MSI Z77A-GD65—Visual Inspection

Whenever it comes to a motherboard comparison involving ASUS, Gigabyte or ASRock against an MSI board, the MSI board always tends to show a strong result—either in terms of price, performance or features. So when it comes to the new batch of motherboards for Ivy Bridge, it is fair to say that I expect a strong showing from MSI. For this preview, we have their Z77A-GD65, which will be one behind their future released GD80 that got attention back at CES for being Thunderbolt equipped.

The Z77A-GD65 is another motherboard in this roundup that comes in a black and blue livery. This time MSI have more of an excuse than others do as they have been using it for a fair while now. Using what is essentially a 10 + 2 phase power delivery, MSI are using somewhat beefier heatsinks than their rivals, connecting both via a heatpipe. The socket area is right up against Intel's minimum requirements from left to right, but there is some room to maneuver big air coolers from top to bottom. Around the socket there are at least four fan headers to use: one 4-pin CPU header between the top VRM and the memory slots, a 4-pin system fan header just the other side of the memory slots, a 4-pin to the bottom left of the socket area, and another 4-pin beside the 24-pin ATX power connector. A fifth fan header can be found at the bottom of the board.

Along the right hand side, we have the standard MSI trio of power/reset/OC Genie buttons, followed but a series of voltage checkpoints for overclockers. Aside from the 24-pin power connector and the system fan header, there is also a USB 3.0 header at right angles to the board, indicating its primary use is to the front of the case. Underneath this are the eight SATA ports—two SATA 6 Gbps from the PCH, four SATA 3 Gbps also from the PCH, and another two SATA 6 Gbps from an ASMedia controller.

As the power/reset/OC Genie buttons are at the top right, the bottom of the board has more room to fit in all the headers as needed—front panel audio, TPM, front panel headers and USB 2.0 headers. In terms of PCIe, MSI have done away with the PCIe to PCI bridge and focused purely on PCIe. We have an x1, x16 (x8 with dual GPU), x1, x1, x8, x1, and a PCIe 2.0 x4. In this instance, there is plenty of room for a dual GPU setup with PCIe slots to spare for any extras.

Also of note is the chipset cooler, which is very flat and large with minimal fins, perhaps suggesting that MSI is confident about their heatsink design. Underneath this is a two digit debug display, and a BIOS switch for changing between two BIOSes.

On the rear IO panel, I think MSI have been reasonable with what they have left in and what they have left out. From left to right, we have a combination PS/2 port, two USB 2.0 ports (black), a clear CMOS button, digital and coaxial SPDIF outputs, two more USB 2.0 ports (black), a HDMI port, gigabit Ethernet, two USB 3.0 ports (blue), D-Sub, DVI-D, and audio jacks.

Board Features

MSI Z77A-GD65
Size ATX
CPU Interface LGA-1155
Chipset Intel Z77
Power Delivery (CPU/iGPU) 8 + 1 + 2 + 1 (VRM/VTT/GPU/SA)
Memory Slots Four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 32 GB
Up to Dual Channel, 1066-2667 MHz
Video Outputs HDMI, DVI-D, D-Sub
Onboard LAN Intel 82579V
Onboard Audio Realtek ALC898
Expansion Slots 2 x PCIe x16 Gen3 (x16, x8/8)
1 x PCIe x16 Gen2 (x4)
4 x PCIe x1 Gen2
Onboard SATA/RAID 2 x SATA 6 Gbps (PCH), Support for RAID 0, 1, 5, 10
4 x SATA 3 Gbps (PCH), Support for RAID 0, 1, 5, 10
2 x SATA 6 Gbps (ASMedia ASM1061)
USB 4 USB 3.0 ports (2 back panel, 2 from headers)
10 USB 2.0 ports (4 back panel, 6 from headers)
Onboard 4 x SATA 6Gbps
4 x SATA 3 Gbps
1 x USB 3.0 Header
3 x USB 2.0 Headers
1 x IEEE1394 Header
1 x TPM Header
1 x Front Panel Audio Header
Power/Reset Buttons
OC Genie
5 x Fan Headers
Power Connectors 1 x 24-pin ATX connector
1 x 8-pin 12V connector
Fan Headers 1 x CPU Fan Header (4-pin)
4 x SYS Fan Headers (two 4-pin, two 3-pin)
IO Panel 1 x Combo PS/2 Port
1 x Clear CMOS Button
1 x Coaxial S/PDIF Port
1 x Optical S/PDIF Port
4 x USB 2.0
2 x USB 3.0
1 x Gigabit Ethernet
Audio Jacks
1 x HDMI
1 x DVI-D
1 x D-Sub
Warranty Period 3 Years
Product Page Link

It is good to see an Intel NIC on this $180 MSRP motherboard. There are plenty of headers to go around. The only things missing where other motherboards may have better all-round functionality are a PCI slot, mSATA and on-board WiFi.

Gigabyte GA-Z77MX-D3H ECS Z77H2-AX
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  • LancerVI - Sunday, April 8, 2012 - link

    They've yet to fail me. I think I may take the plunge with Ivy Bridge. My 920 X58 build has served me well, but I have the itch and I've avoided scratching it since late 2008. I don't think I can hold off any longer!!!

    I feel the need for a new build.....NOW!!!
  • TrackSmart - Sunday, April 8, 2012 - link

    Ha ha. We all get the rational or irrational urge to upgrade, whether we 'need' it or not. I would never stop someone from enjoying a new build. But that being said, the core i7 920 still holds its own pretty well. However, I suppose quicksync alone could be worth the upgrade if it is a feature you use heavily. That is one area where the performance gains are just phenomenal.
  • ImSpartacus - Sunday, April 8, 2012 - link

    Shoot, I'm still rolling with an E8400. You're 920 has some legs.

    Unless you have a killer app in Ivy Bridge, just sit on your Nahalem machine.
  • LancerVI - Sunday, April 8, 2012 - link

    Believe me fellas. This is all irrational and I'm not ashamed to admit it!
  • mgl888 - Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - link

    Like :)

    I'm torn between waiting for Haswell next or upgrading to Ivy Bridge now.
    I'm on a E7200. Hahaha
  • Artifex28 - Monday, April 16, 2012 - link

    ...and I am burning this E6750. :D

    I give up. Time to upgrade. :)
  • prophet001 - Monday, April 9, 2012 - link

    Hmm...

    Rockin the Core 2 on the 975x with an 8800 gtx here :D
  • LancerVI - Monday, April 9, 2012 - link

    That's awesome! That's a great setup! The 8800GTX is on par, in my mind, with the 9700 Pro of yore.
  • jbuiltman - Tuesday, April 10, 2012 - link

    920 X58 being slow???? I have an AMD FX-60 Dual core with 2GB of DDR ram....That is slow.... :)
  • LancerVI - Thursday, April 12, 2012 - link

    Who said anything about being slow?? All I'm saying is I haven't built a new machine since 2008 and I have the itch.

    I realize it's a slight up grade or maybe even considered a side-grade, but it's an itch. I'll probably wait unitl Ivy Bridge-E and then see.

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