Computex 2013: Motherboards, Peripherals, And Mobility

By Don Woligroski
published

MSI At Computex

Earlier this month, our editorial teams from Germany, Italy, and the U.S. were on the ground in Taiwan, covering the Taipei International Information Technology Show (better known as Computex) to bring you information about upcoming and prototype products. In this second part of the series, we have follow-ups from our visits to MSI, , Intel, Trendnet, Roccat, and Gigabyte.

MSI


MSI is in the midst of a brand revamp, splitting its PC products into three tiers: classic (with a blue and black color scheme), gaming (black and red), and overclocking (yellow and black). Company reps also briefed us on the incrementing of its Military Class feature suite, which now follows the MIL-STD-810G specification.

First, we were shown some of MSI's new classic-series Z/H/B87-based solutions in mini-ITX trim. All of them conform to the Military Class 4 standard the company defined for itself, which includes more space around the processor interface to accommodate larger coolers. Representatives claimed these would be available in the middle of June, though a quick glance through some of our favorite online vendors suggests they aren't ready yet.

Stepping up to the mid-range gaming tier, all of the employ Killer's Ethernet controllers, Sound Blaster Cinema, and Audio Boost, a feature that purportedly isolates the audio circuitry to minimize interference. A 600 ohm amplifier and gold-plated jacks round out the audio package's value adds. Currently, MSI's Z87-GD65 Gaming sells for $188 on , while the Z77A-G43 Gaming is priced at $120.

We also had a look at some of the company's gaming-series graphics cards, which are factory-overclocked and include an application that modifies for lower noise, reference-class operation, or more aggressive performance and cooling. The GeForce GTX 770 Gaming is already available at $400, while the 780 is expected to show up next month sometime.

6 Comments Comment from the forums
  • slomo4sho
    Hmm waterproof. First step in building a completely submersed system :)
    Reply
  • ojas
    "Surprise, it runs Android"

    What's the surprise? All intel-based phones run Android...in fact, Intel explicitly expressed a lack of desire to enter the WP market for the time being.

    And the K900's launched in India too, now.
    Reply
  • ojas
    Will you guys review the Brix?
    Reply
  • RedJaron
    I'd be interested to know how MSI runs their OC line cooling test. A 4.6GHz CPU will need some kind of active cooling, and that cooler will at least partially induct some airflow over the VRM. Or do they just simulate the CPU with a current draw? And speaking of VRM, I thought Haswell brought the VRM into the CPU, so what do these massive 20 phase VRMs do?
    Reply
  • laststop311
    28 watt iris 5100 ultrabook chips increases the bloodflow to certain parts of my body. You can pretty much do very very good 768p casual gaming on the iris 5100. This will make some for really really thin and sexy laptops.

    How is this for a mind blower The Asus Zenbook infinity is so super sexy looking. Now the iris pro is only on standard voltage so I know we won't see that but the ultrabook level cpu's do have HD IRIS 5100 support Now since 2560x1440 is double 1280x720 should be able to game at 1280x720 with perfect scaling just much better clarity. And The Iris Pro 5100 (especially if you keep cpu stock and use all your tdp headroom to OC the graphics) it will be able to run pretty much any game with many on high setting and med high) at a relatively easy 1280x720 resolution.

    That new infinity may even be a decently fun casual gamer machine too. I'm freaking in love. I need to marry it already.
    Reply
  • 8350rocks
    Meh, some of the gigabyte stuff was cool...not much love for AMD oriented products this time though. I like the direction MSI is going, if they can get that product out...I would consider it for my next build.
    Reply