MSI Z77A-GD65 Motherboard

Conclusions

The MSI Z77A-GD65 is a mid-range motherboard and, as such, it is targeted to users who want a motherboard with more features than a mainstream product can provide. The extra features available on this motherboard include three PCI Express x16 slots, two additional SATA-600 ports, one FireWire port, on-board coaxial and optical SPDIF outputs, a top-notch voltage regulator circuit, a high-end audio codec that will allow you to work professionally with audio editing, two BIOS chips, and a POST diagnostics display.

It is important to understand that on most motherboards with three PCI Express x16 slots based on the Intel Z77 chipset, the third PCI Express x16 slot is 2.0 and controlled by the chipset; as explained, on the MSI Z77A-GD65 the third slot is controlled by the CPU and, therefore, 3.0 when an “Ivy Bridge” CPU is used. However, in order to make this possible, the speed of the second PCI Express x16 slot is reduced to x4 when three video cards are installed.

Currently, there is no visible performance gain in using PCI Express 3.0. Therefore, we believe it would make more sense to leave the third PCI Express x16 slot as 2.0 and controlled by the chipset, so the second PCI Express x16 slot would always work at x8 speed. However, in order to do that, the manufacturer would have to possibly cut the number of PCI Express x1 slots, as the chipset doesn’t have enough PCI Express x1 lanes.

The portrayed motherboard is a direct competitor to the Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H, with very similar specifications. The MSI model has, as advantages, a better voltage regulator circuit, two additional SATA-600 ports (Gigabyte decided to provide two eSATA-600 ports instead of two additional SATA-600 ports), one FireWire port, and CPU base clock adjustment in 0.01 MHz (10 kHz) increments. On the other hand, the Gigabyte model has one mSATA slot, which can be handy if you plan to install an SSD based on this form factor, and eight USB 3.0 ports, even though they are not “real” USB 3.0 ports – the motherboard uses two hub chips to expand the four “real” USB 3.0 ports into eight. Both use high-end audio codecs, though from different vendors. Therefore, picking one or the other will depend on your personal preference for these small differences.

Of course, if you won’t need the additional features brought by this motherboard, you can pick a more affordable model and save some money.