MSI Big Bang XPOWER Review

ccokeman - July 8, 2010
» Discuss this article (13)

Lowest Prices

Specifications:

CPU	Supports Intel® i7 based processors in LGA1366 package. Please refer to CPU Support for compatible CPU; the above description is for reference only.
Chipset	Intel® X58 Chipset - Supports QPI up to 25.6 GB/s Intel® ICH10R Chipset - Hi-Speed USB (USB2.0) controller, 480Mb/sec, up to 12 ports. - 6 SATAII ports with transfer rate up to 3Gb/s. - PCI Master v2.3, I/O APIC. - ACPI 2.0 compliant. - Serial ATA RAID 0/1/5/10. - Integrated AHCI controller.
Main Memory	Supports six unbuffered DIMM of 1.5 Volt DDR3 1066/1333/1600/1800/2000/2133* (OC) DRAM, 24GB Max - Supports 1GB/ 2GB/ 4GB DRAM size - Supports x8 / x16 data lines per DIMM - Supports up to 3 channel mode
Slots	6 PCI Express 2.0 slots - PCI_E2 & PCI_E5 support up to PCIE x16 speed - PCI_E4 & PCI_E6 support up to PCIE x8 speed - PCI_E3 & PCI_E7 support up to PCIE x4 speed • 1 PCI Express 1.1 x1 slot
On-Board IDE/SATA	• SATA controller integrated in Intel ICH10R/Marvell® 88SE9128/JMicron® JMB362 chipset - Supports six SATAII ports (SATA1~SATA6) by ICH10R - Supports two SATAIII ports (SATA7~SATA8) by Marvell® 88SE9128. - Supports one eSATA & one eSATA / USB 2.0 combo port by JMicron JMB362. - Supports AHCI controller with AHCI / SATA RAID 0/1/5/10 by ICH10R. - SATA7 & SATA8 support RAID 0/1 mode by Marvell® 88SE9128 MSI Reminds You... • The RAID setup floppy disk is optional depending on the districts. You can download the files from the website to make the setup disk.
Audio	• QuantumWave Audio card - Creative EAX Advanced HD 5.0 - THX TruStudio PC - Creative Alchemy - 7.1 Channel High Definition Audio Codec with jack sensing • Chipset integrated by Realtek® ALC889 - Compliant with Azalia 1.0 Spec - Meet Microsoft Vista Premium spec * For better audio performance, we recommend installing THX
LAN	Supports two PCI Express LAN 10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet by Realtek 8111DL.
IEEE1394/FireWire	VIA® VT6315N chipset - Supports up to two 1394 ports. (Rear panel x1, pinheader x1) - Transfer rate is up to 400Mbps.
Internal I/O Connectors	- ATX 24-Pin power connector - 2 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector - 6-pin ATX 12V power connector - CPU x 1 / System x 4 FAN connectors - CD-in connector - Front panel audio connector - Front panel connector - 1 x chasis intrusion connector - 2 x USB 2.0 connectors - 6 x Serial ATAII connectors - 2 x Serial ATAIII connectors - 1 x IEEE1394 connector support additional 1 port - 1 x GreenPower Genie connector - 1 x Reset Button - 1 x Power Button - 1 x TPM module connector - 1 x OC Genie Button - 1 x Over-Voltage switch & 1 set voltage check point - 1 x set Debug LED Panel - 2 x Base clock control buttons MSI Reminds You... • The floppy disk cable will be optional.
Back Panel I/O Ports	- 1 x PS/2 Keyboard - 1 x PS/2 Mouse - 1 x Clear CMOS button - 1 x D-LED2 panel connector - 1 x IEEE1394 port - 5 x USB 2.0 ports - 1 x eSATA port - 1 x eSATA / USB Combo ports - 2 x RJ45 LAN Jacks - 2 x USB 3.0 ports
BIOS	The mainboard BIOS provides "Plug & Play" BIOS which detects the peripheral devices and expansion cards of the board automatically. • The mainboard provides a Desktop Management Interface(DMI) function which records your mainboard specifications.
Dimension	30.5cm(L) x 24.4cm(W) ATX Form Factor
Mounting	9 mounting holes.

Features:

Hi C Cap on PWM:

Hi-c CAP (Highly-conductive polymerized Capacitor)
High voltage derating / heat resistance → higher over-voltage / overclocking possibility
Best stability & long lifespan → Average life 44800 Hrs @ 85â„ƒ chamber

Loss-less Content:

The loss-less content protection technology with full-rate audio enjoyment from Blue-ray Disc
Support for 24-bit / 192kHz sample rate offers high quality digital decoders and speakers
support 7.1 channels playback, plus 2 channels of independent stereo sound output (multiple streaming) through the front panel stereo outputs

SATA 6GB/s:

Support next-generation SATAIII, up to 6Gbps bandwidth
Double the data transfer rate of SATAII (3Gbps)

USB 3.0:

Revolutionary SuperSpeed USB 3.0, 10x faster than USB 2.0
Up to 5Gbps bandwidth, boost data transfer rate between PC and USB device

V-Check Points:

Provide CPU VCORE, VTT, DDR, PCH Voltage measure value
Key part's voltage measurement for all end-users

APS (Active Phase Switching):

APS is Active Phase Switching is complete function to Control Power Demand With Switcing Dynamically, it’s for CPU, Memory and Chipset PWM.
Saving Power under Variable Loading
Power Usage More Efficiency.

M-Connectors:

Easy connect to front panel & chassis cable
2x USB, IEEE 1394, front panel (JFP1/2)& audio(JAUD1) M-connector in the package
Easy to tell the definition of each pin

CrossFireX Support:

Equip with 2 or more PCIe x16 slots, ATI CrossFire Ready.
The ultimate multi-GPU performance gaming platform.
Provides 2.7x faster performance than single graphic card solution.

Live Update 4:

Live Update 4 is a single utility software that automatically checks BIOS, driver and utility updates and installs for you , which can save your time for searching and lower the risk while updating.
The MSI Live Update online is designed to automatically download and update the BIOS and driver when there’s a new version online. It helps reduce the risk of getting the wrong file and minimize the trouble of searching the files from MSI website.

OC-Genie:

One second overclocking
World’s first true overclocking processor
36% performance boost
Overclock 4 core B-clock & Ratio by OC Genie

Superpipe:

8mm extra thick heatpipe.
60% thicker than traditional heatpipe.
Thickest heatpipe used on mainboard.
50°C lower temperature.

USB Safeguard:

With the ESD dual-current protection chip, USB Safeguard can ideally protect your motherboard from the potential damage caused by static electricity when inserting USB devices.

DrMOS:

Excellent energy-saving capability and offers high-computing performance.
Provide superior energy-saving function and maintain an ultimate low temperature operation.
Comes with three incredible features.

M-Flash: