MSI Unveils 970A SLI Krait Edition Motherboard Featuring USB 3.1

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MSI had one of the first USB 3.1-supported motherboards in the market, so it's no surprise that the company is continuing the trend of adding USB 3.1 ports to its new motherboards. The company bills the 970A SLI Krait Edition motherboard as the first AMD-based motherboard to support the brand-new USB 3.1 port.

For storage, the motherboard has six SATA III (6 Gbps) slots and supports RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10. Along with six audio ports, it features a smorgasbord of USB ports with the two new USB 3.1 ports in the rear, two USB 3.0 ports in the front, and support for a total of 12 USB 2.0 ports split between the front and rear. A PS/2 keyboard port, LAN port, and PS/2 mouse combo port round out the rear I/O.

What's interesting is that even with all of these USB ports, none of them sports the new USB Type-C connector, which we've seen on both of the new Asus and ASRock set of motherboards.

MSI has yet to release a price and release date for the board. However, this is a sign that USB 3.1 is adopted more on the latest motherboards. Our initial USB 3.1 test in January showed that the new USB version predictably outperforms its predecessors.

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Rexly Peñaflorida
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Rexly Peñaflorida is a freelance writer for Tom's Hardware covering topics such as computer hardware, video games, and general technology news.

6 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Jeremy Kincaid
    Who'd have thought we'd see new standards implemented on a 970 chipset mb in 2015.
    Reply
  • rolli59
    Why the sudden interest of reviving the 970 chipset?
    Reply
  • MasterDell
    Why the sudden interest of reviewing the 970 chipset?
    Because history is important ;)
    Reply
  • Beastshaw
    Why the sudden interest of reviving the 970 chipset?

    It is because they have found a nice niche in the market. Before they released their 970 Gaming Motherboard there were no performance options for the 970 chipset. Shortly after seeing MSI's success, ASRock also decided to jump in and recently released a premium 970 board that even included M.2. These boards have been outselling nearly all other 970 boards combined on Newegg recently.

    Links:

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130790&cm_re=msi_970_gaming-_-13-130-790-_-Product

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157577&cm_re=970_performance-_-13-157-577-_-Product
    Reply
  • rolli59
    15552929 said:
    Why the sudden interest of reviving the 970 chipset?

    It is because they have found a nice niche in the market. Before they released their 970 Gaming Motherboard there were no performance options for the 970 chipset. Shortly after seeing MSI's success, ASRock also decided to jump in and recently released a premium 970 board that even included M.2. These boards have been outselling nearly all other 970 boards combined on Newegg recently.

    Links:

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130790&cm_re=msi_970_gaming-_-13-130-790-_-Product

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157577&cm_re=970_performance-_-13-157-577-_-Product
    Gigabyte 970UD3 and UD3P have been on the market for a long time and why not do it with the 990FX chipset instead.
    Reply
  • Narcissistic_Martyr
    If it has 8+2 phase power (which it appears to) and is around the price of the UD3/UD3P I guess it'll get my recommendation for people whose AM3 motherboard broke or who are dead set on an AMD build.
    Reply