital Power architecture to unleash the full performance of the graphics card without any extra modifications. The innovative patented GPU Reactor power supply back plate also reduces power supply noise and improves overclocking stability. the N680GTX Lightning is kept cool by the Twin Frozr IV cooling solution with Dust Removal technology, dual temperature-controlled fan setup and SuperPipe.

The fierce MSI MOA (Master Overclocking Arena) 2012 EMEA Qualifier competition has ended successfully on June 14; European overclocking experts from a total of 16 countries competed in the event and have broken world records for 3DMark11 and 3DMark03 eight consecutive times. The top five scores of the winners of EMEA Qualifier competition are Xtreme Addict (Poland), T0lsty (Ukraine), ryba (PurePC.pl) (Poland), Aristidis (Greece) and Smoke (Russian Federation); the winners will team up and advance to the MOA 2012 World Overclocking Finals, and head to Taiwan to compete in the world-class "Steel World" competition.

During this skirmish, the competitors' first choice MSI HD 7970 Lightning graphics card ranked number 1 for both 3DMark11 and 3DMark03; the Polish contestant Xtreme Addict's 3DMark11 P score: 16055 marks and the Ukraine contestant T0lsty's 3DMark03 score: 214000 marks won the competition's first place for each single graphics card event respectively,. Which just goes to show that the contestants are completely fired up to march towards the worldwide Grand Final! After the EMEA Qualifier, another shot at 3DMark11 P score of 16259 marks resulted in a new WR by Polish overclocker: ryba (PurePC.pl).

Round 3 of the MSI MOA (Master Overclocking Arena) qualifiers starts on June 15 and allows the top overclockers in the Asia-Pacific region to battle it out for a ticket to Taiwan. During the qualifiers, which have seen many new records so far, the overclocking experts from the Asia-Pacific region compete for eight tickets to the MOA 2012 grand finals to become the master of the "Steel World" competition!

The annual overclocking competition MOA (Master Overclocking Arena) 2012 held by the world's leading mainboard and graphics card manufacturer MSI, has held regional qualifier competitions since April to select powerhouse overclockers to compete in the annual worldwide Grand Final. After the Americas regional qualifier and the EMEA regional qualifier have successfully ended, the Asia-Pacific regional qualifier battle is about to begin; the competition will go on from June 15 to July 12, overclockers can participate in the competition with any model of MSI mainboard and graphics card, but is limited to a single CPU and GPU.

Apart from the premium A85XA-G65, and mini-ITX A85IA-E53, MSI has two other mainstream socket FM2 motherboards, the A85MA-E35, and A55M-P33 (F2).

The A85MA-E35, like its mini-ITX cousin, has a misleading name. It is actually based on the AMD A75 FCH chipset. The socket FM2 APU is powered by a simple 5-phase VRM, it is wired to just the two DDR3 DIMM slots, and a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot. Other slots include two PCI-Express 2.0 x1 and a legacy PCI. Display outputs include DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. All six SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the FCH are wired out as internal ones, the board features a total of four USB 3.0 ports.

MSI showed off its top socket FM2 motherboard, the A85XA-G65. Based on the AMD A85 FCH chipset, the board supports upcoming AMD "Trinity" APUs in the FM2 package. MSI designed the A85XA-G65 with its Military Class III construction. The FM2 APU is powered by an 8-phase VRM. It is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz memory; and two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots (x8/x8, when both are populated). Given that it supports both NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFire, it's a little strange that MSI didn't name this model "A85XA-GD65." Other expansion slots include three PCI-Express 2.0 x1 and two legacy PCI.

All eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the A85 FCH are wired out as internal ports, with no eSATA. Display outputs include one each of DVI, D-Sub, HDMI, and DisplayPort. Other connectivity options include four USB 3.0 ports, gigabit Ethernet, and 8+2 channel HD audio. The A85XA-G65 features quite a few OC-friendly features, including voltage-measurement points with lead-holders, OC Genie, ClickBIOS II UEFI BIOS, etc. It will be among MSI's first socket FM2 motherboards to be launched, a little later this quarter.

MSI's new Big Bang MPower line of motherboards were shown to public with a matching pair of graphics cards, the already launched R7970 Lightning, and the upcoming N680GTX Lightning. Based on the GeForce GTX 680, the card is expected to feature >10% higher out of the box clock speeds, with 2 GB of memory. Like its cousin from the red camp, it features MSI's swanky new black+yellow Twin Frozr IV cooling solution, and Unlocked Digital Power VRM, which gives users fine control over GPU, memory, and PLL (auxiliary) power domains using Afterburner software. The new card will be launched in the coming weeks.

NVIDIA today brings its next-generation NVIDIA Kepler graphics architecture to the top of the GeForce notebook GPU lineup, with the launch of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M. The fastest, most advanced gaming notebook GPU ever built, the GTX 680M GPU delivers unprecedented performance, incredible power efficiency and the world's most advanced gaming technology.

"The GeForce GTX 680M is the fastest mobile GPU ever, but it's more than just a speed king," said Rene Haas, vice president and general manager of the notebook business unit at NVIDIA. "It also offers an entire arsenal of next-gen gaming technology, along with Optimus technology for extended battery life."