MSI Announces New Entry-level Socket AM3+ Motherboard

News
By Jane McEntegart
published

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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Jane McEntegart
18 Comments Comment from the forums
  • robthatguyx
    not bad at 90$
    Reply
  • shikamaru31789
    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.
    Reply
  • Wisecracker
    Rather have an FM2 mini-ITX, or better yet, a 990X mATX motherboard.

    Reply
  • DRosencraft
    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.
    Reply
  • MSI build an 890GX micro-atx successor with the AMD 990FX chipset and i am sold!
    Reply
  • monkeysweat
    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
    Reply
  • joytech22
    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.
    Reply
  • Onus
    ^+1. If this continues the tradition of MSI's 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.
    Reply
  • zomow
    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...
    Reply
  • shikamaru31789
    zomowHow is that possible? RMA extend for at least 3years on a motherboard...I meant Newegg's 30 day RMA.
    Reply