It can run DDR3-3300 memory as well, among other things

Sep 23, 2014 09:12 GMT  ·  By

As odd as it may sound, motherboards tend to seem more and more hardcore the fewer colors they actually sport. So, while a keyboard or mouse looks imposing when it’s glowing every possible color, motherboards tend to give the same cool impression if they're black and white.

Especially if you make sure that the white stands out. Like, say, if you color the PCI Express slots in it and maybe add some stripes to the heatsinks.

The new motherboard from Micro-Star International is called Z97S SLI Krait Edition. It has both the white-topped heatsinks and white PCI Express slots. Not that all slots are that way. Only the ones meant to hold graphics cards.

The MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition specs

As we said before, there are two PCI Express slots meant for graphics cards. They are what give the mainboard their name really, even though the newcomer actually doesn't have such a grandiose multi-GPU support.

While the two slots look good and all, they are just that: two. A single pair. Also, they can't both work in x16 mode at once. Only x8/x8.

It means you can have more than decent multi-card setups (and contrary to the name, you can have AMD boards in CrossFire too), but nothing too amazing. Of course, some may say that having two cards in the first place is relatively amazing, so there's that.

On the flip side, there is more than enough room between the slots for even triple-slot coolers. Don't think you'll get much out of a dual-card setup involving dual-GPU boards though (four GPUs, as it were).

Besides the PCI Express loadout (which also includes three PCIe x1 slots and two legacy PCI slots), the MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition also boasts M.2 and SATA Express ports (for small and fast SSDs, up to 10 Gbps), and advanced BIOS (with Click BIOS 4 interface and OC Genie 4 clock tweaking) and Military Class 4 components.

Availability and pricing

These are the details that Micro-Star International did not include in its press release. While the product page of the Z97S SLI Krait Edition is readily enough accessible, it doesn't have that info. Considering everything above, though, as well as the 4K UHD Support, DDR3-3300 memory support (four slots) and the abundance of I/O connectors, as well as video and network support, it's probably in the upper half of the market.

The good news is that, if you're willing to pay for two video boards, you'll probably have no qualms about it regardless.

MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition, top view
MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition, top view
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MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition
MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition, top view
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