The fourth X79 board we have in the lab is from MSI in the form of the X79A-GD65(8D). This board features the third generation of their Military Class of hardware as well as what MSI calls true Gen 3 PCIe The X79A-GD65(8D) has a price tag under $300 which makes these represents the lowest priced board we have tested so far. Now the question is; does the X79A-GD65(8D) have the same level of quality and performance as its more expensive peers, or will we find out that the old maxim “you get what you pay for” is true. We will take a look at both the performance and the design choices behind the X79A-GD65 and let you know. We will kick things off with the design and features.
Features -
In the current market motherboard (and indeed almost all component) performance is very close. The days of a large performance advantage between boards using the same chipset are long gone. That is unless someone makes a HUGE mistake (like runs traces completely wrong). Now, the thing that differentiates different products is the features. These are things like power management, extra slots, better audio CODECs etc. It is these items that R&D teams work so hard to drop into what are really identical pieces of hardware at their most basic level.
Excellent -
Military Class III
Gen 3 PCIe
Hi-c Capacitors
The feature list here is light and of the three listed only one grants a measurable performance benefit. The others are more about stability and durability than anything else.
In the middle (sort of good) -
THX TruStudio Pro
Click BIOS II
Instant OC
This short list is also dubious for a $290 motherboard, but here we are starting to see that the major draw is going to be in the components and the Gen 3 hardware built into the board.
Floor Mats -
Solid Capacitors
Ferrite Chokes (even Super ones)
Header adapters
USB headers
1 Second OC
Super Charge
We are pretty sure that you can understand the list here. Features like the 1 Second OC and Super Charge have been done by other manufacturers, but are still nice to see here.
