MSI joins the race with a new Z87 Haswell motherboard.
Having already revealed its Z77 motherboards, MSI unveiled their prototype Haswell Z87 Chipset motherboard at CeBIT 2013. Though this prototype socket LGA1150 motherboard looks like something from 20 years with its defaced chips, plain heat sinks and mustard yellow PCB, it actually includes most of the features we've come to expect from a modern motherboard.
Starting with the I/O Panel, the board features six USB 3.0 ports with two more USB 2.0 ports below the PS/2 ports. Also included are Gigabit ethernet, HD audio, two HDMI jacks, one DisplayPort connector, Optical TOSLINK and a Clear-CMOS button.
Moving to the middle we can see four DDR3 memory slots which should offer support for up to 64 GB of memory, three PCIe 3.0 x16 slots, four PCIe 2.0 x1 slots and 2 USB 3.0 headers. The board also features eight SATA 6 GB/s connectors, but doesn't seem to offer any provisions to connect eSata or mSata drives. Interestingly, there is a blue 7 pin connector next to the standard 24 pin ATX power connector which serves a still unknown purpose.
The CPU socket is surrounded by an impressive 16-phase VRM design, and even features two 8-pin EPS connectors which indicates that the board could support very power hungry CPUs. This being said, we can't think of any current or upcoming chips that would require this amount of power and the general trend has been towards improved CPU lithography and efficiency.
Dude. They function, only thing that it glitches out on is when a PC goes into sleep mode and then "wakes" again, the device needs to be removed and reattached. Don't be such a sensationalist.
"Having already revealed its Z77 motherboards"???
"looks like something from 20 years with its defaced chips"???
That just reads wrong.
The "mystery connector" next to the 24-pin ATX plug looks like voltage check points.
Dude. They function, only thing that it glitches out on is when a PC goes into sleep mode and then "wakes" again, the device needs to be removed and reattached. Don't be such a sensationalist.
not trying to be, but at least for me, they're as good as non-functional until they fixed the glitch. I currently have five backup/data drives, and a few USB hubs connected to my USB 3.0 ports, and I sure as hell am not dealing with everything disconnecting every time my computer goes to sleep.
you have to keep in mind that these ports are on the mobo's I/O panel, which the vast majority of people keep in the back of their computer. now I honestly don't see anyone happy about having to climb back there everytime their computer goes to sleep.
Of course, I'm not trying to be over dramatic either. I'm fairly confident Intel will get everything sorted out sooner or later, but it's not like Intel has never screwed up a launch so I'm going to wait and see what happens that's all
Also, I'm thinking the engineers did this to distribute currents across the rails better in order to improve efficiency (since higher currents = higher losses thermodynamically)
inb4 "Oh anyone upgrading to the newest line needs to buy a new power supply as well". Of course, final product i wouldnt think will have 2. this is just a prototype afterall.
Dude. They function, only thing that it glitches out on is when a PC goes into sleep mode and then "wakes" again, the device needs to be removed and reattached. Don't be such a sensationalist.
not trying to be, but at least for me, they're as good as non-functional until they fixed the glitch. I currently have five backup/data drives, and a few USB hubs connected to my USB 3.0 ports, and I sure as hell am not dealing with everything disconnecting every time my computer goes to sleep.
you have to keep in mind that these ports are on the mobo's I/O panel, which the vast majority of people keep in the back of their computer. now I honestly don't see anyone happy about having to climb back there everytime their computer goes to sleep.
Of course, I'm not trying to be over dramatic either. I'm fairly confident Intel will get everything sorted out sooner or later, but it's not like Intel has never screwed up a launch so I'm going to wait and see what happens that's all
I see where your coming from. My PC never sleeps, its either of or on(more likely on). LOL so I can't relate.
inb4 "Oh anyone upgrading to the newest line needs to buy a new power supply as well". Of course, final product i wouldnt think will have 2. this is just a prototype afterall.
I agree. There is no chance that a Haswel chip will need THAT much power. Not even SB-E needs that much.
Are there consumer 16 GB sticks floating around?
Would anyone actually get 64GB of ram for a z87 board?
Are there consumer 16 GB sticks floating around?
Yep, there are. They are VERY expensive though. Mostly they are server oriented though.
But even if there were not. This would not be the first time this sort of thing has cropped up.
I hope you enjoy getting on your hands and knees and reattaching things constantly.
I hope you enjoy getting on your hands and knees and reattaching things constantly.
Read my previous reply...
I believe it's for the onboard VRM that Haswell incorporates. It needs more juice to work effectively in the current design. Overclocking is a secondary effort for Intel in this generation, its now far more focused on power efficiency and finding a lower TDP for the Core architecture. The real gains will start with Broadwell.