MSI Calls Out Gigabyte for "Not True PCIe 3.0"
MSI calls out Gigabyte on its claims of having 40 PCIe Gen3 ready motherboards and wants to set the story straight.
MSI put together a presentation to detail information on what it feels is a true PCIe Gen3 motherboard. MSI is pointing out that, from its view, Gigabyte's claim on having 40 PCIe Gen3 boards isn't true.
MSI shows that its motherboards utilize Pericom 34xx (Gen3) switch chips, whereas Gigabyte utilizes Pericom 24xx (Gen2) switch chips. To fully utilize PCIe Gen3, all components are required to be Gen3 compliant to operate at 32 GB/s (CPU, PCIe Slot and GPU).
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MSI said that it did some PCI-Express electrical testing using a 22 nm Ivy Bridge processor sample to show the bandwidth seen on Gigabyte's P67A-UD4-B3 and MSI's MSI Z68A-GD65 (G3).
MSI states through their review that the only true PCIe Gen3 ready Gigabyte motherboard is the G1.Sniper 2.
See more on this topic from MSI's Media Page









Just found the data sheet from the manufacture of the chip used by Gigabyte:
http://www.pericom.com/pdf/datasheets/PI3PCIE2415.pdf
So, any actual proof of MSI's claims....or is all the "proof" supplied by MSI? Also, did anyone else notice that the pics show different motherboards? The first comparison shows the Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD7-B3, while the 5th pic shows the Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD4-B3....and on Gigabyte's website, there's no claim of PCIe 3.0 compatibility. In fact, for the GA-P67A-UD4-B3, Gigabyte actually states that all PCI Express slots conform to Gen2 specs....surprisingly enough, the same notice is posted on the spec page for the GA-Z68X-UD7-B3... So, exactly where is Gigabyte claiming these 2 boards support PCIe 3.0 when they list them as being PCIe Gen2 on the spec pages for both products? From what I can find, it seems MSI is simply grabbing at straws and using fraud as a marketing tool. Gotta love the purely false claim on the last page of their marketing scheme..."Only MSI Has True PCI Express GEN3"....so, I guess the PCIe3.0 controllers on newer ASRock boards are just a figment of my imagination....
So....where is this software that MSI used to "test" these slots and determine that Gigabyte is using PCIe Gen1 slots on the GA-P67A-UD4-B3... I'd like to publicly bitch slap MSI by proving the results are false.
If you're gonna throw down with a competitor you gotta go all out and that's about as far you can go on a professional Power Point presentation.
Next up, all members of congress must where a FAIL stamp on their forehead imposed by the American People until they balance the national budget.
Actually it sounds like someone who has had every MSI board they've owned fail (like me!). Except they are a little more verbose about it.
I consider Gigabyte to be a solid choice for motherboards when you're on a budget ($50 mobos that don't suck!). If I have >$100 to spend on a mobo, then I'll look Asus. They're better, but with that comes extra cost.
Neither brands have failed on me, save for a 5 yr old Asus that I thoroughly abused and overclocked. Frankly, I'm surprised it lasted that long.
Got some benchmarks to show that they're wrong?