Micro Star International was the first company in the world to feature PCI Express Gen 3 on motherboards. They are, after all, one of the world’s largest motherboard and graphics cards manufacturer. So it’s always worth a look at their offerings. You’ll quickly recognize their company name abbreviation as their brand: MSI.
Let’s have a look at the features of the Intel Z77 Express chipset-based Socket 1155 MSI Z77A-G41 Plus – remember, this is the G41 PLUS version – which sells online for R1 199:
First off, it contains Military Class III components including SFC and Solid CAP which have passed MIL-STD-810G certification. That should give you better overclocking and power stability. Furthermore, it features OC Genie II (Auto OC to boost performance in 1 second), supports USB 3.0 technology and boasts up to 6Gb/s data transfer bandwidth off SATA and SSD HDDs.
MSI Z77A-G41 Plus specifications:
CPU• Supports 3rd Gen Intel® Core™ i7 / Core™ i5 / Core™ i3 / Pentium® / Celeron® processors for LGA 1155 socket |
Chipset• Intel® Z77 Express Chipset |
Main Memory• Support four DDR3 DIMMs 1066/1333/1600/1866(OC)/2133(OC), 2200*/2400*/2667*/2800*MHz(OC, 22nm CPU required) DRAM (32GB Max) – Supports Dual-Channel mode |
Slots• 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot – PCI_E2 supports up to PCIe 3.0 x16 speed • 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 slot – PCI_E4 supports up to PCIe 2.0 x4 speed • 2 x PCIe 2.0 x1 slots • 2 x PCI slots |
On-Board SATA • SATAIII controller integrated in Intel® Z77 chipset – Up to 6Gb/s transfer speed. – Supports two SATAIII ports (SATA1~2) by Intel Z77 • SATAII controller integrated in Intel® Z77 chipset |
USB 3.0• 2 x USB 3.0 rear IO ports by Intel® Z77 • 1 x USB 3.0 onboard connector by Intel® Z77 |
Audio• Chipset integrated by Realtek® ALC887 – Flexible 8-channel audio with jack sensing – Compliant with Azalia 1.0 Spec |
LAN • Supports one PCI Express LAN 10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet by Realtek® 8111E |
Internal I/O Connectors– ATX 24-Pin power connector – 8-pin ATX 12V power connector – CPU x 1 / System x 4 FAN connectors – 1 x Clear CMOS jumper – 4 x Serial ATAII connectors – 2 x Serial ATAIII connectors – 2 x USB 2.0 connectors – 1 x USB 3.0 connector – 1 x Serial port connector – 1 x Parallel port connector – 1 x TPM Module connector – 1 x Front Panel Audio connector – 1 x Front Panel connector – 1 x Chassis Intrusion connector – 1 x Voice Genie connector (optional) |
Back Panel I/O Ports– 1 x PS/2 keyboard – 1 x PS/2 mouse port – 4 x USB 2.0 ports – 2 x USB 3.0 ports – 1 x RJ45 LAN Jack – 1 x 3 in 1 audio jack – 1 x HDMI® port with max. resolution up to 1920×1200 @60Hz – 1 x Graphic Card port with max. resolution up to 2048×1536 @75Hz – 1 x DVI-D port with max. resolution up to 1920 x 1200 |
BIOS• The motherboard BIOS provides “Plug & Play” BIOS which detects the peripheral devices and expansion cards of the board automatically. • The motherboard provides a Desktop Management Interface(DMI) function which records your motherboard specifications. |
Dimension• 30.5cm(L) x 22.5cm(W) ATX Form Factor |
Mounting• 6 mounting holes. |
MSI Reminds You… • This motherboard supports dual-display function by two onboard graphics output ports • To reach the 8-channel sound effect, the 7th and 8th channels must be outputted from front panel. |