EDIT, 15/03/2020, 3:00pm PT: MSI is the manufacturer behind the MS-98L9 V2.0. German retailer Spectra is one of the few to list the motherboard on its website. We have amended the text below to accurately reflect the situation:
As discovered by German publication HardwareLuxx, MSI has created a rather peculiar LGA1151-based motherboard for consumers that are still using archaic hardware. The MS-98L9 V2.0 apparently resurrects the defunct PCI interface, among other fascinating relics.
Maintaining the old-time look, the MS-98L9 V2.0 comes with a green PCB that adheres to the standard ATX form factor. The motherboard has a LGA1151 socket, and it's based on the Intel H110 chipset. This means that it can accommodate Intel processors up to the 7th Generation Kaby Lake chips that have enjoyed retirement since October 2019. Don't let the feeble power delivery subsystem fool you, though. MSI states the MS-98L9 V2.0 can handle Kaby Lake parts up to 95W without a sweat.
The MS-98L9 V2.0 comes with two DDR4 memory slots and supports dual-channel memory kits up to DDR4-2400 for a maximum capacity of 32GB. The motherboard only has four SATA III ports, but lacks an M.2 port, meaning you're out of luck when it comes to high-speed solid-state storage options unless you use one of the PCIe slots.
The MS-98L9 V2.0's expansion configuration is one of the more interesting parts of the motherboard. It has one conventional PCIe x16 slot, one PCIe x16 slot wired at x4 and five vintage white PCI slots. At this point, we're suprised that MSI didn't throw an AGP slot into the mix as well. However, the motherboard manufacturer does include an ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) slot that dates way back to the 1980's.
The list of internal headers on the MS-98L9 V2.0 includes two USB 2.0 headers, one GPIO (general-purpose input/output) header, four COM headers, one SMBus (System Management Bus) header and one TPM (Trusted Platform Module) header. The motherboard depends on the Realtek ALC887-VD2-CG codec for audio and the Fintek F81866AD-I controller for I/O.
The MS-98L9 V2.0 can support up to two displays. The VGA port handles resolutions up to 1920 x 1200 at 60Hz and the HDMI port can output resolutions up to 4096 x 2160 at 24Hz. The motherboard provides two Gigabit Ethernet ports. One is based on Intel's I219-LM controller while the other is based relies on the I211-AT controller.
In addition to the aforementioned interfaces, the motherboard's rear panel also holds two USB 2.0 ports, one PS/2 combo port, two COM ports, four USB 3.0 ports and three 3.5mm audio jacks.
Spectra doesn't list a price for the MS-98L9 V2.0. If you're interested in the motherboard, you'll have to request a quote directly from the company.
