The Board - A Closer Look

We already mentioned the ON/OFF and RESET switches, but we didn't mention that there's also another switch, up by the DIMM slots labelled "OC GENIE", which when depressed, offers an automatic overclock, as well as enabling XMP profiles in supported memory at the same time, for a quick and easy performance boost. Of course, when this button is depressed, a nice warning will pop up before entering the BIOS, advising you to not make any changes while this mode is enabled. Speaking of the BIOS, there are two BIOS chips onboard, and try as we might to get a failed boot, after three failed attempts, it always kicked off from the back-up BIOS with a notification of it doing so, and easy entry into the BIOS to change settings was always possible.


The VRM controller that MSI used here on the Z68A-GD65 (G3) is carried over from the previous Z68 MSI boards, with a strange 3-pin header nearby for unknown purposes. What we do know, however, is that the board features what MSI calls "APS", or Active Phase Switching, and the LED array you see in the second picture above indicates the APS status, with the lights increasing in number and intensity as the board's VRM is placed under load.


The Z68A-GD65 (G3)'s CPU VRM itself is composed of eight phases for the CPU proper, and two phases for the CPU's integrated GPU and its northbridge. The DIMM VRM is a single-phase design, although it does have a dual HI/LOW MOSFET design, more than enough for memory clocking on the SKT1155 platform.


The Super I/O is provided by Fintek, not one that we see commonly, and if you prefer to not rely on software for voltage measurements via the Fintek chip, MSI has equipped the Z68A-GD65 (G3) with a measuring point, and included adapter cables that when mated with a digital multi-meter, can provide quite accurate real-time voltage measurements for various critical CPU and memory voltages.
In order to provide PCIe 3.0 lane switching, MSI has soldered on true PCIe 3.0 switches, seen in the third picture, and it's these components the lead to the revision, as well as lending the "G3" status to the board's moniker.


Marvell has been tapped for the extra SATA 6 Gb/s controller, with the very popular 88SE9128-NAA2 sitting just behind the ports it controls. ASMedia provides the PCI slot signal via the ASM1083, while Realtek provides the LAN connectivity via the RTL8111E placed just above the top PCIe x1 slot.


We find dual Parade PS8101 TMDS transmitters, which together allow for dual monitor support via your chosen CPU's integrated video controller.


The USB 3.0 controllers are none other than standard NEC/Renesas D7202000AF1, a PCIe-based controller that not only boasts some awesome performance, but also promises to sip the power while doing so.


The Z68A-GD65 (G3) comes equipped with a pretty hefty cooling system, with both the VRM and PCH heatsink made of large solid chunks of aluminum. The PCH cooler is attached with the same pink gummy thermal interface material we've be finding on a lot of Intel-based products as of late, while the phase cooler uses soft thermal pads that make good contact with all of the board's VRM phases. Comprised of two separate elements that are connected via a large heatpipe, the VRM cooler proved very good, barely getting warm to the touch in our test bench, even under the most extreme loads.