MSI Claims Most Affordable X58 Motherboard
MSI announced on Monday its new MSI X58 Pro motherboard for the Intel Core i7 platform, which is claimed as the most affordable X58 on the market.
Intel Core i7 systems are generally known to be on the expensive side, with the least expensive X58 motherboards on Newegg.com priced to start at $199.99. True to its claims though, the newly announced MSI X58 Pro motherboard is now showing up at some online retailers with a price of just $189.99.
The motherboard features two PCIe x16 slots with SLI and CrossfireX support, heatpipe cooling with a split thermal system, a 2nd-generation five-phase DrMOS power solution to help conserve power and an onboard eSATA interface. The motherboard is also equipped with six triple-channel DDR3 memory slots, a PCIe x4 slot, two PCIe x1 slots, two PCI slots, firewire, a TPM pin header, M-connectors and an Easy Button for a quick system reset.
Prices for X58 motherboards have already come down quite a bit since the launch of the Core i7 platform, making it possible now to purchase the three main Core i7 system components for as little as $559.
| Part | Price |
|---|---|
| Crucial 3 GB DDR3 1066 MHz triple-channel kit | $73.99 |
| MSI X58 Pro motherboard | $189.99 |
| Intel Core i7 920 2.66 GHz processor | $294.99 |
| Total | $558.97 |

I wish just once the more expensive mbds would include PCI64/66
or PCIX instead of boring PCI32/33. If these are supposed to be
aimed at 'enthusiasts', isn't it likely that a fair few such
people will want to mess around with PCI options that need more
than just 32bit PCI to really fly? (eg. SCSI RAID, FC, etc.)
Thankfully, ASUS has an i7 board with PCIX, which is probably the
one I'll be getting in the summer. Strangely, it's no more costly
than most other i7 mbds, though a fair bit more than the new MSI.
Ian.
In your opinion right? I would rather have MSI parts than anything OEM from Dell or HP
I must say, I was very pleased with the Asrock AM2/AGP board I
bought a coupla years ago (AM2NF3-VSTA nForce 3). I wasn't
expecting much (the board was less than $60) but it performed
superbly, giving results with a 6000+ and X1950Pro AGP card that
outperformed scores on review sites which used much more
expensive PCIe mbds fitted with the PCIe version of the X1950
(I got 5583 3DMark06). Likewise, my second mbd (ASUS M2N32 WS
Pro) has also been really good (11762 3DMark06 with a 6000+ and
an 8800GT).
I had the impression beforehand that Asrock was regarded as a
supplier of somewhat lesser quality parts, but looks can be
deceiving.
I'm sure there are those here who've done well with MSI boards.
Everyone has their own experiences. What I discovered is that
one does not need an expensive mbd to obtain good results.
Ian.
I'm sure there'll be a range of boards out later. Bit worrying
though that DRAM prices just now seem to be rising.
Ian.