MSI Another Mini-ITX Motherboard

It wasn't that long ago that Gigabyte released a new mini-ITX motherboard, after several other companies did the same, and now Micro-Star International is joining in.

The name of the small form factor mainboard that MSI is just about ready to start selling is B75IA-E33, based on the fact that the B75 express chipset is used. We say “just about ready” to ship because MSI is not, in fact, selling the item yet. Not even the price has, thus far, been published. Fortunately, the corporation did provide all other relevant details of the motherboard, so prospective buyers can at least get an idea of what they are in for. The LGA 1155 socket will hold any Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge central processing unit, while two DIMM slots allow for up to 16 GB of DDR3-1600 MHz RAM to back it up (random access memory).

Three SATA 3.0 Gbps ports will handle the storage, along with a single SATA 6.0 Gbps connector for particularly speedy hard disk drives (HDDs) or solid-state drives (SSDs). Furthermore, a PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot is part of the feature set, meaning that even this small platform can receive an add-in graphics adapter. Other specs include a 24-pin ATX connector, a 4-pin CPU power plug, Gigabit Ethernet, 6-channel HD audio, 7.1-channel optical SPDIF, several USB 2.0 ports, four USB 3.0 ports (two via headers, only two on the back panel) and, of course, more than one video output (DVI, D-Sub and HDMI).

It should be a simple matter to create an HTPC or even a small gaming system, for LAN parties and such, should the situation call for it. The UEFI BIOS and 4-phase VRM may even reel in some enthusiasts, even though Z77 is considered the overclocker-ideal chipset. Finally, the various inputs and outputs, as well as the Intel Small Business Advantage technology, make the MSI B75IA-E33 a good business PC board.

MSI B75IA-E33 mini-ITX motherboard
Image credits to TechPowerUp

Posted in: Hardware, Preview