The MSI Gaming Booth Tour with dGPUs in AIOs and Notebooks plus Motherboards
by Ian Cutress on June 29, 2015 3:00 PM ESTSLI Bridges
Aesthetics are becoming in important part of the PC Gaming space, and regardless of the revenues it seems that PC component manufacturers have to make an effort on styling especially when it comes to presentation. This includes tiny details such as cabling, temperature responsive LEDs, and effects that when combined actually have a positive impact on looks. With the case of SLI bridges, we’ve seen other companies such as EVGA implement their own design to counter against the generic brown/green/black PCB types we typically get inside a motherboard box. MSI is now entering this market with their own brand:
To go with the rest of the product line, these bridges will be outfitted with LEDs that are controlled through the software. MSI has been able to add this control element without needing a separate cable into a special header on the motherboard, and control will be through their gaming app. Pricing is unknown at this point (we might see one bundled with a high-end motherboard through) and release date was said to be ‘later this year’.
Transparent GT730 with White PCB
As an aside to the general coverage, I did see one GPU that caught my eye in a model that I least suspected. This is a GT730:
It’s a fairly innocuous card with standard specifications, but the PCB is white (like Galax cards) and the shroud design is semi-transparent, showing the cooler underneath. Part of me would love to see this design on the higher end models, perhaps with LEDs similar to that of the Fury X that light up as more power is applied to the card.
Case Mods
To finish up our look at MSI’s booth, I want to outlay some of the case mods that were there. Producing custom designs for cases is a niche market for sure, but other companies such as Cooler Master are designing some of their product lines around the concept of allowing users and makers to implement their own look to a chassis. As a result, many of the PC hardware manufacturers each year are now inviting professional modders (as in people who make designs as a full-time job) and commissioning designs to fit with the company ethos. That means with MSI, we get a dragon with a chassis strapped to the back:
There’s no point talking about specifications of the builds here because they can change, and perhaps I should be wondering where these designs end up after the event in question (used for future events, giveaways or back of a storeroom?).
MSI did not have much to show from their XPower overclocking line this year, either for motherboards or graphics cards under the Lightning moniker, but here’s a suitable yellow and black construction suit modification.
With the ECO line of motherboards, the low power market is one of the targets in the motherboard space. Last year we reported on the white and green motherboards MSI were showing, and then we reviewed the B85M ECO which eschewed the white colored PCB for a more conventional color. The white board used in last year’s display found its way into this Ecosphere case which has a map of the northern hemisphere on the transparent dome.
The most recent line from MSI is the black and white Krait variant of the mid-range motherboards, focusing on SLI and implementing a snake logo. Naturally the modification had to be a snake here.
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royalcrown - Monday, June 29, 2015 - link
All you people whining about the Fury X review, and MSI...shut the hell up and go read TOMSHARDWARE because they have a review !I'm sure Ryan has to get all his other stuff caught up as well as the review. Pretty sure they don't keep him on staff for the couple times a year there is real GPU news.
watzupken - Monday, June 29, 2015 - link
Have a heart folks. People get sick and will need time to recover. If you need to see how Fury X performs, there are tonnes of reviews out there that pretty much conclude the performance. Fury X no doubt is a big thing, but I see no point rushing a half baked review and get a lot of complains about it anyway. To be honest, I feel I am more interested in the way Anandtech performs a deep dive into in their product features and not just quick on jumping into benchmarking performance like some sites do.bznotins - Monday, June 29, 2015 - link
No uITX Z190 option from MSI? That sucks. I have an NCASE M1 order coming with the intent to build a Skylake-based server. Was hoping that MSI would have an ITX Z190 option with Skylake release, but it looks unlikely given the lack of a preview mobo here.SirCanealot - Tuesday, June 30, 2015 - link
People really need to stop complaining about the missing article. Ryan has already explained himself perfectly:'The reality is that we're a very thin operation. This allows us to be nimble, but also allows us to publish those articles that we're genuinely interested in rather than having to succumb to clickbait to make ends meet. It's not perfect (no system is), but it's better than the alternative.'
So if you people want those types of site, go to those sites. I'm sad I can't read the review as well, but I can wait because Anand still produces awesome articles and Ryan has said he is sick. Maybe he just has a cold and is lazy; maybe he's dying of a severe flu and can't get near the computer for more than 5 minutes at a time: I don't care as it's not my business. We should just respect that I'm sure Ryan is doing the best we can and stop saying such ridiculous stuff as I've read in this comment thread.
Get well soon, dude! :)
FMinus - Tuesday, June 30, 2015 - link
Do people really want those glowing things inside their computer? I mean, when I buy the components I look that it's kind of aesthetically pleasing to my eye, but when I look at most of these "gaming" boards I'm really close enough to barf.erple2 - Tuesday, June 30, 2015 - link
"yellow and black construction suit modification."Come on! Seriously??? Kids these days!
That's the badass power loader driven into freaking awesomeness by Ripley.
awktane - Wednesday, July 1, 2015 - link
The reason I like this site is because they often dive into details that no other site does. I would be very interested in what anandtech plans on showing us in their Fury X review that everyone else hasn't yet.dmacfour - Wednesday, July 1, 2015 - link
Are there no employees at MSI with an art/design background?The "Godlike" is the ugliest motherboard I've ever seen. That booth dragon looks like a middle school art class project.
eugenbaudeer - Monday, October 25, 2021 - link
submit a new generation laptopseugenbaudeer - Monday, October 25, 2021 - link
awesome