MSI P55A-GD65 Motherboard

Main Specifications

The main specifications for the MSI P55A-GD65 are:

• Socket: 1156
• Chipset: Intel P55 Express
• Super I/O: Fintek F71889
• Parallel ATA: One ATA-133 port controlled by a JMicron JMB363 chip
• Serial ATA: Six SATA-300 ports (black) controlled by the chipset (RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10), one SATA-300 port (blue) controlled by a JMicron JMB363 chip, and two SATA-600 ports (white) controlled by a Marvell 88SE9128 chip (RAID 0 and 1)
• External SATA: One controlled by the JMicron JMB363 chip, shared with a USB 2.0 port
• USB: 12 USB 2.0 ports (six soldered on the rear panel and six available through three headers on the motherboard) and two USB 3.0 ports (controlled by a NEC μPD720200 chip)
• FireWire (IEEE 1394): Two ports controlled by a VIA VT6315 chip, one standard-sized soldered on the rear panel and one available through a header (the board doesn’t come with an I/O bracket to use this second port)
• On-board audio: Produced by the chipset together with a Realtek ALC889 codec (eight channels, 24-bit resolution, up to 192 kHz sampling rate for both the inputs and outputs, 104 dB signal-to-noise ratio for the inputs, and 108 dB signal-to-noise ratio for the outputs), with on-board coaxial and optical SPDIF outputs
• On-board LAN: One Gigabit Ethernet port controlled by one Realtek RTL8111DL chip, connected to the system through a PCI Express x1 lane
• Buzzer: No
• Power supply required: EPS12V
• Slots: Two PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots (working at x8 when two video cards are installed and with CrossFireX support), two PCI Express x1 slots, and two standard PCI slots
• Memory: Four DDR3-DIMM sockets (up to 16 GB and up to DDR3-2133 through overclocking)
• Number of CDs/DVDs provided: One
• Programs included: Norton Internet Security 2010 (60-day trial), motherboard drivers, and utilities
• Extra features: External clear CMOS button, Winki, DrMOS voltage regulator circuit, APS (Active Phase Switching), and OC Genie with “+” and “-” buttons
• More Information: https://us.msi.com
• Average Price in the US*: USD 170

* Researched at Newegg.com on the day we published this First Look article.