On-Board Peripherals
Contents
The Intel X79 chipset is a single-chip solution which is also known as a PCH (Platform Controller Hub). This chip supports two SATA-600 ports and four SATA-300 ports, supporting RAID (0, 1, 10, and 5). In addition to these ports, the MSI X79A-GD65 (8D) has two SATA-600 ports controlled by an ASMedia ASM1061 chip (RAID 0 and 1).
The SATA ports are located at the motherboard edge, rotated 90°, so video cards won’t block them. See Figure 4. Unfortunately, MSI didn’t use different colors to differentiate which SATA-600 ports are controlled by the chipset and which are controlled by the additional chip.
Figure 4: SATA-600 ports controlled by the ASMedia ASM1061 chip (white), and SATA-300 (black) and SATA-600 (white) ports controlled by the chipset
Even though this motherboard doesn’t come with on-board eSATA ports, it comes with an adapter for you to convert two regular SATA ports into eSATA ports.
The Intel X79 chipset supports 14 USB 2.0 ports. Unfortunately, support for USB 3.0 ports isn’t integrated in the chipset yet. The MSI X79A-GD65 (8D) offers 12 USB 2.0 ports, eight soldered on the rear panel and four available through two headers located on the motherboard. It also supports four USB 3.0 ports, controlled by two NEC (Renesas) µPD720200 chips. Two of them are located on the motherboard rear panel and the other two are available on a motherboard header, to be used by USB 3.0 ports located on your computer case. The motherboard comes with an I/O bracket with two USB 3.0 ports, allowing you to use this header
even if your case doesn’t have USB 3.0 ports.
The MSI X79A-GD65 (8D) has two FireWire ports, one soldered on the rear panel and one available on a motherboard header. They are controlled by a VIA VT6315N chip.
This motherboard supports 7.1+2 audio format, i.e., eight channels plus two independent channels for audio streaming. On this motherboard, the audio is generated by the chipset using the Realtek ALC892 codec. The specifications of this chip include a 97 dB signal-to-noise ratio for the analog outputs, a 90 dB signal-to-noise ratio for the analog inputs, up to 192 kHz sampling rate for both inputs and outputs, and 24-bit resolution. We don’t understand why MSI decided to use a mainstream audio codec on a high-end motherboard. They should have picked a codec with an SNR of at least 100 dB for the analog outputs and 97 dB for the analog inputs. If you are looking into working professionally with audio editing, you should look for a motherboard that provides an SNR of at least 97 dB for the analog input.
This motherboard comes with independent analog audio outputs, meaning that you won’t need to use the line in or mic in jacks when connecting an eight-channel analog speaker set. It also features optical and coaxial SPDIF outputs. An SPDIF header is not available.
The portrayed motherboard has one Gigabit Ethernet port, controlled by the chipset using an Intel WG82579V chip to make the interface with the physical layer.
In Figure 5, you can see the motherboard rear panel, with PS/2 keyboard and mouse shared connector, eight USB 2.0 ports, clear CMOS button, coaxial and optical SPDIF outputs, one FireWire port, Gigabit Ethernet port, two USB 3.0 ports, and independent 7.1 analog audio jacks.
Figure 5: Motherboard rear panel
