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The MSI P67A-GD65 motherboard brings forth a lot for computer enthusiasts to get excited about, not the least of which are dual PCI Express x16 videocard slots, (4) USB 3.0 ports, (6) SATA 6GB/s ports and specialized tools for seasoned overclockers. For example, if you're one to break out a digital multimeter while overclocking there are handy voltage read points next to the boards' DDR3 memory slots.
78% Rating: 
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MSI P67A-GD65 |
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360-Degree Motherboard Gallery: MSI P67A-GD765
360-Degree Motherboard
Gallery:
Here's a quick spin around the board. Expansion options
include two PCI Express x16 2.0 slots for videocards, three PCI Express x1 and
two PCI slots. A single videocard will run in x16 mode while two-way nVidia SLI
or ATI CrossfireX configurations will split the bandwidth equally and run both
videocards in x8/x8 mode.
Spacing between the two videocard PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots
is good. Dual-slot videocards only block one PCIEx1 slot. If you opt for SLI or
CrossFireX, that will cost you a PCI slot as well.
Along the bottom of the MSI P67A-GD65
motherboard you'll find the following headers: audio, USB 3.0, 1394, USB 2.0,
TPM module connect, COM port header. One USB 3.0 bracket is included with the
board. There's a good amount of connectivity on the motherboard,
but I wouldn't say MSI couldn't add a few more USB headers or USB 3.0
ports.
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The red USB
2.0 header supports the MSI "Super Charger" USB charging feature while the computer is in an off
state.
In this corner of the MSI P67A-GD65 motherboard we physical Power
and Reset buttons next to MSI's proprietory OC Genie button. OC Genie is
basically a one touch
overclocking switch.
Near the front panel IO header and clear CMOS jumper are four 3Gb/s SATA
II ports (black) and two 6Gb/s SATA III jacks (white) from the Intel P67
chipset. RAID 0/1/5/10 can be configured across any of these ports. A Marvell controller adds a further two 6Gb/s SATA
III ports (also in white).
The Intel
P67 Express chipset runs pretty cool since it's basically a glorified Intel
ICH10R chipset - MSI can get away with a simple low profile extruded aluminum
heatsink here.
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Passive
heatsink for Intel P67 Chipset and four SATA II
/ four SATA III ports. |
MSI's P67A-GD65 motherboard supports
DDR3-1066/1333/1600/1866/2133 memory in a dual channel configuration. The
largest memory density for 64-bit operating systems is 32GB, for Windows 32-bit
you're capped at 4GB max.
MSI provide
enthusiasts with voltage check points just off the the side of the DDR3 DIMM
slots. Small jumpers are inserted to facilitate measuring with a multimeter the
following: CPU, CPU_VTT, CPU_SA, DDR, PCH voltages.
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Like all
Intel P67 platforms, the MSI P67A-GD65 motherboard accommodates 32nm Intel
socket LGA1155 2nd Generation 'Sandy Bridge' Core i3/i5/i7 2xxx-series
processors and is not backwards compatible with socket LGA1156 Lynnfield
chips.
That's not all, there's more on
the next page....
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