14 DAY TRIAL // Following ASUS's announcement of its own H57-based motherboard, the P7H57D-V EVO, MSI revealed plans to release its own micro-ATX form-factor H57M-ED65 motherboard. The H57 Express chipset from Intel is what the board will be built upon and the product will include most legacy and new features, including various possibilities for expansion.
Interesting is the fact that the product doesn't have any regular PCI slots, being equipped exclusively with PCI Express, namely two PCI-Express x16 slots and two PCI-Express x1 ones. For storage, the board has only one IDE connector, but has six built-in SATA 3GB/s ports plus two others, which come as part of the additional storage controller.
Already notable for its large storage possibilities, the board will support even the most advanced processors currently selling (and even some upcoming ones) and the CPUs will be fueled by a 10-phase voltage regulator module (VRM) that has sophisticated heatsinks mounted on top of its DrMOS chips. This will allow for effective passive cooling, reducing power consumption by removing the need for additional fans.
A very interesting feature of the motherboard, however, is its integration of the Flexible Display technology. As such, the H57M-ED65 comes with all the required display connectivity options, allowing the system to make full use of the on-die graphics. Not only that, but the OC Genie feature, on the fly base clock controls and the onboard power/reset buttons, makes it even more suited for enthusiasts. The mini-ATX has one DVI, one D-Sub, and an HDMI port, as well as a DisplayPort. In addition, for maximum I/O capabilities, it provides a number of USB ports, PS/2 connectivity, eSATA, FireWire and gigabit Ethernet, as well as an 8-channel audio with optical SPDIF.
Expected to launch in Q1 2010, the mini-ATX form-factor H57M-ED65 motherboard from MSI will compete with ASUS's P7H57D-V EVO, also based on the H57 chipset.