MSI Announces New Entry-level Socket AM3+ Motherboard

An entry-level board for AMD's FX family of CPUs.

While Intel earlier this week announced plans to exit the motherboard market after Haswell, it's business as usual for other players in the industry. MSI just today announced a new entry-level socket AM3+ mobo for AMD's FX chips. The board will support AMD's FX, Phenom II X6, X4, X3, X2, Athlon II X4, X3, X2 and Sempron CPU.

Dubbed the 970A-G43, this ATX board is based on AMD's 970 chipset with SB950 southbridge and packs four DDR3 DIMM slots with support for up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR3 1866MHz memory, two PCI-Ex16 slots, two PCI-Ex1, two PCI, six SATAIII, 0/1/5/10, two USB 3.0 ports (rear), six USB 2.0 ports (rear), six Audio ports (rear), and gigabit LAN. As an ATX form-factor board, it measures in at 30.5cm(L) x 22.5cm(W) and has six mounting holes.

Release date is not yet clear but we do know the board will be priced at $89.99 when it does launch. We'll keep you posted on availability.

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robthatguyx , January 26, 2013 1:31 AM

not bad at 90$
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shikamaru31789 , January 26, 2013 1:44 AM

I remain a little skeptical of MSI budget mobos after I bought an 870-G45 mobo from them and it came DOA. Unfortunately I made the mistake of not putting it in my system immediately, so by the time I tested it, it was too late to RMA. Since then I've heard of alot of other people having issues with entry level MSI mobos, but supposedly their high end models are amazing.
1 Ð

Wisecracker , January 26, 2013 2:00 AM

Rather have an FM2 mini-ITX, or better yet, a 990X mATX motherboard.
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DRosencraft , January 26, 2013 2:02 AM

I've had a sketchy past with MSI as well, so they would have to do something fairly impressive to entice me to use them again. Furthermore, I don't see much impressive about this board anyway. I'm not even sure how competitive that price is.
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jupiter optimus maximus , January 26, 2013 2:04 AM

MSI build an 890GX micro-atx successor with the AMD 990FX chipset and i am sold!
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monkeysweat , January 26, 2013 2:29 AM

wish they would switch the 2nd x1 slot with the first PCI to be just above the 2nd x16 slot,,, a little surprised that manufacturers still interested in bringing out new AM3+ boards
1 Ð

joytech22 , January 26, 2013 2:35 AM

I like how nobody's pointed out the lack of cooling on the voltage regulators.
If you plan on using a water cooler then those regulators are boned.
-1 Ð

Onus , January 26, 2013 2:51 AM

^+1. If this continues the tradition of MSI's [cheaper] AMD board with VRMs that pop under load, it's no bargain at ANY price. I see this one dying in piles if overclocked.
This board actually looks fairly well-featured, IF aimed at non-savvy business users. They may not realize that AMD's AM3+ offerings pretty much need to be overclocked to offer decent performance. Such people buy in volume, but they are also very sensitive to quality issues.
1 Ð

zomow , January 26, 2013 2:57 AM

shikamaru31789Unfortunately I made the mistake of not putting it in my system immediately, so by the time I tested it, it was too late to RMA.

How is that possible? RMA extend for at least 3years on a motherboard...
0 Ð

shikamaru31789 , January 26, 2013 4:34 AM

zomowHow is that possible? RMA extend for at least 3years on a motherboard...

I meant Newegg's 30 day RMA.
1 Ð

de5_Roy , January 26, 2013 12:31 PM

slash the price by $20 and dub it msi 970Xplodr-g43.....
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iam2thecrowe , January 26, 2013 2:02 PM

shikamaru31789I remain a little skeptical of MSI budget mobos after I bought an 870-G45 mobo from them and it came DOA. Unfortunately I made the mistake of not putting it in my system immediately, so by the time I tested it, it was too late to RMA. Since then I've heard of alot of other people having issues with entry level MSI mobos, but supposedly their high end models are amazing.

So you have a sample size of ONE board that was faulty. Thats a great way to make a judgement about a company...................
0 Ð

threehosts , January 26, 2013 5:18 PM

I've had so much problems with MSI's motherboards (especially their AMD motherboards) that I can't be bothered to deal with them again.
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Augray37 , January 26, 2013 6:50 PM

umm....woo? woowoo? woo....woohoo....whoohoooo! WOOOYEAHA! new random budget msi motherboard yeahboi!
1 Ð

Wisecracker , January 26, 2013 10:33 PM

MSI makes good stuff with good support. They're no different than Asus or Gigabyte as a top-tier OEM.
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razzb3d , January 27, 2013 2:19 AM

shikamaru31789I remain a little skeptical of MSI budget mobos after I bought an 870-G45 mobo from them and it came DOA. Unfortunately I made the mistake of not putting it in my system immediately, so by the time I tested it, it was too late to RMA. Since then I've heard of alot of other people having issues with entry level MSI mobos, but supposedly their high end models are amazing.

I've built over 1000 MSI based business oriented PCs. Yes, some boards come DOA, but it's under 5% (about 48 boards out of 1000), witch is better than the 10-11% of ASUS mobos that I get dead on arrival. Also they age better. Had less MSI based PCs break down then the ASUS pc's I used to build in the past. Very good mainboard maker.
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Fulgurant , January 27, 2013 5:36 AM

razzb3dI've built over 1000 MSI based business oriented PCs. Yes, some boards come DOA, but it's under 5% (about 48 boards out of 1000), witch is better than the 10-11% of ASUS mobos that I get dead on arrival. Also they age better. Had less MSI based PCs break down then the ASUS pc's I used to build in the past. Very good mainboard maker.

http://www.behardware.com/articles/881-2/components-returns-rates-7.html

Apparently the two brands are roughly equivalent in terms of reliability. Interestingly, both MSI and ASUS have particular models with unacceptably high return rates, whereas ASRock and Gigabyte do not, at least this past quarter.

Personally, I've always used Asus, and I couldn't be happier with their products.
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quotas47 , January 29, 2013 11:46 PM

DISCLAIMER: I have happily used MANY Asus products.

Maybe someday they'll stop making boards that gives me no reasonable access to PCIE 1x Slots, and maybe throw in a 4x slot once in a while.

Why put the slots on there if we can't bloody use them.
They should have put the lower PCIE1x below the first PCI at least, which might still allow you to use both PCIE1x if they're half height, but wedging the second one below the top PCIE16x Graphics Card's heat sink assembly.