The Board - A Closer Look

The MOSFET coolers that surround the socket on two sides are shaped into two distinct sets of dragon heads; one above the socket and one to the left. It's not often we see such connectedness in thematic designs. The PCH cooler is larger this time around, extending further down the board next to the PCIe slots. Having all this added connectivity with the Z87 Express chipset has obviously affected the PCH's heat output.


With the MSI Z87-GD65 GAMING comes a new audio chip on the market from Realtek; new like the Intel LGA 1150 socket. The new ALC1150 CODEC is surrounded by a metal EMI shield that has been attached to the rear of the board with screws. Pulling off the cover, we see the CODEC itself and a couple of LEDs that illuminate the cover plate when the board is powered on.


The return of the Killer E2205 LAN controller assists in regulating your network traffic based on what you decide should be prioritized, thanks to the included control panel that runs in current Windows OS environments. The video output duties are managed by the NXP PTN3360DBS pictured above.

An ASMedia ASM1061 drive controller also hides under the PCH cooler, but little else there makes up the MSI Z87-GD65 GAMING, and that's one of its strengths. The launch of Intel's latest platform has allowed MSI to take the design of the MSI Z77-GD65 GAMING board and hugely simplify the circuitry, since USB 3.0 and extra SATA 6 Gb/s support are now all rolled into the Intel Z87 Express PCH. This seems to be a common idea with many of the new board products that I have sitting here, and let me tell you, it's bloody awesome.