MSI Makes Combining AMD and NVIDIA Graphics Affordable

It appears that June is not doomed to go down in history as a period during which almost no motherboards were released now that Micro-Star International has made its move. The Taiwanese hardware supplier even went as far as making its two newest platforms more unique than most, if not all, other offering swarming on the mainstream front. In short, MSI has brought out the P55A Fuzion and 870A Fuzion which, as their names imply, bear the same special feature as the Big Bang Fuzion.

Fuzion is the name that MSI gave to its series of motherboards that have the ability to combine the capabilities of any video cards from any manufacturer, regardless of model. Such a feat is made possible by the Hydra 200 SoC (system-on-chip), developed by LucidLogix. Essentially, this processor allows cards from both NVIDIA and Advanced Micro Devices to work in tandem. Of course, multi-GPU setups with just NVIDIA or just AMD boards are also possible.

MSI platforms both utilize the ATX form factor and have two PCI Express x16 slots, as well as support for DDR3 memory, six SATA 3.0 Gbps connectors and even a pair of SATA 6.0Gbps ports. Furthermore, two USB 3.0 ports are present, as is 7.1 channel audio and Gigabit Ethernet, among other things. Naturally, MSI made a point of implementing its military class components as well (Hi-c CAP, Solid CAP, and Icy Choke), besides the 8+2 phase DrMOS power design. Finally, the OC genie overclocking technology is also present, for that extra performance boost.

The one thing that distinguishes between the two siblings is their processor support. The P55A Fuzion obviously works with Intel LGA 1156 chips, whereas the 870A Fuzion welcomes AMD AM3 chips. Their prices are of 188 Euro and 154 Euro, respectively, which basically makes them MSI's Fuzion offerings for the mainstream.