Won Another Motherboard!

[eunoia]

Won Another Motherboard! (And Another!)

Just arrived today, an MSI Z68A-GD65 G3 from an MSI Afterburner quiz.

There are pics of this all over the internet, I even saw some incredible hi-resolution shots of the GD80 at KitGuru, but it was already open and I know sponsors don't mind a little posi PR.

I'm not sure if this is a typo. 2.0?

Anyway, thanks MSI and Alex Chang, I'm hoping to use your leading GPU overclocking software with one of your own GPUs some day soon and if I don't build with this mobo, I know plenty of people that will want to!

Edit: Won a third motherboard from DecryptedTech's Facebook, a Gigabyte G1.Assassin! Couldn't really afford to change platforms, but this one I think I'll have to upgrade to: integrated Creative audio and a Marvell 88SE9182 that will handle SATA3 SSDs full-bore! Maybe a little late but my X58 dream rig is really shaping up!

 

[marfig]

Congratulations Eunoia. Amazing. Gosh, I keep trying. I keep, I swear. One day I will win something off a contest, for pete's sake!

I'm not sure if this is a typo. 2.0?

Nah. That's correct. It's the PCI-E 2.0 specification they are alluding to. The current specification, so you know It's available here. Ignore the 2.1 specification. That's to be implemented on the 3.0 when it is released. Look for the 2.0 specification on the right side bar if you want to know more about it.

 

[Doomsday]

awesome!

 

[marfig]

Nah. That's correct. It's the PCI-E 2.0 specification they are alluding to. The current specification, so you know It's available here. Ignore the 2.1 specification. That's to be implemented on the 3.0 when it is released. Look for the 2.0 specification on the right side bar if you want to know more about it.

Hmm... this is uncanny. Someone just called my attention:

Somehow in my head I confused the 2.0 specification with the 3.0. I was thinking the latter, but still writing about the former. Sorry for that Eunoia.

I had to dig out the information for the reason behind that label: So here it is. Quote below for the relevant part:

Going one step beyond that, MSI has introduced one feature of note and that’s PCI-Express generation 3.0 support. How did they accomplish this on a chipset that doesn’t support it?

Well, that’s a complicated subject. First off, the chipset only has a limited number of PCIe lanes. The CPU itself has a PCIe controller which is limited to using only two PCIe devices (usually graphics cards) at 8x8 or one graphics card at x16. Because the PCIe controller is integrated into the CPU, simply switching your existing LGA1155 CPU out for a shiny new Ivy Bridge CPU will get you what you need. As long as all the supporting hardware is on the board to support PCIe 3.0 electrically you should be fine. However, there are connectivity limits with Ivy Bridge and PCIe similar to the limitations of existing Sandy Bridge and earlier processors with integrated PCIe controllers. To overcome those connectivity limitations, (mainly device limits) MSI has integrated a bridge chip. Specifically the Pericom PI3PCIE3412. The theory is similar to that of using the nForce 200MCP to give PCIe 2.0 support to the legacy 680i SLI chipset and calling it something new. Moving forward though, PCIe generation 3.0 compatibility will be available on this board for that peace of mind.

 

[eunoia]

I had to dig out the information for the reason behind that label: So here it is. Quote below for the relevant part:

Much appreciated! You're the first person to answer this anywhere I've been asking!

 

[Kougar]

Congrats Eunoia!

Interesting they place the BBB logo forefront on the box, and the largest one at that.

 

[Optix]

Better Business motherBoard.

I'm hating you so hard right now, dude! I've pretty much gone contest cold turkey though.

 

[DarkStarr]

Man.... That's so unfair lmao wanna trade it for a GPU?

 

[eunoia]

Man.... That's so unfair lmao wanna trade it for a GPU?

Actually I do. The 2 other prizes in the contest were MSI GPUs with Twin Frozrs and I can't resist entering because I've never won one. If it sounds like I'm complaining, but I'm not really, but I enter A LOT of hardware contests, at least 150 contests with a GPU as a prize in the past 2-3 years.

 

[Synesthesia]

sweet, nice mobo, congrats on winning

 

[eunoia]

Wow. Won a third mobo and it's a beauty: Gigabyte's G1.Assassin!

Now you can hate me, especially when it arrives and I post gloat pics!

Much thanks to DecryptedTech and Gigabyte who have been very, very good to me.

 

[TheCrimsonStar]

You lucky bastard. jk

 

[slugbug]

Edit: Won a third motherboard from DecryptedTech's Facebook, a Gigabyte G1.Assassin! Couldn't really afford to change platforms, but this one I think I'll have to upgrade to: integrated Creative audio and a Marvell 88SE9182 that will handle SATA3 SSDs full-bore! Maybe a little late but my X58 dream rig is really shaping up!

I won a G1.Sniper from another site last month and it's a great board. I'm using a core i7 920 with it but wish I could get a deal on a 970 or 980X.

 

[Kayden]

Congratz on the win!

I won a G1.Sniper from another site last month and it's a great board. I'm using a core i7 920 with it but wish I could get a deal on a 970 or 980X.

I wanted to get a G1.Sniper, but I all ready had this mobo.

 

[Rob Williams]

I won a G1.Sniper from another site last month and it's a great board. I'm using a core i7 920 with it but wish I could get a deal on a 970 or 980X.

I am not sure what kind of deal you're talking about, but the way rumors are (and proof tonight), the $600 Sandy Bridge-E six-core should lessen the appeal of the 990X quite a bit.

 

[Kougar]

Can already grab a 980X for about the same price as the $500 part, only going to go down from there...

 

[Rob Williams]

In the latest round of benchmarking, I've just totally lost my love for the Gulftown CPUs. The 2600K can keep up to them in many cases, so essentially Sandy Bridge-E gives you the best of both worlds.

 

[slugbug]

Hah, I won a a Gigabyte G1.Assassin X58 too

 

[eunoia]

Spot the difference:

 

[Kougar]

Hm, new X58 board looks like... don't remember which one based on that southbridge heatsink and color though?