The new motherboard from MSI codenamed J1800I comes with an Intel Celeron J1800 SoC, and with Intel HD graphics. Despite being embedded, the SoC can clock as fast as 2.4 GHz, TDP is only 10W, so for the cooling is sufficient passive aluminum heatsink what we have so far seen only on the chipset. To ensure stable operation, MSI used Military Class 4 components.

The new MSI motherboard labeled Z87 MPower MAX, based on the Z87 chipset comes with a support for Intel Core, Pentium and Celeron processors of the fourth generation in LGA1150 package.

The MSI S20 Slider 2 comes as a device with a dual role, it can be used as a tablet, but may be converted into a notebook by users desire.

MSI has introduced two interesting keyboards designed for gamers, but also for home and business users. Presented model GK-601 and Classic are the mechanical type keyboards with Cherry MX Red switches.

MSI plans to officially launch a line of motherboards for gamers at the the begining of next month during CeBIT 2013. The MSI G-series motherboard line features and design will be adapted to demanding gamers and overclockers, in the same way as similar products from other companies (such as the Asus ROG line). [At least according to MSI –Ed]

Since the first day AMD presented the AMD Radeon 7850 2GB graphic card, code name “Pitcairn”, they surprised the industry with its performance, abilities, technology and efficiency that put them in front of the rivals. The 7850 series has around 40% better performance when compared to its predecessor (the 6850) when running at higher resolutions. The HD 7850 is based on 28nm GCN Pitcairn GPU with 1024 stream processord and 256bit memory interface.

Every now and then we like to step back and take a look at the component industry. It has not been that long ago when the number of individual component makers began to dwindle. We have already watched as ABIT, SOYO DFI, FIC, and other motherboard manufacturers have disappeared. These were once great companies and flourished in the heyday of the DIY market (the Super Socket 7, Slot A and 1, Socket A etc.). Now the market is collapsing and we see companies that once only directly sold the pieces and parts for our computers starting to assemble them for us as well. Although the three major players in the motherboard/GPU market all have presence in Europe and Asia only one has truly penetrated the North American market and stands poised to make an even bigger impact there; this is Asus.

After taking a look over the MSI X79A-GD65(8D) motherboard and some of MSI’s design choices (and the benefits they bring) we have dove into our performance testing. You may remember that we had concerns about the way the PCIe slots were segmented into Gen3 and Gen2. To check and see what effect (if any) this might have on performance we ran some of our tests with the GPU in the Gen2 slot and some in the Gen3 slot. We were more than a little surprised at what we found out. So let’s get into the performance half of our review of the MSI X79A-GD65(8D) and see what we found.

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.

CES 2012 Las Vegas, Nevada – One of our late night CES appointments was to the MSI suite. Although we have worked with MSI a lot in the past in the last few months they have undergone some internal restructuring. This has been kept off of the net for the most part, but in the end will be a very good thing for MSI. We expect to hear a lot more from them in the coming months.