Since Sandy Bridge was the main focus of the MSI event, it is only fitting that after digging through some boxes at the back of the room we found this little gem.

CES 2011: MSI and a Mini-ITX H6x Motherboard - Motherboards 3

We believe it is based on the Intel H67 chipset, but we are not completely sure.  The box had a strange “H61” scrawled across the cover, so is this a lower power, lower feature chipset from Intel which supports Sandy Bridge?  Most likely it is not, but who knows?  The board does not feature a full PCI-E 16x slot, but instead only has a PCI-E 1x slot.  4 SATA ports and a pretty polished looking layout finish the board.

If there is anything that Sandy Bridge might excel at, it is as the basis for a HTPC machine.  The fast and power efficient CPU combined with a pretty robust graphics with good media features is an easy fit for this particular market.  The Mini-ITX form factor will be much appreciated as well in more consumer centric media players.


CES 2011: MSI and a Mini-ITX H6x Motherboard - Motherboards 4