Introduction and Technical Specifications

The Z87-GD65 Gaming board is MSI’s flagship board in their Gaming product line, bringing a Killer to the Intel Z87 chipset…

Thanks for stopping by our coverage of the Intel Haswell, 4th Generation Core processor and Z87 chipset release!  We have a lot of different stories for you to check out and I wanted to be sure you knew about them all. 

  1. The Haswell Review – Intel Core i7-4770K Performance and Architecture
  2. PCPer Live! ASUS Z87 Motherboard and Intel Haswell Live Event! – Tuesday, June 4th we will be hosting a live streaming event with JJ from ASUS.  Stop by to learn about Z87 and overclocking Haswell and to win some motherboards and graphics cards!
  3. ASUS ROG Maximus VI Extreme Motherboard Review
  4. ASUS Gryphon Z87 Micro-ATX Motherboard Review

 

Introduction

Courtesy of MSI

The Z87-GD65 Gaming board is MSI's flagship Intel Z87 board in their Gaming line of produces. MSI packed the board full of features including an integrated Killer NIC and an illuminated audio chipset. The board is stunning with its red and black coloration and the series' dragon logo prominently imbedded in the chipset heat sink. At a retail price of $189.99, this board would be a nice addition to any enthusiast system.

Courtesy of MSI

MSI designed the Z87-GD65 Gaming with an impressive 12-phase digital power delivery system for the CPU alone, guaranteeing system stability under the most stressful situations. The Z87-GD65 Gaming board includes the following integrated features: eight SATA 6Gb/s ports; an mSATA 6Gb/s port; a Killer E2205 GigE NIC; three PCI-Express x16 slots for up to tri-card support; four PCI-Express x1 slots; Lucidlogix Virtu® MVP 2 support; onboard power, reset, BIOS reset, OC Genie, and GO2BIOS buttons; 2-digit diagnostic LED display; and USB 2.0 and 3.0 port support.

Technical Specifications (taken from the MSI website)

CPU Support

4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 / Intel® Core™ i5 / Intel® Core™ i3 / Pentium® / Celeron® Processors for LGA 1150 socket

Chipset

Intel® Z87 Express Chipset

Memory Support

4 x DDR3 memory slots supporting up to 32GB
Supports DDR3 3000(OC) / 2800(OC) / 2666(OC) / 2600(OC) / 2400(OC) / 2200(OC) / 2133(OC) / 2000(OC) / 1866(OC) / 1600 / 1333 / 1066 MHz
Dual channel memory architecture
Supports non-ECC,un-buffered memory
Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)

Expansion Slots

3 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots (support x16, x8/x8, x8/x4/x4 modes)
4 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 slot

Onboard Graphics

1 x VGA port, supporting a maximum resolution of 1920×1200 @ 60Hz, 24bpp
1 x DVI-D port, supporting a maximum resolution of 1920×1200 @ 60Hz, 24bpp
1 x HDMI port, supporting a maximum resolution of 4096×2160 @ 24Hz, 24bpp / 2560×1600 @ 60Hz, 24bpp / 1920×1200 @ 60Hz, 36bpp

Multi-GPU Support

Supports 3-way AMD® CrossFire™ Technology*
Support 2-way NVIDIA® SLI™ Technology

* Supports Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Storage

Intel Z87 Express chipset
– 1 x mSATA 6Gb/s port* – 6 x SATA 6Gb/s ports (SATA1~6)
– Supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10
– Supports Intel Smart Response Technology, Intel® Rapid Start Technology, and Intel Smart Connect Technology*

ASMedia ASM1061 Chipset
– 2 x SATA 6Gb/s ports (SATA7~8)

* The SATA6 port will be unavailable when install a SSD in the mSATA port.
** Supports Intel Core processors on Windows 7 and Windows 8.

USB

Intel® Z87 Express chipset
– 6 x USB 3.0 ports (4 ports on the back panel, 2 ports available through the internal USB connectors)
– 8 x USB 2.0 ports (2 ports on the back panel, 6 ports available through the internal USB connectors*)

* Internal JUSB1 connector supports MSI Super Charger.

Audio

Realtek® ALC1150 Codec
– 7.1-Channel High Definition Audio
– Supports S/PDIF output

LAN

1 x Killer E2205 Gigabit LAN controller*

* The Killer Network Manager is only available for Windows 7 and Windows 8 currently. The supported drivers for other operating system would be available on the website if provided by vendor.

Back Panel Connectors

1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port
2 x USB 2.0 ports
1 x Clear CMOS button
1 x Coaxial S/PDIF OUT connector
1 x Optical S/PDIF OUT connector
1 x VGA port 1 x DVI-D port
1 x HDMI port
1 x LAN (RJ45) port
4 x USB 3.0 ports
6 x OFC audio jacks

Internal I/O Connectors

1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
8 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
3 x USB 2.0 connectors (supports additional 6 USB 2.0 ports)
1 x USB 3.0 connector (supports additional 2 USB 3.0 ports)
2 x 4-pin CPU fan connectors
3 x 4-pin system fan connectors
1 x Clear CMOS jumper
1 x Front panel audio connector
2 x System panel connectors
1 x Chassis Intrusion connector
1 x TPM module connector
1 x Serial port connector
7 x V-Check points (7 x V-Check connectors)
1 x GO2BIOS button
1 x Power button
1 x Reset button
1 x OC Genie button
1 x Multi-BIOS switch
1 x OC Genie mode switch
1 x 2-Digit Debug Code LED

I/O Controller

NUVOTON NCT6779 Controller Chip

Hardware Monitor

CPU/System temperature detection
CPU/System fan speed detection
CPU/System fan speed control

BIOS Features

2 x 64 Mb flash
UEFI AMI BIOS
ACPI 5.0, PnP 1.0a, SM BIOS 2.7, DMI 2.0
Multi-language

Special Features

OC Certified
Audio Boost
Killer Ethernet
Military Class 4
OC Genie 4
Click BIOS 4
NVIDIA SLI
AMD CrossFire
Lucid Virtu MVP 2.0
Sound Blaster Cinema
GO2BIOS
Easy Button
Direct OC
V-Check Points
Clear CMOS Button
Total Fan Control
Gaming Device Port
Super Charger
Super RAID
Command Center

Software

Drivers
MSI
– Command Center
– Super Charger
– Super RAID
– Live Update 5
– Fast Boot
Lucid VIRTU MVP 2.0
7-ZIP
Intel Turbo Boost Monitor
Intel Extreme Tuning Utility
Norton Internet Security Solution
Trend Micro SafeSync
Sound Blast Cinema
Killer Network Manager

Form Factor

ATX Form Factor
12 in. x 9.6 in. (30.4 cm x 24.4 cm)

 

 

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