Motherboard will feature USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps support

Dec 11, 2009 13:50 GMT  ·  By

About a day after another MSI motherboard was pictured, namely the 890FX-GD70, yet another MSI motherboard was spotted pictured online, by the very same site and with an equally large picture gallery for all to see. Yesterday's card was set as the upcoming high-end platform, through its implementation of six PCI Express x16 slots, but, even though the MSI P55-GD85 doesn't have that many graphics PCI Express x16 slots, it still has enough for SLI and CrissFireX setups, while also integrating support for the USB 3.0 and the SATA 6Gbps interfaces.

MSI will become the next manufacturer to build a motherboard with USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps capabilities, after Gigabyte and ASUS already announced or released hardware compatible with said interfaces. The upcoming card is based on the P55 chipset and supports LGA 1156 processors. The board has an 8+2 phase DrMOS, a PLX bridge chip providing extra PCIe lanes and is capable of APS (Active Phase Switching).

Even though it doesn't have six PCI Express slots as the MSI card pictured previously, the MSI P55-GD85 still has two, just enough for a good SLI or CrossFireX setup. The motherboard, instead, features seven SATA 3.0 Gbps ports and two ports for SATA 6Gbps. The MSI P55-GD85 is outfitted with four DDR3-2600 memory slots, which will certainly satisfy any graphics controller and/or processor used with the product. In addition, besides the obvious Power and Reset buttons, the product also has an eSATA connector, a dual Gigabit Ethernet port, two USB 3.0 ports and 7.1 channel audio.

As with all the occasions when a product is pictured ahead of time, there is no information on the pricing and availability of the MSI P55-GD85 motherboard. Most likely, the motherboard would have already been introduced by now if it was meant to come out in time for the holidays. As it is, it probably won't become official before 2010.

Photo Gallery (4 Images)

MSI motherboard pictured, supports USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps
MSI motherboard pictured, supports USB 3.0 and SATA 6GbpsMSI motherboard pictured, supports USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps
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